BlueStreak17

Please settle A dispute i am having with family over Christmas brunch.
My brother is taking a flight to Australia. He was saying that he would try to slip gate agents money to try to get a better seat. I told him that this absolutely didn’t work, but then other family members chimed in saying this would work. Please let me put this to bed so we can move onto other uncomfortable family interaction😉. They said they would accept the FlyerTalk opinion.

I realize that this has worked for hotels when trying to get a better room, YMMV. I figured we could also use this thread to go over situation where slipping someone a 20 or 50 or 100 WOULD work.

Sorry if this has been done. It’s too hard to search old threads on the phone and that’s all I have at my parents house.

Thanks and Merry Everything, Everybody!

txflyer77

Airlines? Not with any first-world airline, unless an upgrade is legitimately for sale, but I'm not even sure if most gate agents in the US can take cash at this point. I expect you'd have to pay with plastic.

Hotels? In Vegas, sure:

$20 Trick - It works very well

Elsewhere, I wouldn't say it *won't* work but it'd be foolish to try.

Overall this is a travel myth that just won't die, like wearing a suit to get an upgrade. Media outlets inexplicably write it up every year anyways, generally from an author who clearly hasn't boarded a plane in 20 years.

Toshbaf

Why not try it? For a US to Australia trip, why not give the gate agent an envelope of hundreds. Report back to us. $20 is not going to cut it. Also define "better seat". You're not going to be upgraded to business class but you might be able to get an aisle seat or window seat.

Kagehitokiri

yes but not for those amounts at the airlines/hotels you are talking about

on an airline, especially if premium is empty, someone could be allowed to sit there, not sure re govt regulations re manifests etc

in a hotel, even chain (vs independent) there can be lots of wiggle room especially if working outside the computer system

employees are always the weakest link

but depending on how one is asking, dont assume it could never be considered crime / attempted crime
(a number of airlines are government owned, and quite a few chain hotels are as well)

the thing about vegas is thousands of rooms (in hotel) mostly filled with gamblers (and conferences)

KDS777

This will never work with a conventional airline. Computerization and the strict monetization of seats prevent it. Each seat assignment mentioned is controlled and employees are tracked and held accountable if anything outside of protocol is attempted or occurs. No one is going to put their job at risk for $50 or $500.......and face criminal charges for theft.

I have done this at a hotel once, but, I held the top tier of status for that hotel chain, so I was entitled to an upgrade at the discretion of the property. The hotel was -50 for rooms due to a snowstorm in ORD so I slipped a $50 bill underneath my status card when I passed it to the agent asking for a room. Key words here are........"qualified and entitled".........this would pass muster if audited.

If you're just a kettle you're out of luck.

Often1

Lots of hotel FD clerks are harried and underpaid. It is certainly doable at many places. But $20 is laughable these days.

Air carriers generally track every keystroke and if you were, for example, provided an unsupported upgrade, it would likely be the end of the GA's career.

Carriers do sell upgrades, although cash is rarely accepted at the gate. Again, if you were thinking of this, bear in mind that a dirt cheap last minute UG from Y to J on a TPAC would cost in the neighborhood of $1,000. If you are thinking of slipping a GA $20 to move you up the list, that is laughable.

For what it is worth, there are tons or urban myths out there. Tell your relative to dress in a nice suit, say that it is his honeymoon, that he is enroute to his mother's funeral and then on to treat sick orphans on his birthday.

WorldLux

... all while they are saving the world for mutant-gorillas.

Annalisa12

Spoke to my QF captain friend. He said not even he has the authority to upgrade anyone. So if you want a good seat you need to pay for it.

Us Aussies would look at the money and wonder what's that for.

halls120

About 10 years go, I was flying DCA-ATL-BOG on DL. Got to ATL and had a bit of a layover. Went to a Service Desk, handed the CSR my BP and said "any chance of getting an upgrade since my brother is DL pilot?" She asked me what his name was. She looked him up, and printed me a new BP for a seat in C. Only time my brother has been a benefit for me.

Kagehitokiri

also, no one is considering onboard? (few airlines sell upgrades onboard, right?)

the equivalent at hotels would be in the middle of the night especially if few staff

BlueStreak17

Thanks for the advice When I showed the posts to my brother, he said that he meant once he was onboard and saw empty seats in F. I think that would be less likely as the shenanigans would have to be done in front of a bunch of passengers who would absolutely complain.
But I guess it might be easier to get around the computers that way.

WorldLux

I presume that your brother only flies domestic. It's unlikely that he'll manage to sneak into another class onboard a long haul flight. Even if the crew didn't notice at first, it would only take one passenger to complain to get him booted out again. If he just sits down in the wrong seat during boarding, they may already catch him if they count the passengers. Then they'd notice that Y was one light and J would have one too many.

ibrandsguest

It wouldn't work. On a recent flight on American Airlines, another passenger tried to tip a flight attendant $20, not requesting anything in return. She refused to accept it.

Lost

Can you imagine the riot that would break out if the person who paid full fare F found out the person next to him just bought a restricted basic economy fare and slipped $20 to the FA?

KDS777

It would never happen on board once the door was closed and no FA could do it anyways, except for the purser/service director, who is a senior well paid position. And, they're not going to put their job at risk either.