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.

I'm not sure this belongs in the DL forum. TravelBuzz! maybe?

That said, I always make sure my SO is up front if only one of us is...

Please explain why what she looks like has to do with my original post. And no, I don't understand why his looking like a walrus would matter.

My original post said they were debating it, and thus obviously both of them are not ok with that he did. Otherwise they would not be debating whether what he did was right, would not have brought it to my attention and asked my opinion, and I would not have posted here. Thanks for telling me I'm butting my business into other people's supposed arrangements and then adding your 2 cents, of course. I always find it amusing when a poster flames the OP without carefully reading the original post - thanks so much for your kind words!

Oops sorry - meant to say this was on Delta and upcoming flight on Delta so said I would post here for feedback in this forum...

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I think she should him the posts if he gets the only upgrade and wants her to sit in back again since he doesn't believe that most people would really think she should get it!

I think you meant "she"...This thread is starting to get ugly!

No pun intended :p

In my experience, if FAs realize that you are letting your wife/GF sit in F on your UG while you sit in Y, they are usually very nice to you (I've received quite a few free drinks in Y, etc.).

He should of let her sit in front, let her experience first class and he is a plat so I bet he has experienced coach before on a long domestic he would of survived.

Yeah, i know he earned his plat but why not be nice to the hopefully future wife

The flight attendants can be super-nice to folks who give up their seats when they hear about it.

I remember sitting next to a gentleman in F who told me that he would be switching seats with his girlfriend because she had never experienced flying in F before. I told him I thought it was a shame they couldn't experience F together and although they were somewhat reluctant to do so, I switched with my F seat for their coach seat so they could sit together (the flight was a little over two hours, so it was no big deal for me as I can read magazines equally well in either size seat).

Shortly before take off, one of the FAs comes up to me and tells me that there are still a few empty seats in F and invited me back up front. In the end, everyone (except the airline who didn't get any more revenue for the additional F seat flow) made out well. :)

I'd be with the majority in having the gentleman in coach while allowing the lady to fly in F.

Let her take the bump and get the voucher? ;)

Seriously, offer the seat to her. As other posters noted the FAs are usually very nice to you when they realize what happened. Every once in a while you get the ogre flight attendant that won't allow the swap to happen (I've seen it happen), but most every other case you get treated very well.

That's why she's only a live-in girl friend. Do you think any husband in his right mind would let his wife seat in coach? I think not!

..

I agree that this thread belongs in TravelBuzz so am moving it.
Please follow in TravelBuzz..
Obscure2k
Delta Moderator

Wait till you've been married upteen years with mulitple kids and grandkids and you're 100% she won't leave ya, then stick her in coach...:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

1. He absolutely offers her the seat and he sits in her seat.
2. He should then, assuming she turns it down, give it up when he gets to the gate to the next person on the list. (OR just offer it to the person sitting next to her on the plane.)

He sat up there and left her back there? Damn, he has A LOT to learn.

GF in the luggage compartment?
 

This question comes up again and again and again. What 80% of people say is to give it to the wife. Why? Is she so delicate that riding with the great unwashed in coach will permanently scar her?

A few reasons why you might give up your FC seat to a spouse or GF:

Bad back
Very Tall
Very Wide
Never sat in FC before.

All are valid reasons. However, to give her the upgrade just because she's female is just nonsense in these days of equal rights.

Perhaps I've been married too long, but we can stand sitting in different rows and even cabins for hours or even days if necessary. Last week, my wife got upgraded on both segments to SJO, while my teenager didn't (reward ticket). They switched, and each got FC for one segment. I'd recommend a similar deal with the guy and his GF if he wants to be equitable.

She should upgrade to a platinum boyfriend. He's pyrite. (fools's gold).

Haha! No... I meant exactly what I said... was responding to this:

Which was a response to this:

She implies that because someone is a live-in girlfriend, they must be "good enough". I was pointing out that if the male half of the relationship looks like a walrus (ogre, troll, take your pick :D) that the female half may not actually be "good enough" ;)

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.