This will be a bit long, so bear with me…

I (Plat) and a coworker (Silver) were flying this morning on a 738 on low fare class tickets. I got the EUA email at the 5-day window. At T-60 mins, there were 8/16 F booked and 6 on the UG list, one including my coworker at space 2 or 3. At T-~45 as we walked to the gate, the GA ran the EUA list and it then showed 11/16 booked with 3 on the UG list (the crew was already on the plane at this time). My coworker went for his new BP & I politely went to the agent and asked if there were definitively more open seats in F than on the UG list. She said, “Maaaaaybe” with a look wondering if I were going to sweet talk her. I explained I was a Plat and would use my companion upgrade only if the seat would otherwise go out empty. She said that there would be more seats than people on the list, and asked who I wanted to UG (after asking how I knew of it and seeing the PDA site on my phone, she was VERY impressed with CO’s site… but concerned it gave out too much info). I first asked if there were any employees that I could give the seat to and she said (after thanking me for my generosity) that the only ones were on Vacation Passes (the 3 still remaining on the UG list for the 5 seats) and that she couldn’t clear them before it was time to close the door. I then turned to an elderly lady in a wheelchair who was by herself and offered her a seat in F.

The GA I was talking to turned around to make an announcement, so I gave the lady’s BP to GA2 and asked to upgrade her as my companion. The lady was tickled and all was well…

On the flight, the lady leaned to the FA in F and started to explain how nice I was for giving her a seat in F (she tried to be quiet, but I could hear her). The FA had an aggressive tone and asked me how I could do that. I explained that as a Plat, I used my companion to UG her. The FA then told me that because of what I did, her daughter (a “Plat on NW who flies CO constantly”) was forced to sit in 5A. She then told me what I did was against policy since we weren’t on the same record (she was very hostile the whole time while I tried to calmly explain the policy over my breakfast). I explained that the Gold/Plat companions can be for ANYONE on the same flight, whether we’re related, best friends or random strangers. She said that’s “just wrong” and was going to report it to CO so it could be changed immediately. She then said that there were other hard-working employees on the flight who should have gotten the UG before “random strangers.” I explained that I even asked the GA about this, and the FA said there’s a captain in the exit row who should be up front, too. I then explained the “vacation pass” as the GA explained it to me and she was hot that the GA “should never give that info to passengers.” She was so worked up that the lady next to me felt VERY bad about taking the seat (offering to switch with her daughter) and was concerned she got me in trouble.

I explained the PDA site and that her daughter wasn’t on it (she gave me her initials and I knew the initials of the 3 remaining on it, who were cleared at T-15). She said her daughter “boarded the flight with [her]” (obviously before the T-45) so she was obviously checked in before then. She was very worked up over it (it was a 2 hr flight for God’s sake). She also “knew the GA well and knew that she wouldn’t do anything” to deny her daughter a FC seat, so she was convinced it was my fault. I even explained that my coworker (on a cheap fare class) should have been UG after her daughter, as a NW plat. She just kept going on that it was b/c of my gate date.

And when I put the elderly lady’s bag up top, I looked & F was full, so someone got seat 16/16.

Toward the end of the flight, the FA’s attitude did a 180 and she stood talking to us for a while, without issue! She even said how much she appreciates “[us] regular travelers” because we make her job easier and more fun.

There were lots of other issues, but I won’t get into them all here… if any CO employees want to look into the issue, I can provide you full info to help determine why the FA’s daugher didn’t get the UG.

A few questions came out of my “conversation” with the FA and lady today:
1. Is it true that someone on a “vacation pass” cannot get a companion upgrade?
2. Do employees ever fly for free? The lady said something about “flying for free” to the FA since she used to work for the airlines and the FA said, “People are all wrong about that. We never fly for free. Usually, it’s cheaper for us to buy a ticket than to try to use our benefits.” She also said that if they want to use a Buddy Pass for a family member, it’s very difficult and ridiculous because they “significantly raised the prices of that” recently… any truth to this, either?
3. Is there a policy forbidding the GA from telling me who is on a vacation pass?
4. If there are open seats in F remaining after all possible UG’s, how are the empty seats in F handled? The FA told me that the GA will give the seats out to anyone with a OP account, so I shouldn’t be upgrading strangers… I told her that my companion benefit was a perk that CO give me (whether I or she agrees with the policy, I just followed the rules of what I’m allowed to do). She also said that if the GA doesn’t dole out the UGs, it’s “her job” to do it as the FA… truth to this?

ridiculous........

The FA was wrong about just about every facet of the program. The GA will simply let the empty seats remain empty unless they are needed to cover an over-sell in the back (OpUps). And the FAs are never supposed to pick people to upgrade.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. One FA who doesn't know the rules isn't going to change anything.

I thought that was the case (one of the MANY things I've come to learn from FT), but knew you or others with more knowledge of the system could confirm my suspicions.

I definitely won't lose sleep over her lack of knowledge, attitude, etc; it's just annnoying to have to put up with someone like that for the flight when I could have been productive and worked.

Any reason why the FA did a 180 on her attitude?

Perhaps the prescription mood stabilizers that have, so far (miraculously), allowed her to hold down a job in the service industry finally kicked in.

Wow did you find yourself an empty headed FA.

1. Employees can not become someone's companion, for the sake of an Elite upgrade unless they are traveling on a real (not a pass) ticket. Employees are seated after everyone else.
2. After 10 years, all travel on our airline is free in coach. After 25 years all travel in free. Vacation passes are free and we get x number of them a year, good for free travel to international and domestic, F and Y class.
Buddy passes are not so free. It costs a base fee to activate them and then we are charged a percentage based on where they are traveling to. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a revenue ticket.
3. The GA can tell you anything they wish to. It isn't a secret who is traveling on a pass since this list must be posted for the employees to see, for each flight. SA3P means an employee is traveling in a regular pass. SA3V means they are using a vacation pass.
4. Empty seats in F will go out empty if all Elites have been upgraded and employees have been seated in the class inwhich they have been listed.
5. FAs are not allowed to upgrade unless directed by the GA. What happens after the door closes is their business.

Often times we have seats open in F but the employee does not wish to be split from their other traveling family, so they choose to remain seated in Y class.

The initial reaction to you taking advantage of your benefit sounds like a certian FA from the EWR hub that I know.

Kinda sounds like the FA wanted a couple of seats in F to go empty so she could upgrade her daughter and the vacationing pilot after the door closed???

Was the FA's daughter on a revenue ticket or flying NRSA? If the latter then her NW status wouldn't matter.

As always, sfogate, thank you for the detailed answers... It's awesome to have you here, no matter what movieman123 says!

I'm not sure. The lady started talking to her about her daughter and I think (which is dangerous at times) this made the FA realize we weren't pricks that were out to get anyone.

She claimed to be from IAH, living on the water.

The pilot was in uniform (I assume it was the one she referred to, as I saw him deplane) so I doubt he was vacationing; the 3 on the vacation passes were upgraded. The FA claimed that the GA said, "Sorry, we didn't have any seats left" when referring to giving her daughter a big seat. I thought that was odd b/c the GA shouldn't have any say in whether or not a NW Plat is upgraded.

Revenue. That's how the discussion of "We never fly free, let alone family or friends" came about.