Originally Posted by
Jebby_ca
OP - first of all, welcome to FT!
To your point about being told that the economy check-in line is over there... Agents have never been that rude to me, although I don't doubt your story. In fact, over-entitled passengers have been worse. I politely tell the agents that I'm *G/Elite/Business Class/etc. and they let me go on without any trouble. Sometimes, they'll even offer up an apology. I've seen them mostly ask your status/class of travel before you get in line, which is fine with me since they are enforcing the priority line.
As for the nosy over entitled passengers, I thank them for letting me know that I'm in the correct line.
I find age-ism and class-ism a lot worse in Asia. You definitely need to be dressed or look the part in order to stand in the first/business/*G lines. I've had agents question me and not an older person, even if the older person is the one actually in the wrong line.
As a young guy, my experience has been similar to OP's whereby there are more pre-conceptions that I'm flying Y / statusless when in NA versus Asia due to how I look. Granted, like OP, I don't dress to impress when flying (I flew 40k+ miles in the last 5 weeks, who wants to sit in overheated *A cabins in Asia in a blazer?). But in Asia, OZ, CX, SQ, JL, and TK have never wanted to confirm I'm in the right line, while AC will give me funny looks when I'm in the J line and confirm I know where I am. I haven't flown Y in two years. One of the YVR priority checkin agents went as far as to ask me for a credit card, and when I asked why, she said I needed to pay for my 2 bags because I don't have status. I had to point out I was flying J. On my last AC flight during two door boarding they had an agent guarding the J jetbridge who asked me if I was in J but didn't bother asking my statusless father straggling behind me (guess who bought his J ticket).
It's annoying, it does make you feel at times inferior to other pax when they aren't asked, so I understand OP's frustration and desire to vent. With that said, it's not actionable and it's not something I'd lose sleep over. I'd file it under AC staff not seeing a lot of young people with status / flying J and not some latent hatred of young people. OTOH, Asian carriers don't bat an eye at young folk flying F.