GF in coach?
 

My friend is Platinum and bought his live-in girlfriend a ticket from LA-NY. Only he was upgraded so he took the upgrade and she had to sit in coach. He said it's fair because he's Plat, he has to travel all the time and he bought her ticket. She never gets to fly in F and this was a vacation they took together.

Do you think he should have given her the F seat, should he have sat next her in coach and given his upgrade to the next person on the list, or did he do the right thing? I am in agreement with her about #1 or #2 personally...

Since they are debating and there are other posts about this on FlyerTalk, I said I would post this here so they can read the feedback.

He could get another upgrade on their return flight this week so your posts could have an impact on his behavior...

Maybe they'll both clear ;)

But if not, IMHO, the lady gets the F seat, especially if it's a regular for the guy to ride up front.

-A

what does she look like?

Um, I'm a girl and that sounds like a really irrelevant and typical male question so I'll give it a smart@ss answer: Obviously good enough for him to live with! (you will note I said she is his live-in girlfriend) :)

I'm a woman. If the situation were reversed, I would decline the upgrade if we can't both be in F.

What I would have done from the get-go: get boyfriend ticket in F with miles. Pay for my ticket and upgrade to F.

My fiance is gold and whenever we travel together he's always concerned that his upgrade will clear and mine won't. He always volunteers to give up his seat in first if that were to happen. Not to me, but to someone else so he can be by my side. Then again, I've been up front plenty of times on my own.

It's never had to happen because on every flight we've been on together we both clear or neither of us do.

Maybe that's why I'm going to marry him.:D

To answer your question, he should not have put himself on the upgrade list or given the seat to her.

The girlfriend should be very happy that she knows this type of stuff before she says yes to marrying the guy.

Personally I think it's a bit selfish to take the upgrade and leave your love in coach. If I did that (and I wouldn't), I would feel very guilty about it. If FC was that important to him, then buy her a FC ticket.

Coach is not some third-world torture chamber (although CRJs are darn close!) so I think valuing your companion and NOT just thinking of yourself is the way to go. As I said, he sounds pretty selfish. A real gentleman would have traded seats and let her sit up from and put his a$$ in coach if he was too cheap to buy her a FC ticket.

how much does he like her?!. Seriously though, if he's flying all the time he probably occasionally gets to sit in FC, so why not be generous and give it to her who has never flown FC?

I've ALWAYS given my FC upgrade to my DH when only one of us makes the grade (he's generously my senior).

A month ago my gf and I flew to from DCA to OAK. I stupidly had not bought her a companion upgradeable fare on the way there and even though there were 7 seats available in FC, we sat in the exit row. On the way back, I cleared, but declined the upgrade so we could again sit in the exit row. Honestly, the FC product isn't so superior as to be worth the bludgeoning I'd receive for leaving my SO in the back...

and a typical response from me. but I digress.....

Remember the classic Seinfeld episode where Jerry took the F seat and put Elaine in coach? Of course, Elaine wasn't his girlfriend at the time....

My wife and I do not mind being apart for short (under 3 hour) flights so if we get just one upgrade, it doesn't matter. She likes a window seat and if my aisle is upgraded and all that is left is her coach window, she stays. If we can get me an aisle, she moves forward. She's smaller than I am and doesn't really care where she sits.

Now we were headed to London and could only upgrade to business one seat. She said she did not need to sit up front. Guess what I did. Right, I bought her a business class seat. Life is too short to do otherwise.

The guy sounds classless, anything but a gentleman, and selfish. I highly doubt someone like that could be swayed by a message board of travelers who will most likely ALL agree he should give up his seat to be with his love.

:td:

It won't be his last upgrade, so I think he should get over sitting with the hoi polloi for a change and join his gf.

Not irrelevant at all, and live-in certainly means nothing. What if he looks like a walrus? Just the fact she's live-in doesn't answer up's question.

As to the topic of the OP, I'll jump in the fray, but go the other direction. It's none of your business what arrangements other people have. If both of them are ok with what he did, then great. If not, well, I guess he'll be having a "blue" vacation. Either way, the problem will resolve itself.