Andi28

Hi All, I thought I would share a DYKWIA (Do you know who I am) story from a MIA to LHR flight a few months ago.

I am at the boarding gate and in group 2 waiting for the call to board when a young-ish lady (mid-30's guessing) hobbles up to the desk in a walking cast/brace and cane and asks for pre-boarding and a new seat due to the cast (her words were 'a seat where i can keep my leg elevated and straight', hint, hint business class). the gate agent was very obliging and changed her seat to a bulk head and said she could pre-board.

She was NOT happy with the seat, she insisted on a better seat again due to her leg, GA said it was the best non-exit row seat, bulkhead, main cabin extra and window so no one would bump her. Again she insisted and by now the GA was getting frustrated and insisted she accept the seat and if her leg was as bad as she was claiming then maybe she shouldn't fly and she asked her if she would like to be transferred to another flight a few days later. This was met with silence, the lady walked (hobbled) away with her boarding pass to the gate to wait for pre-boarding with a scowl on her face.

Boarding was then called and off I went to my seat 12D. After the meal service when the cabin lights were dimmed I was getting settled when the lady comes forward and makes herself comfortable in the empty 12G. The cabin attendant happened to pass a few minutes later to see that a previously unoccupied seat has a sleeping beauty. The lady is promptly ejected and told to go back to her assigned seat, she hobbles away muttering about uncaring crew and don't they realize that she is injured etc.

About 2 hours later I go to get a drink from the galley and on my return who should be in 12G again, you guessed it, the sleeping beauty. I approach the CA and the lady is again asked to go back to her seat, at this stage she kicks up a fuss, she has a medical need and they should let her stay etc. This doesn't sway them and she is walked back to her seat. For the rest of the journey she stays put.

you think this is the end, well its not, I am in the immigration line when I see the lady, she is no longer hobbling, her brace is gone and her cane is now just for show. She tried to scam a business class seat.

Does anyone else have a DYKWIA story that they would like to share?

fotographer

sorry that is pretty good, cant top it, but I do have a short story where flying ORD to LHR, old 777, sitting somewhere towards the back of J, 2 empty seats next to me (2x3x2) , fall sleep, only to wake to find the smell of vomit around me,
the middle seat is now occupied with the lady who was sitting a row ahead of me, walk up to FA to ask about the smell, she just says, well that passenger throw up on her seat, so I told her to move, meanwhile, this lady is still throwing up
but now next to me.. UGH
(there is alot more to the story but told you I would try to keep it short)

wrp96

A few months ago, prior to boarding there was a guy badgering the gate agents to give him an upgrade on a MIA-DFW flight (on a 777). He went up at least 10 times before boarding started trying to get an upgrade (I’m an elite, I have to have first class, etc). When they started explaining boarding over the intercom, he finally gave up, only to plant himself in the priority lane with his rollerbag by his side. When boarding started for first class only, he refused to move and forced everyone to kind of slide around him and his bag.

Unfortunately he got the battlefield upgrade after somebody missed the connection, and then proceeded to try and get people to switch seats with him so he could have a window. He was also demanding and a jerk to the flight attendants the entire flight.

davesam12

Now, now Andi28 - don't be so harsh. Flying at high altitude is proven to have remarkable curative results. In decades of flying I have often witnessed canes, walkers, wheelchairs abandoned on arrival and once infirm pax at boarding, hop up, grab their bag from the overhead and stroll down the jetway.

pa3lsvt

I've been known to throw a shoulder right into the back of such blockers as I pass by. Not to knock them down or cause any sort of injury, but to make it clear that they are in the way.

Once, a guy nearly knocked me over trying to race past me in the terminal (I nearly tripped over his rollaboard as he want past), only to stand right at the head of Priority at T-60 and not move for anyone. When I boarded with Group 3 (!) he was still standing there and I made sure to walk right through him.

thunderlounge

5 posts in and I’m already entertained. Keep it going!

apeortdz

I was going to say the same thing - you beat me to it.

It is truly amazing the healing properties that people experience when they fly at 35,000 feet for 8 hours or so!

IADCAflyer

Benny Hinn would be proud!

wrp96

It was probably the same guy.

JDiver

I’m just nasty enough to contact AA and let them know. This woman is probably a serial scammer and a scammer in the image of Ada Quonsett and I’d love to see her karma catch up with her.

JDiver

It’s called “the Miracle of Modern Aviation”.

In all fairness, some need a chair for a long haul crawl through DFW, MIA or PHL, but can handle short distances like those from the gate to the Taxi area at SMF. My wife is 83 and is in late stage four of Alzheimer’s disease, so she’s one who you might see do exactly that. The long distances and disorientation at PHL would be totally disruptive to her. I often purchase Five Star Services where it’s available and useful for that, with a chair in places that require it for her. Unfortunately, no miracle forbher and many others.

One DYKWIA I witnessed was at HND, where an EP in Coach was requesting, then blowing up like a blowfish and castigating the staff, demanding access loudly, to the JL First Lounge. At the time HND had stricter requirements than oneworld access due to restricted capacity. He got progressively louder and puffed up like a disturbed puffer fish, lost tons of “face”. The louder he got, the quieter and mre intransigent the staff became, as he completely humiliated himself in front of everyone and slunk into the Sakura business lounge. (The First lounge was only moderately crowded; I suspect if he’d been humble and very polite, they might have let him in to return the respect.)

mvoight

So, not really a DYKWIA, as she really was a nothing.

JDiver

She was really a fraud. A good person to avoid dealing with, for any reason, given people are generally very consistent in behavior and we know what sort her values are.

At least Ada Quonsett was both endearing and, in the end, heroic. (Disclosure: Helen Hayes MacArthur was a valued family friend, so I’m biased.) “My late husband played the violin. Not professionally, but he was very good. He once played the Minute Waltz in 58 seconds.“

SpinOn2

It is just in a different form, for that lady it's more of a "Do you know what I am?" acronym, and it would be a giant sleazy person clearly in this case.

aztimm

While on a flight a few weeks ago, I saw 3 people seated in incorrect seats. And not just a row off...one was sitting in a window seat, then the correct window seat passenger arrived, and the poacher had to move...across the aisle and in the middle.
The AAgents announced prior that it was a full flight, and was even looking for volunteers. I'm not sure what these poachers were trying to accomplish, but they certainly were caught.

The guy seated next to me and I chatted about this, and he said a friend of his will just sit in any vacant seat (including J/F), and over half the time he gets to stay.