CloudCoder

I've seen FAs handle this several different ways.

One time, two people (I think one was an FA and the other a GA) approached the chap (before takeoff) and matter-of-factly asked how he intended to pay for the upgrade. They told him it was "X" dollars or "Y" miles. He opted for miles. (This was in the era before co-pay.)

On another occasion (not long ago), two teenagers sneaked from coach into 3-class business mid-flight. The FA approached them, remarked that business class was very nice, invited them to try out various features of the seat, remarked again that business class was very nice, offered best wishes that one day they could afford a business class ticket ... then sternly told them to go back to their ticketed cabin and start planning on how to save up enough money or miles for a business-class trip next time.

On all occasions I thought the situation was always handled with class.

Significantly, when someone is in a premium cabin who is not supposed to be there, the flight crew notices almost immediately.

seaskybound

Fact: We don't know how often self-upgraders are not caught. We only see the cased where there is clear walk of shame.

marbles dad

about 3 years ago on the red eye from LIH-LAX , from my seat in row 3, i was observing the boarding process and people watching as well.
the flight was already late about 4 hours due to a mx delay on the incoming so we are talking about the wee hours.
i noticed a fellow with 2 teenagers and as he was boarding with presumably his kids, he admonished them in a loud whisper, to plop themselves down in F. he apparently knew these seats would be empty. About 10 minutes later, the purser with the manifest swooped down, and suggested they go to their assigned cabin, as he could not "find" his first class boarding pass.
the teenagers, to their credit, immediately complied and appeared embarrassed by the antics of dear old dad. Dad fumbled around , continued to delay and delay and passively refused to go back to coach. i dont remember how it went exactly but he never did make any effort to comply, and was asked to leave the plane, and the police i believe were waiting for him on the jetway.
his kids stayed on.
this made the flight about 5 hours late.
what made this bearable was actress Cathy Bates was sitting across from me
and appeared appropriately entertained by these antics.

jAAck

Okay, true story. Many years ago when I was young and considerably more selfish I was traveling LHR - DFW. I was considerably late for the flight and literally pushed down the jetway by the agent who almost slammed the door closed behind me. As I walked through J, a gentleman was in the aisle getting something from the overhead so I stopped and set my bag down on the empty seat in front of him to wait. As I did, the FA approached with a tray of bubbly and very politely said "Welcome aboard, sir, glad you made it. Would you like champagne?" I thought for a half-second, sat myself down, accepted the glass, and enjoyed the flight in J. Of course I would never do that today!

And for the record, I don't believe the OP's friend. It's just highly unlikely with today's checks and balances.

will2288

Unless I missed one, it took 94 posts to have a confirmed case of someone actually sneaking into F/J successfully. Given how FT threads like this tend to prompt posters to post their rare, one-off stories, I think it is safe to say this type of thing is very, very rare.

_kurt

I've never seen a failed self-upgrade, but I've seen someone wrongly accused. I was flying in 763 J, don't remember the route. Just after the door was closed, two young women got up from 6 H/J and moved to 2 D/G. A gentleman in row 3 or 4 flagged down the FA and accused them of sneaking into J. Of course the FA recognized the girls and knew they were in J all along. I've got to assume that their young age contributed to the gentleman's perception of wrongdoing.

ijgordon

Did the GA actually process the mileage upgrade at the gate, with the passenger on board? I know on AA it involves at a minimum a call to AAdvantage, and back in the day the ticket re-issuance always seemed to be a huge hassle.

I presume they didn't expect the pax to take them up on their offer, but since they made the offer, it puts them in a bit of a pickle.

Upgraded!

Sorry, but I have to call BS on your story; no how, no way...



Because "years ago" you'd have been flying ex-LGW .

Upgraded!

Yes, I do like the fact that without missing a beat it seems the pax just said "oh, sure, take some miles". I would imagine that they could process it even after the flight departed (and there wasn't a time crunch) and that if the pax didn't have sufficient mileage balance that they'd be met by reps upon landing to fork over the $. Or perhaps the GA at the very least was able to verify the account balance before the flight left.

jAAck

Oh snap, Upgraded...that's how long ago it was! I had completely blocked lovely LGW out of my mind. Now I'm trying to remember what aircraft it was...762ER? 763? MD11?

CGRA

During a convention, someone told me that he and his colleagues seated on BA CW on LH (with a Y ticket)
They boarded last and just seat in two empty J seats.
He showed me a picture with his phone in the CW seat
No way his company was paying for J
That's J and not F so it may be easier

Opposite story with AF, delayed flight on the ground, someone moved from Y to J and it was not easy for the FA to have him moved back to Y

Upgraded!

Well, in the 90s, (some) evidence suggests that AA used MD-11s DFW-LGW (quick perusal of a.net photos), but one way to know more definitively: did you walk through F too? If not, had to be the MD, but if so, was likely a 767 (only AA widebody which requires boarding through 1L).

Dave Noble

All that photograph would show is that the person sat there long enough to take the photograph. It would not show that the passenger sat there for the whole flight

drron

The OPs friend is having him on.There is one simple fact that says this did not happen.On the 777 seat 2A is a pilot rest seat.Always shows up as occupied on the seat map.No way is an FA going to sit you there.

flyer215

Having just been upgraded to F on three 777 longhauls, and having been assigned seat 2A on two of them, I beg to differ. The seat maps showed it unblocked, as well.