PRWeezer

That's a big no-no. I once saw a FA (not Deltalina, it was a guy) finger wag & talk sternly to a young lady after doing so to sit with her Buddy Pass friend. Among the comments I overheard was "your Father WILL hear about this." It was International J, out of EZE where they have been known to hold nonrevs at the ticket counter until they know they can clear them. So by the time she boarded the other pax were well settled in with their stuff put away, socks on, etc. Somebody did move before the FA noticed, he also said something to that pax that I didn't hear.

MSPeconomist

Good for that FA for laying down the law. IME the EZE flights are generally horrible for nonrevs behaving badly, including moving nonrevs with very young children up into BE and allowing not only a nonrev to bring a dog (not a service animal) into BE but also to have it out of the carrier for most of the flight.

thiosk

Now that you guys mentioned "OpUps" that must have been it. I had read that if you get upgraded you shouldn't ask for refills. So if you get upgraded you shouldn't ask but any other way of buying into J, even if it's with miles, is treated the same from what I understand

davetravels

Sorry, but this is simply NOT the case!!!

If you're in J - - you're in J! You get all the perks! If for some reason they're low on something, they may ask you to cut back a little, but, honestly, I have NEVER seen this happen!

Don't NOT ask for whatever you want just because you received an op-up! Nonrevs . . . . a different story.

thiosk

Ok cool just making sure I understand what it's all about. Thanks! By the way, are there so many non-revs flying around that they are mentioned everywhere? It seems like they are everywhere, lol, they must be a lot. But yeah I wasn't referring to non-revs, just clarifying what the deal is

doubleA

They'd honestly be crazy to provide a lesser service to OpUps, a few of those on JFK-DUB, ATL-DUB and JFK-TXL was enough to convince me it was worth it to go for Y/B/M and SWUs, or in some cases pay outright for discounted Biz (what was like I, S, etc.) I haven't flown in the back of the bus internationally in a while now thanks to those OpUps (or maybe no thanks...)

thesaints

opups and nonrevs are two very different things. As an opup I'd expect and demand the same treatment as the passenger paying the highest fare in the cabin.

MSPeconomist

True, but there are a few airlines who handle OPUPs by making people say that they understand that there might not be catering for them, etc. To me, this looks tacky.

NWAFA

The only restriction for anyone being upgraded to FC or BE is about 99% zero. If you're up front, there is a reason for it. It doesn't matter the circumstances. Once in a great while, if someone was upgraded to the front, we wouldn't be catered 100%. In those situations, the passenger was told about the meal shortage and they would still have their coach meal. The passenger 100% did not care about the meal. Though we'd still try to dress it up as much as we could.

It still grates on my nerves the active non-revs who disregard the rules. They make it harder for the rest of the employees. I had to once take a deadheading junior FA aside who was wearing a Mickey Mouse Tee under his work shirt while in uniform. I could have denied him boarding under those conditions, uniform infraction. But I let him know I was allowing him to fly, and while on layover, get new under shirts and not to put another fellow FA in the position that had just done to me. He looked like he was going to cry or poop his pants.

davetravels

I seem to remember this happening to me once on KL, although I can't seem to remember the details. Their bold FAs are none too shy to tell'ya to enjoy the seat, but, you're an op-up, so, ya ain't gettin' a J meal!!

DYKWIA2014

I think that it's more of a case of some people have a real bee in their bonnet about non-revs, but that's their issue not mine.

Unless you saw my boarding pass, you would have no idea that I was flying Non-Rev, nor is it anyone's business.

rucksack

Agreed. I completely understand offering paid J flyers their choice of meal before offering OpUp J flyers theirs. However, I'd be critical if an airline ran out of J catering altogether. They should be managing service levels as if the cabin was completely full with paid customers.

mikepa

In the old days of SWUs working to upgrade any fare internationally, we were told same day upgrades were not possible due to catering limitations. I would have been happy with the J seat, Y meal, but no, they didn't allow it.

MSPeconomist

PMNW once denied me an upgrade into IFC on a 747 TPAC, IIRC ORD-NRT/KIX, because the flight hadn't been catered full. It was shortly before they phased out their IFC offering, so it was my last chance to enjoy it. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. Also IIRC I was trying to use one of their special upgrade instrument for business to first class, which I then wasn't able to use before it became worthless.

davetravels

Just 2 tiny J catering related tidbitz . . . .

Once, I was flying NRT/PDX, and Y was overbooked. I inquired about possible VDB or J UG. VDB wasn't needed, and was told that because I had ordered a special meal, I wasn't eligible for a J UG. I offered to forgo the special meal - was told that flights weren't catered with extra meals, so, someone would be stuck with my special meal in Y. I offered to have my Y meal up front - - again, NO! From that day onward, I no longer order special meals. I realize that some people aren't as flexible as me with their diets.

Flying USA/AMS once, in J, the lead FA took dinner orders whilst still on the ground, as usual, but she didn't ask the college-age girl next to me. So, on her way back, I stopped her to inquire about it. She simply said - - Oh, she doesn't get a choice. Of course, now I know the reason, but, she eventually told me that her mom was a DL pilot. Nuff said!