Originally Posted by
oneofthosepeopleyoulovetohate
I'm curious as to why you would say that, and what the distinguishing characteristics would be?
A search will turn up lots of conversations on the topic.
In short, FAMs are to other passengers as unmarked Ford Crown Vics are to other cars on the road -- you can spot one in your mirror miles back. They are on the aircraft before general boarding, don't recline, don't drink alcohol, don't sleep on red-eyes. They also have particularly favorite seats -- if you hear someone arguing with a gate agent about losing a F or J seat for no particular reason, there's a good bet a FAM will be in that seat. In the premium cabins, flight attendants don't even bother to offer them alcohol and almost never attempt chit-chat. If someone visits the lav too frequently, they'll get up to check what might be going on in there.
There are lots of other tells. I was nearly fooled by what could be described as a "hottie", one day, but there were too many other hints for her to be anything else. As confirmation, she and her all-to-obvious colleague were off the plane first and standing in the crew line at immigration in BOS last I saw them.