cottonpatch

While the OP is aware of perils pointed out, I believe the intent was to find out if the FA would be inclined to allow the swapping of seats to take place.

It is my belief that the in-flight staff would allow the swap to take place. YMMV and may be dependent on the amount of courtesy and discretion when making the request. It is assumed that the request is made in a timely fashion - in other words, before the boarding door is closed and before services are rendered.

Ledfish

Chicken! I'm going to file this in my brain for the next time I'm up front and the wife is in back. "Sorry honey, I'd really love to give you my F seat, but it would be fraud".

injera

I apologize for stirring the pot - really wasn't my intent.

I'll book her on La Compagnie to LTN. $1,700 r/t flight, not as nice as DL but certainly a step up from a middle seat in Y.

Ledfish

As long as your not switching back and forth during the flight, I'd find it hard to believe that any flight crew would have a problem with husband and wife switching. In fact, you would probably get more reaction (negative) if you failed to do so and the FA finds out (speaking from experience).

cottonpatch

pvn

I knew as soon as I read the thread title there would be people clenching their fists

UKtravelbear

Better get in quick that service ends on the 24th September!


However why not look at a flight to CDG or AMS then on to LHR?

That could work out slightly cheaper in Y and may even make J affordable.

northwest_buckeye

Bingo. Gotta get that post count up. People, even within the same company, switch seats so someone else can sit up front on long haul commercial. In a bit of anecdotal evidence, I know a CEO who switched seats with a lower ranking employee seated in Y who had never been up front long-haul. The horror!

He was not forced to fire himself for such an egregious act of tax fraud, as no one outside the flight knew or gave a damn.

flyerCO

Switching with an employee involves no such tax liability issues. Switching with a non-employee spouse/child/friend is what triggers the tax liability.

NoStressHere

I think the direction this thread has gone should put this in the top "Can you believe" threads.

Forget the whole company or IRS thing. Pathetic.

The OP only wanted to know if the flight crew would have any problem. And the answer is they will not. In fact, if you stop and tell the crew in D1 what you are doing as your lucky wife is getting settled, they will surely make sure you are taken care of back in steerage.

Good guy. Happy Wife, Happy Life. Have a great flight and ignore all the problem posters. (some which I admire greatly, except for this thread).

FlyingWithers

My wife and I do this often. We board with our respective passes and then walking down the jetway I hand my wife my seat pass.

Occasionally a FA will ask if she is Mr. X; my wife replies that I am in the back of the bus because I am working on saving our m marriage.

Have fun.

ATLawyer

Anyone suggesting that seat swapping is fraud or triggers an IRS problem is 100% full of it and has literally zero idea what they are talking about.

First, it's not fraud, under any circumstances. At WORST it is a breach of contract with Delta, and I guarantee you Delta couldn't care less (unless you have a really cranky FA, and even then the repercussions are minor).

As for IRS problems.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I had a good laugh at this one and actually brought a few colleagues over who do tax litigation over to see the crazy.

If you buy FC and there is an involuntary downgrade due to equipment swap, does Delta owe the IRS? Can you only get reimbursed for the coach price? What if MX or weather cancels the flight? REIMBURSEMENT OUT THE WINDOW, NO BUSINESS EXPENSE. The idiotic hypothetical are endless.

OP - Tell the FA, they either will or won't care (95% of the time they won't care). That's it. And ignore the trolls.

flyerCO

Guess what? The IRS would only consider the coach fare a legitimate business expense. The passenger flying in D1 wouldn't be an employee thus there's no business justification for the expense. Plenty of businesses have these rules and for a reason. If you use a company cell phone for a personal call, technically you have to have that amount added as taxable wages since it's not a legit business expense.

This only applies if you switch with someone that's not an employee of the company. If weather, or FL cause a downgrade that doesn't have tax implications.

If you get a $20 gift card at Christmas the company has to add it as a taxable benefit. By switching with the wife the IRS would view the D1 ticket as being for her, even though in your name. Thus it would be a taxable benefit.

ATLawyer

The business rule has nothing to do with the IRS. There is zero risk of IRS problems from seat swapping.

This is just not true, no technicality about it. (again, it may be a problem with your company, e.g. personal use of internet during work hours, but it's not a tax/IRS issue)

You know that the IRS actually issues advisory opinions about these sorts of things right? Please do a modest amount of research before running your mouth about things that simply aren't true.

pvn

People get mad when other people don't follow "THE RULES" so they make up a bunch of scary IRS WILL SEND YOU TO GITMO AND WATERBOARD YOU stories, it happens all the time.