Well being a domestic trip and not that long a flight I would give her the upgrade or sit in coach with her. I see they are flying delta so I am not aware of there upgrade policies but on AA they ask you if you want to upgrade one or none if they can only clear one upgrade.

Absolutely nothing... I just wanted a visual ;)

You do seem to be siding with the lady based on your posts. I think your friend might prefer you butt out of his business rather than inciting people to gang up against him on an internet message board ;)

You're very welcome... although I can assure you I did read the OP.

Let's get back to the most important matter please... is the girlfriend hot or not? :D

I wouldn't tell another person how to relate to their SO, but this guy sounds like a jerk. My comments on this aren't in the service of butting in, but rather simply my opinion on this behavior.

It's bad enough to be aloof and do something insensitive, simply because you weren't considering your SO's perspective. But to actually argue the point once it's brought to your attention, and go to a third party seeking support for this sort of move? That's terrible.

he should ride up front he probably needs the down time . if they can't be apart that little bit of time they have problems . she got a free ticket maybe she could pay for the upgrade herself . equal rights
it might be a good test to see what she would do

It's called chivalry and despite my best attempts to keep it alive, people seem hellbent on killing it.

The people who won't give their FC seat to their SO are likely the same people who won't give up their seat on the bus/subway, open/hold doors for women and hold their coat up for them while putting it on.

I would decline the upgrade...or give her the upgrade. I would definitely not sit in First unless both of us could be there. You go on vacation to be together, not to show off how much of a savvy/chic flyer you are.

-W

If he was a gentleman he would automatically know that ladies come first he shouldn't of had to ask

Thank you. I agree.

Chivalry was nice when your wife was your property, say in the dark ages. You wanted your property to be well taken care of, and not damaged, so you provided a private carriage to protect her from the riffraff. That is so 13th Century.

I happen to like women, and would offer my FC seat to my GF or my wife (as long as they're not on the same flight together!), if they had more of a need for it than I did. Otherwise, it's all for brownie points. If you have to bribe your wife or GF with a FC seat, or she's going to be pissed off, then what is your relationship really based on?

In the real world, I try and get everyone upgraded to FC. Sometimes all of use get UGed, sometimes one or two. The whole she needs to be treated better since she's a woman, seems rather silly in this day and age. I think that people want the courtesy of the 1950's, without the 50% difference in wages between men and women.

This also has nothing to do with opening doors, or giving up a seat to the elderly, or infirm. There is a need in the latter two cases, but not just because someone is a certain sex.

Heh, this guy doesn't know too much about the ladies.

He can do whatever he wants, but his actions do not show him to be particularly classy.

This is complicated. I think we should just let them settle this themselves - this isn't our business.

That said, I'm torn. On one side - chivarly is important, as long as you don't go overboard, and he should treat his girlfriend like a princess. On another hand, the guy DID pay for her ticket, and he got upgraded.

I don't see any solution in this - no matter what, one side won't like it. I say, it's not the end of the world - maybe he's not the classiest guy in the world - but he's not an orge, either.

It's interesting to see how sexually biased this world still is. Otherwise it wouldn't matter if the SO is male or female. But many posters here go the way of "she's female so she needs to be treated better". That's not how I see it. Treat your SO as an equal.

In the case of the upgrade you can look at it in an objective way. They have the choice to both sit in coach, or at least one of them could enjoy some time in first class. If they live together, I'm sure they won't mind sitting apart for 6 hours. All other things equal, they could just take turns each time this situation occurs. However, if one party has never flown in first class, it should be clear who gets to go first.

If sitting together is important, he can always decline the upgrade.

HTB.

You say treat SO as equal but you refer to a guy (as getting the upgrade). Interesting.

That explains everything.

If he travels all the time, he gets to sit up front a lot.... give someone else a shot to see how cool it is to travel all the time?

I would give the F seat to her, if I was in his position.

A good thing came out of this: she gets to see what kind of a person he really is.

Personally, if my wife and I are traveling together (and alone) then either we both get upgraded or neither of us. If we are traveling with the kids, then since I tend to travel more than she does (and thus am not with the kids as much) I will let her sit up-front if she chooses. This allows her to relax on the flight and me some time playing with the kids.