Say two people who know each other are flying together in different classes, Can the Y flyer 'visit' he colleague (etc) for a chat (assume not during meals or 'quiet time' and done in a quiet manner) etc

Many first classes have the option for two to dine together (in the suite) is that only for two 1st class flyers? can at least be invited for a drink?

Do a search for "visiting first class." This topic has been discussed frequently in this forum. The practice is strongly discouraged, and you most certainly will not be allowed to stay for drinks or dinner.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave......-cabin.html

Your presence would not be welcome and after a few minutes I would complain to the FA. I book First class to get away from alot of traffic, so someone coming up would be a bother. Why not have the person come back....or would that not get you the amenities that are desired?

In BA F it is permitted (and in the crew rule book). It has to be outside of meal times, and provided that the lower class visitor keeps quiet and doesn't consume anything.

If the visitor was from J, would that matter as they get free drinks anyway?

Yup. Better booze in F so to 'preserve the cabin' you can't have any. Free drinks in Y on BA too.

I've seen UA FAs send visitors back to coach, mealtime or not.

It depends on the situation as well. For instance, last year I was travelling with my parents SFO-LHR on UA. They were in F, I was in C, but because they rarely travel and are getting a bit on the old side. I spoke to one of the F flight attendants before the flight, and had no problem going to up to visit 2 or 3 times during the trip. Each time was only 5 minutes or so, and just to check on them. Still, having flown F myself in the past, I tried to be discreet and quiet as I didn't want to bother anyone.

As others have mentioned, I think the key - if you're going to do this at all - is to be infrequent, brief and discreet, so that you can balance your needs with the wishes of the other pax in F.

...because of scarcity of U/G's given on AC allot of times when me and the missus go somewhere far away and we are both flying on rev tix...one of us will sit up front on the way there...the other up front on the way back...and if we want to chat whoever is up front always comes to the rear of the cabin.
I agree with others, 5 minutes and as long as your weren't talking loud wouldn't bother me if I was in J, but I can see how long visits may put some people who have paid for the privlegde off.

No, remember your place and keep out.





Just kidding, it should be ok provided you DO NOT sit down and you keep it quiet.

I think AA permits visitors from business to first on the 777 during mealtimes, but the visitor must use the little "guest" seat on their host's suite (unless the host is willing to sit in the "guest" seat).
Otherwise, I think the general rule of convening in the lowest ticketed cabin amongst the group is the rule. I was on a UA 747 in First, the front section of the business cabin was empty, so I wandered over there to have a look and try out the seat. I then wandered into the coach cabin, took a walk around the back and then returned to the nose. The FA who saw me asked me if I was taking a walk and told me to walk around at my pleasure.

there isn't as much of a barrier between First and Business as there is between Business and Coach since both F & C are premium cabins, the pax either paid a lot (miles or cash or upgrades) and most pax in business are quite content with what they have and aren't really interested in First. I'm sure that many business class pax have at one point or another sat in First before.

First is like owning a Mercedes Benz
Business is like owning a high end Lincoln Navigator
Coach is like owning a 20 year old Chevy pickup truck.

the Lincoln owner isn't going to care much about going for the Benz, but the 20 year old chevy pickup owner is going to be more envious...

Not sure them guys with the gun racks aspire to anything European (or anything not made by GM).

Here's my view of the analogy:

First = Aston Martin Vanquish
Business = BMW M5
Economy Plus = BMW 328 (not 335), any MB C-class (except AMG)
Economy = Honda Accord

Agreed. Even if you're "visiting" the cabin, you're enjoying the benefits of a class you did not pay for, earn, or were comped. Regardless of whether it is mealtime or if the "guest" consumes anything, being in the cabin for anything other than a couple of minutes for a valid reason means they are still enjoying the comfort of the premium cabin.

Further, given that you've simply described this person as a "colleague", what is it that you have to talk about that you need to trek from one cabin to another during a flight that you couldn't chat about in the gate area, baggage claim, or in a post-flight e-mail? Why not have your colleague visit you in your cabin? If it is something you might think of mid-flight, then send a note via FA.

The only thing that burns me up worse than friends/colleagues coming to visit are the families traveling in different class cabins (i.e. dad and teen in coach, and mom & baby in C of F -- adult child in E- or older parent in F), and the family members in coach feel that they have the right to just come up and "sit with" their family in the higher classes. I have gone off on that many times, and each time, the person was redirected back to their seat by the crew, if they didn't leave when I asked them to. Hey, if you can't even use the bathroom in a different cabin, you sure shouldn't be able to occupy any other type of seat in that compartment either.