As someone in the hospitality business - there are some people who actually enjoy being miserable. Well I say "enjoy", complaining validates their existence and gives them enough of an ego boost to get through the day...being content is felt to be too passive and unfamiliar, so "something must be wrong". I generalise, but that is the general thought process. A minority of customers perhaps, but some organisations I feel cater too much to them to the detriment of their other customers (and employee well-being, which even though an industry like aviation has lots of fresh meat people lining up to join, is still very important)

I think one of the actual criteria for iO is "Tim Clark thinks you are nice guy and not an a***", which is a stance I applaud. And believe me, status customers who are outrageous and are unacceptably out of order when they deal with staff, or abuse privileges/trash the place (yes, it happens...) - they do get reported internally by staff to Skywards...!

But still, there are some really nice people out there too who hold status I heard a story about a platinum pax who is CEO/GM for Middle East of a well known restaurant chain who gives out free meal vouchers to all the F crew! Apparently a really really nice guy that the crew like, apart from the vouchers! I should aim to be on those flights to score some too... If you are on FT...let's have a FT DO...at one of your outlets!