Has this truly never been discussed on FT? I tried a search on <steal upgrade> and <theft upgrade> ... nothing matched.

‘Mike Murray’ (is that his real name?) regularly sneaks into First Class and he’s proud of it. He is part of a larger article about cheating in today’s society in the Weekend WSJ..

The article describes Mr Murray's self-upgrading. He's done it four or five times recently. Says: "I felt like I robbed a bank." Goes on to say he's been busted a number of times: "the humiliation of getting sent back to coach is nothing compared to the thrill of a free ride." He has a few other tricks that make him a low life poster boy. Other petty larcenies (by others) described include: stealing gas, ashtrays, golf, wine, movie fares.

I’m sure I saw it once: the ‘gentleman’ across the aisle got up from his seat, went back to econ and plunked his friend into the empty seat next to him. Oh, the fuss he made when his friend was bounced! The ‘gentleman’ started to tap something into his PC and was last seen fuming and retreating to econ, never to be seen again. Presumably he joined his friend in a show of solidarity. He so upset the cabin crew that I wrote a letter for their files in case Mr. sneaky upgrade ever wrote to make wild and crazy accusations.

Ya’ know, on second thought maybe Mike Murray really only told the reporter that he
occasionally gets upgraded for unknown reasons and look how the article turned out!
<very, very tongue in cheek on my part>

Let’s dish some dirt! And those of you outside the USA - stop snickering.

Jim

[This message has been edited by jimquan (edited 08-26-2000).]

The airline should just wait until arrival, and present a bill for the full-fare 1st-class seat. And of course, if you can't pay the bill on the spot, perhaps there are some dishes that need washing...a lot of dishes!

Your link appears to be for subscribers only.

You might want to paraphrase the article a bit more for those who are not subscribers.

At my office, my group's admin. told me how she bought a dress for a party and returned it the next day.

I'm not sure if this behavior is an epidemic but I'm amazed how proud some people are at bending the rules beyond breaking - in effect stealing.

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Someday we'll reach an understanding - meet me halfway that's where I'm going to be.

Sorry I guess that is a subscribers only link. See paraphrase in the edited version above.

I have mentioned a similar experience a few times on the USAirways board. A couple of years ago, I barely made a flight from PIT to SEA... boarded, and found all seats in First full. The pilot asked me to either go to coach or disembark so they "wouldn't be late", so I got off. Only thanks to a diligent gate agent did I finally get my seat. He noticed they had all 24 flight coupons, and mine was one of them. Upshot, they held the flight, found the guy, and ,incredibly, simply moved him to his proper seat. Nothing else. Since then, airlines have become so focused on pushing flights on time, I am certain they would never take the time to do that kind of search today. This kind of wiseguy is probably the same type who makes bogus bookings in First, hoping to have more seats available at flight time for upgrade. What a country.

I seen people bounced from FC at least 5 or 6 times on Continental flights.

Of course with Continental's unlimited upgrades, its rare to see an empty seat in FC.

Several times I've had flight attentants ask to see boarding passes for people in FC.

Is it any surprise in an era where prevailing morality is, "It's only wrong if you get caught?" that you'd have (1) morons bragging how much they love to steal, and (2) reporters giving these idiots a forum?

It is one thing to "work the system". Maximizing your benefits within the confines of a system defined by others is completely acceptable.

Outright theft is another thing entirely. It doesn't matter if the seat is sitting there empty. It means slightly better service to the folks who earned/purchased those FC seats!

Like Boomer, I fly CO, which almost always has full FC. I'd imagine this stunt would be harder to execute there.

Ditto for UA - the rest of the employees sitting there wouldn't recognize the thief.

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Agree with Jon Toner.

The airline's "product" are their service classes and they are priced accordingly.

IMHO, this is no different than stealing. Paying for one product and then taking another higher priced one that you never purchased or were given.

I've only seen it happen once...when a UA Flight Attendant noticed one more PAX in First than her on-board manifest indicated, and questioned the gentleman. He told her he had upgraded at the last minute, and he couldn't find his new ticket stub. She thanked him and walked away, but she must have been suspicious. A few minutes later she returned to him with a reply communication that she had requested the Captain to send. Seems there was no record of an upgrade for this "gentleman." He just turned to me and grumbled, "Well, I tried." and headed back to Coach without even an apoligy to the FA to whom he had lied to.

I love it when this happens - I so enjoy watching to see who the cabin crew will chose to question first.

They normaly revert to type, and ask for the boarding pass of anyone vaguely youthful and then they tend to go on what people are wearing.

I enjoy it so much when they get to me - which is normally pretty early on in the process - if I am feeling really naughty I mess about tryign to fing a boarding card for ages (this lulls the cabin crew into the belief that they have found the culprit) and then just wjen they are about to move me anyway, I produce the boarding card and if it is BA they see they were just about to boot a "VIP" - such fun! and normally worth a bottle of Champagne to take away as well. heehee

Nick

Jon, couldn't have said it better myself.
Unfortunately, I saw this happen once on a Continental flight. While waiting for the FC lav, I heard the two FA's discussing the passenger in 4A who was in the seat but not on the manifest.

During the duration of the flight, I watched as the woman ordered drink after drink, until the FA finally cut her off.

You tinker Merry, isn't F enough fun with out all the leg pulling

This topic brings to mind the phrase "a rotten apple spoils the bunch". It is behavior like the stealing of upgrades (not to be too high and mighty about this I admit that I will "steal" an upgraded seat on occassion at an opera after the first intermission if it does not get filled), and the dress buying and returning so it can be worn once for free, that makes things hard for the majority of us that live life adhering to even a minimal standard of personal integrity. Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder how these people justify their actions to themselves (when it comes to opera I am an irrational being ).

Merry....I like your approach. The respondents on this board are too sanctimonious.

What happened to honesty and ethics.

Maybe ask Bill Clinton?

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~ Glen ~



[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 08-27-2000).]