JacksonFlyer

ASA_1

Flying for Fun

Once the flight has moved to GA control they have the ability to split/upgrade an Elite traveling with a companion and upgrading just one. A chat with the GA to indicate your desire to do so is all it takes. I was on a flight LAX-SJO with 4 on the upgrade list, my partner and I, both 75K, were both on one PRN and #1 & #2 on the upgrade list using a companion certificate. There was still one F seat not checked in. I inquired with the gate agent who advised that the other two Elites were MVPG & MVP. She asked if we didn't mind being split if the last F didn't arrive. We agreed and were told she would find us onboard for the upgrade. The last F did show.

James

AKLifetimeFlyer

Moreover, I cannot understand why the original post is so fixated on the attractiveness of the pilot, as if that was the reason he was flying F. Odd.

cur

yes, it is in the contracts of some mainline carriers, at least in north america. the anecdote you bring up, pilots on ua in middle seats, could have been:
1) non ua employees deadheading or commuting
2) ua employees commuting from base to home
3) on leisure travel, where it states in the policy they must be in uniform (only example of this i can think of are UPS pilots flying on OAL passes, but this was a while back).

further, generally speaking, non-leisure non-revenue pax CAN displace seated pax, but they cannot displace seated pax in an involuntary manner.

they deadhead pilots after hawaii flights? that's crazy inefficient, unless i guess they need that crew to be at another or home base for a startup flight the next day. and isn't that considered flying time?

palladia

Thanks for all the responses. I see that most of you give the benefit of the doubt to the airline, and assume that the employee must be a pilot deadheading to Seattle. While I now understand such a possibility exists, I still think such a lack-of-transparency policy is subject to abuse. I guess we will never really know what actually happened:

• The airline had a week to investigate, and all they gave me was a poor excuse about two of us traveling together. They could've upgraded the 3rd guy on the upgrade list, if that was indeed the issue.
• And if the employee was indeed deadheading, a simple explanation with rules governing such cases would've resolved all my concerns. Why didn't they do that?
• This employee showed up on the stand-by list just like everyone else, with name only, and no additional annotation that he's a privileged stand-by.
• If the airline had purchased a first class ticket, he would've just been assigned that seat, and not show up in stand-by list?
• While I don't want to accuse anyone of upgrading the employee because some personal relationship without some sort of proof, I still think the possibility is just as high as deadheading.

JacksonFlyer

I have had a pilot deadheading next to me in first from OGG to PDX more than once. Was on the flight in and had to return. Did not get into the details of why, but has happened more than once.

JacksonFlyer

I share your frustration but there are a few key points. If this was indeed an AS pilot deadheading from SFO to SEA he can only be in first after all upgrades are complete as the flight is less than 5 hours; if you talk to any AS pilot they would agree that it almost never happens. I am sure there are AS pilots who follow Flyertalk and hopefully they can chime in and correct me if I am wrong. Are you sure this was an Alaska Airline employee? Just because they chat with the flight crew does not indicate they are employees of the airline. You said he was on the standby list, the lists have first initial and the start of the last name; did you know his name or saw his ID badge? If you are absolutely sure this was an Alaska pilot you have a legitimate complaint. The explanation you got sounded like a lot of run around for reasons for which are not clear to me.

palladia

While we sat in the first row of economy, I wasn't close enough to read his badge or tell for sure whether he works for the airlines. As I recall, he had a employee dress shirt, with tie, but a bomber jacket, so I couldn't tell from number of stripes his rank. I didn't record his name/initials. Like I said, he seemed to know the flight attendant in first class well, and did not de-plane immediately so he could chat with her some more when we left the plane.

It took them a week to respond to my complaint, enough time to properly investigate this. While it's possible that I had an incompetent customer service rep who didn't know about deadheading policies, it's just as likely that there were some policy violations and they are trying to cover it up.

I guess we'll never know. But it's kind of fun to speculate.

Routemaster1

...and all this for a 1h45 flight, eh ?

palladia

Yes, I know it's a short flight, but it's the principles! I didn't ask Alaska for compensations, just want some clarifications on what happened.

I'm a million-miler on UA, and trying to decide whether to switch my business to Alaska Airlines. This just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

bmvaughn

Well, enjoy UA!

palladia

I don't understand all the negative remarks here. Maybe everyone on this board loves Alaska and want to give them the benefit of the doubt. That's fine.

Am I the only one who would love to know what actually happened? Their response to me leaves me more puzzled than satisfied.

With a vague policy that says people that kind of look like pilots can be arbitrarily upgraded over anyone on the plane, isn't this subject to abuse? How do I know if someone is properly upgraded over me, or just because he/she is buddy with the gate agent? And if rules are subjective, why should I waste money to earn their status?

Zorak

FWIW there's a 41 page thread on upgrade shenanigans in the UA forum.

Upgrade Shenanigans? [Consolidated]

I think your frustration is legitimate, and it'd be nice if every airline employee you encountered had encyclopedic knowledge of all rules and policies *and* could communicate them clearly, but I'm not sure that's a realistic expectation.

palladia

I will be first to admit that UA s*cks, and was hoping that Alaska would be better.

I know not everyone at an airline knows all the rules, but if you work at customer service, listening to complaints, I would hope you would know the upgrade procedures well.