Originally Posted by
RDUKingFisher
I had always been very impressed with the RDU crew until last week when I checked in. I was in the SkyPriority line and when I got to the front of the line, I was told by an agent that this was the SP line; the general line was to my right. I am a young FF (all business travel), so I guess I was victim of stereotyping. She was noticeably embarrassed when she discovered that I was, in fact, GM, and was on an international BE ticket. Not really that big of a deal, I know, but it certainly changed my perception of the staff.
Aside from that one experience, RDU has been near the top of the list for me in terms of staff at check in counters.
This goes back a few years ( a lot really) but I was at the MAN counter early for my flight home (ATL at the time) and mentioned to the ticket agent that I was more than willing to move to Business class if they needed the room in the back as it looked like it would be a full flight and she said "We don't upgrade your type.". I was speechless and looked around for the Red Coat but none was to be seen.
So I proceed to the gate in hopes of finding one and luck would have it a Red Coat was working the gate. I told her the story and she asked for my boarding pass and she said "I was going to call you", reached down and picked up a boarding pass for Business. She then went on to tell me that the saturday morning flight was a primary vacation flight for passengers going on cruises and the ticket counters are to not upgrade tourist travelers. Since it was saturday, I was in jeans and a tee shirt with a light jacket. The Red Coat said they had issues with the tourist getting up front and drinking all the booze and having to be carried off the plane to fights breaking out. So unless the ticket was purchased in front the only upgrades would be for higher elites and older passengers. The flights were always over sold in Y and seldom had many passengers in the front but to get everyone on they would fill the front and they were selective. The Red coat said my jeans were an indicator to not upgrade me but the status made it an automatic one for her when she scanned the list.
Looks can be deceiving and people do read a book by its cover sometimes.
Back on topic, ABQ (not my home airport) always seems to have people that are nice and when they say "see you next month" it sort of is nice to know that they recognize you from trip to trip, even if it is only on monthly visits.