I probably wouldn't have called him on it I would rather watch the FA boot him out as soon as they came around with the manifest for meals.

They're pretty good at this. I've seen them boot out an elderly couple from a virtually empty 764 FC cabin SDQ-EWR.

you do remember correctly. http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Televisi...ort-14965.html

the flight was supposed to go to JFK but, instead, was diverted to LGA....and then was re-diverted back to JFK. there weren't two coach seats so jerry and elaine had to split up.

instead of flipping a coin or leaving it to chance, jerry contended that since he has flown first class before, he should get the seat since he is used to first class service (he can't go back, he won't go back). intuitively, you would think that he might want to let elaine experience first class...but, instead, he employed his own brand of logic.

there was one flight attendant in the back serving the entire cabin. larry david's voice was used for the man that ordered the kosher meal that elaine got stuck eating.

and, again, if the self-upgrader was hot, i probably would have allowed it.

I probably would not have asked the guy whether he had been upgraded but, if I happened to find out that he self-upgraded, I would have informed the FA, just as the OP did and just to spite the guy.

That said, the FA's always discover self-upgraders before departure and send them back from whence they came. I've witnessed this myself on several Hawaii flights (see the thread I started on self-upgrading that I can't find with search right now).

And, some people mentioned fearing reprisal from the self-upgrader after arrival. Why would anyone be afraid of some loser self-upgrader beating them in an airport full of witnesses and federal law enforcement? Most people talk the talk, but 999 out of 1000 wouldn't have the gumption even to consider following through on a threat (battery charges are a big deal).

OP did the right thing...I would have done the same. Perhaps by discreetly telling the FA privately, although if the self-upgrader was an obnoxious moron about it, I would do it out in the open.

I come from the 'been there, done that' crowd. A number of years ago on Eastern, I had a kid booted out of FC who snuck up to flirt with a young girl riding there with her mother. The FA just about punted his sorry behind right down the aisle.

On a recent flight, some kid from coach decided to stow his bag in FC. I held my tongue until the last FC passenger came on and was having trouble finding a place for his bag. Rest assured, I told the FA what happened and she went and grabbed the kid and made him remove his bag and stow it in coach.

What the OP's seatmate did was theft, pure and simple. He should have been booted back into coach, and if he put up a fuss, booted right off the flight. Everyone in FC pays to be there - either by buying the seat, trading in miles or through status earned by loyalty.

To me, this is no different than paying for a meal at a buffet restaurant and informing the staff if someone came in off the street, grabbed a plate and started helping themselves without paying first.

Gosh, I am surprised how much of response this has gotten. As the OP, let me clear up a few things:

1) Being a youngish female myself (and not ugly to boot), if it had been a hot young girl I still would have blown the whistle.

2) The FAs had no meal manifest since it was an overnight flight.

3) I take these overnights out of LAS quite a bit, and there usually aren't enough elites to IAH to fill first. I was once on one of these flights where they called elite boarding and I was the only one!

4) The FAs did pull two folks from Y to take the two remaining seats, so he would have been discovered anyway. The lady they put next to me was silver, so who knows how many of them were on board.

My response was fueled by pure anger at the audacity of the self-upgrader... the fact that he SHHHHHHHHed me showed me that he knew EXACTLY what he was doing was wrong, and I tried to warn him first. It's not like I shot my hand in the air and screamed "MISS SIMS!! THIS BOY IS BEING NAUGHTY!!" I did tell him, that he wasn't supposed to be there, he demonstrated that he knew it, and I called him on it.

And by the way, I do occasionally stick my car out into the merge lane when little jerks from the back start using it to pull out, pass a bunch of people, and merge back in. It's people like that who hold up traffic and make it slower for everyone

Never did... I slept immediately upon strapping in and they couldn't confirm seating b'cos the pax manifest was already printed prior to me boarding. That's the beauty of being the last person before the door closes. Again, I was following rules when the GA said "ANY OPEN SEAT" :-)

On last night's 8:40 pm IAH-DEN run they put a lot of stanbys on, and must have told the last few to "take any open seat". This enormous guy took the last FC seat, but the FA was on him in an instant, shooing him back to coach.

