Originally Posted by
HNLbasedFlyer
Fairly regular basis? I've been flying over 30 years and except for someone making a mistake - I've not seen a self upgrader on purpose for F - versus a non-rev, switching with a spouse, switching with a family member, or a FA telling someone to move up. Quite frankly - If I observed a true self upgrader, I'd say something - and I hope most on FT and the general public would say something - I don't want another 9/11 situation.
I've witnessed two self-upgrade situations: (a) A college student assigning himself 4A on an E175 from IAH to MSY, who was promptly confronted by a gate agent immediately after the businessman assigned that seat showed up, confused; and (b) An older woman whom I found in my seat, 1F, upon boarding a flight from IAD to LAX.
In the former case, the student admitted to the GA that he knew it wasn't his seat; while the man who was supposed to be there said he didn't mind and would take a seat in coach, the GA wasn't having it and encouraged the rightful passenger not to give up the seat. In the latter case, I took 1E, since the woman asked if I minded taking the aisle and I assumed 1E had been her seat. Bold of her, because she was in fact in row 30-something, leaving me to wipe the Goldfish crumbs off her (my) seat once she got booted to Y when
actual 1E showed up.
There are two morals to this story:
1. CPUs have really been the bane of self-upgraders' existence; and
2. I have flown a little north of one million miles (including a decent minority of those internationally) and only seen two cases of apparently-intentional self-upgrading.