Oddest Conversation with a fellow PAX in F yesterday...
 

So I was upgraded at the window on a flight I flew yesterday. I noticed when we boarded the plane only about half of First class was full. Started talking to my seat mate (he was the talkative type, I normally only get the niceties out of the way, then retreat to a book or technology).

Anyway, this guy tells me he is a FO and that his wife (two rows up) and him are on holiday. They booked seperate PNR's, he paid for his ticket and booked her ticket with pay with miles. Long story short, he was eligible for upgrade, she was not. Apparently, he could see that First class was wide open so he just had her sit there, knowing that no one would occupy that seat (thanks to his Delta app seating chart and the fact that she boarded at the last minute).

Does this really happen? How does no one catch this? I guess normally first class is so full, it's probably rare anyway. I just had never thought someone would just stroll on the plane and sit in first class.

I agree that FO's get shafted on the companion upgrade award tickets, especially for a benefit they would rarely ever get to utilize in the first place, but sneaking into first class just seems a bit drastic...

It sounds like a lazy FA who didn't check match the number of FC passengers to what's on the manifest. You're right, it probably is nearly always full and so they may just not bother to check.

I had a friend who did this (without my blessing) on NW probably 10 years ago. I was Platinum at the time and had already been able to upgrade my brother. The FA caught my friend, but let him sit there anyway as a nicety to me as a second companion upgrade.

I've asked FA's when I notice that the cabin isn't going to be full. They've many times accomodated my wife or friends. It is rare to see an empty seat these days, though.

When Mrs. Reds was a silver last year travelling on an awards ticket, she was on a flight that had four empty seats in First Class and the gate agent put her in one of the empty seats in First Class. She would have never considered just sitting there herself though.

I can count on one hand the number of times in a year I see empty seats in F. Well, for dom flts anyway. There are often isolated empties in intl BE.

Reminds me of a flt last year. I was in 4C and 4D was empty. Woman in 4B asked me if I thought FA would allow her teenage daughter (sitting in Y) to come up front. Told her to ask but if FA said yes, I would switch seats with her.

Sure enough, FA allowed it after we hit cruising altitude. Nice touch by the FA (gave her a JWD). Mom could have been a bit nicer and given daughter her F seat but in the end, worked out well. OTOH, would have been a bit crude if mother just moved her daughter up without asking the FA first.

I can also count on one hand the number of flights I can remember with empty F seats.

I have found that on mainline flights the FA tend to check the manifest more often. In fact, my last flight the FA doing pre-flight beverages addressed everyone by name while carrying a copy of the manifest with her. I think sneaking into F is a gutsy move and I would bet 9 times out of 10 the FA will catch you.

I was on a DL Connection flight last year STL-DCA on a Saturday morning and there were three of us in F. The FA moved up a group of her friends who were apparently on the plane. The FA was nice, but here friends were obnoxious.

On a recent TLV-JFK flight, in which Biz Elite had a number of empty seats, one of the pax decided to give himself an upgrade.

An FA asked to see his boarding pass (before take off) and when he presented it, she told him to go back to his Economy seat. He suddenly decided he did not understand English at all.

Unfortunately for him, Delta always has at least two Hebrew-speaking FAs on this flight and one of them told him that he would have to move. He refused.

At that point, he was informed that he would either move or the police would be called to take him off the plane.

Suddenly, that Y seat he had did not look all that bad to him. :D

On a very empty midweek redeye last year PHX-ATL, I was traveling with a group and was able to get 3 companions upgraded just by asking the GA nicely.

Would never dream of just rolling myself into an empty F seat... wow.

You won't know until you try it. :D

The audacity of people to attempt this is beyond my comprehension. We have all wanted to "self-upgrade" on an international flight with some empty BE seats, but don't regardless of our opinion of Delta's policies to the same. Unfortunately, I think self-entitlement is on the rise and you would see more of this if it weren't for the very heavy F loads. I guess the thinking is "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying...":td:

The fact that an FO would actually volunteer that information to a fare-paying passenger speaks volumes for the sensitivity of people that airlines employ nowadays. Hope he has better luck when he puts his brain into gear when he is at the controls....:td:

I think that by "FO" the poster was referring to a Silver Medallion, not a First Officer, but I could be wrong.

Correct, he was a SM.

Most shameless example I've seen: a passenger helps herself to 1A. The FA comes to ask for her boarding pass, presumably seeing 1A set to be vacant on the manifest, and the passenger responds, "Oh, this isn't 13E?"

Once in domestic FC, I boarded late with 2A assigned to me to find some guy already sitting in 2A. I called the FA who asked to see his boarding pass. It said something like 29E and he tried to pretend that he had just taken the wrong seat by mistake at which point I loudly commented that it would be impossible to confuse those seats as he did the walk of shame to the back.