Then they had let too many people on the plane, and that gut and a non-rev pilot were asked to leave. He refused to ring his call button when his name was read, so the GA had to go back and root him out.

We were an hour late pushing back (waiting on catering... ), and I could see the guy yapping and gesticulating to the GA in the jetway for the entire time (!!) (she was apparently hanging around waiting to move the jetway back).

[QUOTE=ElkeNorEast;6866030]. It's not like I shot my hand in the air and screamed "MISS SIMS!! THIS BOY IS BEING NAUGHTY!!" I did tell him, that he wasn't supposed to be there, he demonstrated that he knew it, and I called him on it.QUOTE]

You'll shoot your eye out!

paying first? i don't think i have ever paid first for a buffet.

That was only a hypothetical example...but let me asign it a real-world scenario. Sweet Tomatoes restaurants have a pay-sit-dine setup - however, someone could come off the street and help themselves by bypassing the line. If I saw someone walk in and do that, I would report them. It's stealing and it's wrong - and letting people get away with it ends up costing all of us in the form of higher prices. Yes, I also turn in people who walk around the supermarket eating food out of packages they opened and hide the empty packages somewhere. I don't feel like paying higher prices so some lazy, cheap fool can carb load chocolate chip cookies on the house.

Either way - selfupgrading is stealing and I wouldn't let it slide. Kudos to the OP for doing the right thing.

while i agree with your tomatoes restaurant example, i don't agree with the cookies example. a first class seat is a perishable asset. if they close the door and someone self-upgrades, it won't cost you any more money. sure, the person might get a free drink. but, will that cost you? probably not.

on the other hand, i do agree that theft at a supermarket is a cost that is passed along to the consumer.

and, in the aforementioned elaine benes example, she explicitly told the FA that she didn't want anything. in that example, someone self-upgrading wouldn't cost you one cent. how do you know the self-upgrader was going to take free drinks or other freebies not given to coach customers?

It might not cost me an amount measured in dollars right away - but an airline failing to enforce its own rules can lead to revenue problems down the road resulting in benefit reductions or higher ticket prices.

Besides the issue of money, there are also issues of fairness and principle. Maybe self-upgrading into that seat on that specific flight won't cost CO anything (contrasted with someone self upgrading into a BF seat to NRT), but what about the relative fairness to those people sitting in the FC cabin who paid for their seat with cash or miles or those who were upgraded by status earned after spending considerable dollars? Don't they suffer some type of loss by the act of theft in this case?

maybe....

if they took a meal that someone further back in the cabin would have preferred, i guess so.

This actually happened today on a NW flight from DTW To MCO... there were either 1 or 2 seats left in F. Two people got on just before closing the doors with the FA saying take any seat. So, the first person took the first seat available... 1D. The FA's mumbled to themselves that she wasn't supposed to be there, but then let it slide. I heard the girl comment to her seatmate that she had never flown in F before. Lucky day.

I totally agree on discreetly telling the FA and letting them handle the situation. Its unfortunate that the OP had to have the stress of dealing with this wondering if he/she should or should not speak up.

Your second comment reminds me that winter is coming, once those overhead bins are filled and only 1/3 the flight is loaded this will occur. Everyone is told at the door no space is left and sneak it into the FC overhead bins. I have also reported to FA's , when FC overhead space is gone ( a late boarding FC passenger arrives with no bin space), and I had watched a coach passenger put his luggage in there 10 minutes earlier. They never do anything, they just try to find the space by moving things around.

This is all a compounded problem when there are snow delays and CO is cramming every FA/Pilot onto the only flight making it out of CLE-EWR that night so the employees can make their connections and start/finish their work day. They all board early then take the first 2-3 rows of coach bins for their carryons. I know they have no choice but it is aggravating when the space is already at a premium.

Thinking about this thread I must confess....I never stole a FC seat but I do routinely (95% of the time) grab a pillow from the FC overhead bins as I walk down towards my Exit Row seat. I never like to take a chance on not having my pillow on those rock hard 73x seats. I guess I am guilty, not just as much as stealing a FC seat.