waffle

Oh dear, that reminds me of the time I flew in J on one of LX's Avros. We'd parked at a bus gate in Zurich and the maître de cabine was holding back the Economy section while I hastily packed up my belongings, last J passenger to leave and very aware of the fact that everyone was waiting for me, both still on the plane as well as on the Business Class bus. ("No madam, you can't get off yet; this gentleman is in Business Class and has to leave first.")

Just as our bus left, I realised that I'd left my iPad in the seat pocket. I told the driver, who asked me if I'd be okay with taking the Economy bus, then turned around and let me off. I waited at the bottom of the stairs for the rest of the plane (who'd just had to wait for me a minute ago) to get off, ran back up the stairs to my seat (1A, thankfully) and felt like an utter pillock for the excruciatingly long ride to the terminal.

Artpen100

Or, as happened in my case after a series of particularly vile experiences in TATL economy, inspired to just start googling to learn how to get there without achieving anything particularly special or spending a lot of money, and instead using mileage awards and upgrades and better search techniques. (Thanks, FT!)

Yachtman

I've been in this situation many times on different airlines, and I also travel in a variety of classes, I don't see what the issue is? I don't really care or have an interest in what other people are doing, or what they think of me, or what they are talking about. I have my own life and own issues to deal with.

NeedstoFly

[QUOTE=Barnaby100;27855324]I have had this loads of times it was standard when people left/boarded on the abu dhabi leg of the flight to Oman.

Best was in Virgin UC. Getting off and held up. A girl of about 10 in PE said to her mum-look at that (UC) I want to fly in there. Her mum replied- well you need to marry a rich man when you grow up.

I said - or you could do what I did and work hard, go to university, get a good job and pay for it yourself. The cabin crew burst out laughing and he said- quite right- and I felt a bit mean.[/QUOT

Lots of people go to university, get good jobs (whatever those are as opposed to bad jobs) and still won't make enough money to fly J or F. This is a fairly crass comment.

SandmanDFW

This may sound very cold-blooded, but I never get embarrassed or even fazed at all by coach or other service classes passing by me when I am in business or first.

I travel so much that my employer allows me to take business class (or first class sometimes--upgrades on my dime ) for transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights, and I just get so involved in either answering my email or looking over work material that I don't even notice any more.

The snide comments that some passengers make certainly do not bother me. When I am on vacation with my girlfriend, we always take first class or business class depending on the destination. I figure it's a perk of the job to use the miles considering I spend enough time on a plane. If the other passengers take umbrage at the idea of first or business class--that's their problem.

Global321

I actually laughed out loud when I read your comment. Well done.

^^^:-::-::-:

Finishing up a 19 hour day right now. THAT is why I can afford the miles to upgrade (occasionally to first). (Still cannot afford to buy first!) I usually just focus on emails and sip my Champagne. As someone else said, live and let live. When I cannot upgrade, I never think bad of those in first. Jealous, but in a good way. Time to work harder to get back to first!

firstclassnewbie

I think it's far less crass and a better example to set than the comment it was in response to.

I would certainly be more encouraging of my own daughter to work hard and earn the ability and independance to fly a premium cabin rather than marry someone with those means.

Yes, people can work hard and not manage the financial means to fly a premiun cabin, but they can use their resources and intelligence find a way to fly a premium cabin without having to dig so deeply into their pockets.

Giggleswick

As one of those people who sits in the back, I feel terrible about this. In the future, I will walk through the aisle with my eyes tightly closed so as to not make anyone up front feel bad.

T8191

OK, I'll admit I don't fly F - I'm a "J Person", in both the physical and mental sense. But having done a few sectors in AA's "Domestic First" I guess that qualifies me to comment here. And, of course, the 'walking through the posh cabin' issue also applies to BA's Club World and the luxurious environment of BA's 'Club Yerp' on the shorthaul hop between JER and LGW.

I'm always in an aisle seat, allowing iWife to [a] have the window and [b] enabling her to keep as far away from other people as possible. So I get the 'up close' experiences associated with the 'other people' walking past me at boarding pretty much all the time. I know: it's not real F, but to the poor souls about to be squeezed into Economy/Coach it must look like it.

I watch their faces, and their eyes, as they shuffle along the aisle dragging their rollaboards incompetently down their narrow pathway to discomfort. I see their pleading eyes as they try myopically to decipher the seat row numbers, praying to the Deity of Airline Travel that their seat will be one of these. I can sometimes interpret a facial expression which says [a] Lucky sods, [b] Rich bar stewards, or [c] I hate you and all your type. Occasionally one will exchange a smile, which I find absolves me from any feelings of guilt about being more comfortable than they're going to be, back there in Sardine Class.

I try to disengage from the throng, by reading my Kindle whilst sipping my pre-departure fizzy liquid. "I am not one of you, I am one of us," says my body language. Yet I am always drawn back, irresistibly, to watching this motley human tide. Why is that 'suit' in Coach? How did 'he/she/it' end up in First? (AA upgrade, I suspect). When did he last have a bath?

As a 'people watcher', you don't get a better opportunity of innocently scrutinising your fellow humans than from an aisle seat, and trying to guess which one will actually be joining you in your cocoon of luxury air travel at the front of the plane. The aisle is a conveyor belt of the species, presented for your scrutiny from the comfort of your own seat/space. It is there to enjoyed.

scrappydog

Prior to me trying the premium cabin, my thoughts when I pass by J or F is more of curiosity. So if I fly first or business I know what they were thinking too. It doesn't bother me really. I was more into planning what to eat or checking movies or reading newspaper/magazine...

BobBHX

It never ceases to amaze me how many of the travelling public believe that seat rows are numbered something like 1, 26, 3, 4....... You see them boarding, staring at the sign saying "Row 2", then at their boarding card saying "Row 26", then back at the seat row sign just in case it has miraculously changed in the past 5 seconds.

T8191

Indeed ... a constant fascination, which I seem to encounter on every flight without exception. I can excuse myopia, like the old lady who was convinced 2A was her seat in CE when her BP said 5A.

But the never-ending procession of innumerate optimists always makes me smile.

lavar56

I have often tried to smile at attractive members of the opposite sex in this situation as they walk past me towards the back.... but the reaction I get remains the same as when I smile at attractive members of the opposite sex in any other social setting. Sadly.

Proudelitist

I have even had this happen in Y.

Some months ago Mrs.Proudelitist and I took at personal Transcon trip, and I booked the two-only exit row seats for the 5 hour flight. No status on that carrier, so I paid something like 280 dollars extra for them.

During boarding, an older and obviously jealous woman saw us sitting there and quipped "Must be nice....you guys got lucky". I explained luck had nothing to do with it.

BenSenise

Conversely, I know of a few extremely wealthy people, i.e. 100s of millions, who fly Y. I can't understand it though.