to me its stealing and should technically be against the law. I dont go to a dept store and take a shirt with a $100 tag and switch the tag with a $40 one. certain brands its quite easy to actually do.

would i have ratted him out? probably not. I may have reminded him that I paid good money to sit up there (even if i had been upgraded) and that once drunk, i used the lav every 10 minutes.

I also do not allow a-holes to cut in the shoulder or speed up in a merge lane to try to get ahead of me. that affects me for sure. it makes me LATE!

Hilarious--were you ever confronted about this, and if so, were you able to convince the FA?

That explains why NW's F seats are so worn out looking........... ;-)

Good job CO clean theirs a little more often - or I hope they do!

Hmm...what the guy was trying to do probably should be called a benes upgrade.

OT, unlike the rest in the series, I found that plot premise to be totally implausible. Could anyone actually believe that a transcon would leave with an empty FC seat?

OP's action was correct. The integrity of the FC cabin must always be maintained. ;)

Agree OP action was acceptable in my book; however... and maybe I'm just on flights with good FA's, as the FA's do a head count and check if there is a difference before the door closes then they go over the pax seating after take off generally during the immediate drink service, they notice if they have an extra PAX up front. I have seen people get caught at this by the FA's when they serve the drinks (I didn't see them or know they actully jumped up illegally when they did this). So while I agree with the OP actions, on what I've seen they would have been caught anyways. Atleast on my flights.

If I remember the episode correctly, the flight was from St. Louis to NYC. But you are correct about implausibility and a major plot error -- when they are at the gate making the arrangements for this flight following the cancellation of their original flight, the GA tells them that there are only two available seats on the plane, one in first class and one in coach. Thus the reason they are split up. So the existence of that empty FC seat in the middle of the flight was a bit odd.

Back on topic, I probably would not have had the guts to say anything about the self-upgrader, for fear of reprisal once off the plane, but would have been irritated about it and watching every move of the FAs, maybe even trying to make eye contact, hoping the enfringement would have been discovered and rectified by them.

Susan

You are absolutely right - you were entitled by the airline to be in First Class - he wasn't. You earned that by flying with the airline a lot.

When I read your post I immediately thought "security" as they could have been sneaking forward to try anything being nearer to the First Galley and the sensitive cockpit area. I know that this is far fetched - but I think that we woke up to the realities 5 years ago.

I do, however, think that you were far more courageous than me. I would have expected a torrent of abuse on arriving at IAH. Fortunately you report nothing of the sort - what does occur to me is to wonder if this man has pulled this sort of stunt before. He may think twice next time.

Has anyone actually see someone get away with a self upgrade (or has anyone here done that themselves)?

The way I see it, there are two possibilities - either this bloke does not travel often so hasn't a clue how the system works or the bloke travels a lot, knows how the system works, and exploits it, and is a seasoned self-upgrader. WHich is it?

i agree with the OP. If you want an upgrade as a nonelite on a flight where there are empty seats, you should do it the old fashioned way by flirting with the flight attendants. That I have pulled off, but only for the last hour (post meal service) of a flight. There the primary benefit is getting off the damn plane first.

I did it myself a few years ago on Lufthanse. Unintentionally I want to point out :)

I wasn't a frequent flyer at the time, and just after the doors were shut, I noticed a full row of empty exit row seats. Being 6'4", that was too good an oppotunity to pass up, so I moved myself. There were usually only about 5 rows of Business Class, but on this particular aircraft, BS stretched back half way down the plane.

I only realised what I'd done when the food service came round. Rather than the usual cold sandwich, there was a hot meal. I refused the meal, and only had a glass of water.

It was only when we were on the descent that one of the FA's asked to see my boarding pass. I immediately said that I'd moved seats, and she politely told me that I was in business class, and that I really should have paid an upgrade fee. But as I'd not had any food, they'd let me off :)

Cheers,
Rick

I have enjoyed this thread and having read all the posts I still would not have said anything to the guy. This brings up another question I have for everyone. What if this self upgraded person was a pretty young lady, would you have done the same? Be honest!

In deference to different genders and orientations on the forum, I'm still searching for the right way to put this, "hot young passsenger" is stilted, and who am I to put down experience?

In any case, if you see the empty seats coming, from checking seat maps or whatever, the thing to do is to pick a passenger whose company you'd enjoy, and try to get them a companion upgrade. There are ways to word this that don't sound like a pickup, particularly if it isn't the conversation opener.

sorry to disagree with many who have posted But should that guy have sat down in FC, No, but once they did it was up to the FAs to notice that and if it was me I would NOT have Ratted them out.

I guess you All also agree that those who give a $20 to the person who is checking them in at a Hotel in order to get a Suite or an Ocean facing room, is Wrong after all had they stayed with that Chain or Hotel often they would get it that way. Yet I dont recall seeing even 1 post in the LV forum telling people its Wrong to Bribe the person, instead everyone is telling everyone how and when to do it and get away with it.

I'll also take it that nobody here Ever took a friend or family member NOT on their same Itn with them down the Blue Carpet, in order to board early and to beable to stow their things. Or for that matter never took them on the Priority line for TSA and say 'they are with me' when they arent on the same itn.

Its the job of the FAs to do a count before the plane takes off and to match up the #s with the ground staff. Its not mine, and if anyone can slip into a seat I say all the power to them, heck if the non-revs can do it why not someone else.

Heck no :p . Doesn't have to be "young" either :) .