As an 8-year-in-a-row Platinum, I usually laugh or at least smile at the postings here that express shock!! shock!! that CO staff would upgrade non-rev colleagues after the door is closed or with a boarding pass meant for an innocent teenager. We have all heard these stories and many of us have seen these kinds of incidents.

Imagine my wonder when over on the BA board I was assured that this simply doesn’t happen on British! No shenanigans on BA, they insist.

Can this be true? Several posters insisted, and no one dissented. Assuming it is true, is this just an indication that Willie is a better manager than Jeff (or Larry) or is it a matter of national culture, sort of like the difference between doing business in Singapore or in Nigeria?