flyer215

Still, a bit of a straw-man retort to focus on the "well-behaved" aspect and ignore the "Shhhhh!" from the GA, no? I mean, if it walks like a duck...

flavorflav

Indeed I was just goofing on the OP. Call it late-night punchiness on my part.

No, I don't really believe that elite flyers should be able to compel testimony from passengers or employees. I do believe, however, that many of us act with a sense of entitlement and unduly get upset when someone else gets something that we think we deserve. Even though we rarely/ever have all the facts. I'm guilty of this too - on a flight where I think I have a UDU in the bag, I don't clear into F. I find myself giving everyone on the red carpet the once over. "How did THAT guy get the upgrade?" And so on. It's silly and dumb on my part.

I suppose the OP could ask UA to "investigate," though it strikes me as a poor use of resources. And I suspect such requests go straight to the e-circular file.

It's also bad karma. How many times have readers here benefited from a little special love, when a UA employee bends the rules and gives us something at the expense of the airline or another flyer?

QBK

Ah, late-night punchiness. Now that's something I can understand and get behind. But remember the instructions on the card in the seat back in front of you... "In case of punchiness, emoticons will drop from the overhead compartment. If you are traveling with Mike Jacoubowsky, please don your own emoticon first ^ and then assist those traveling with you."

Mike Jacoubowsky

That's me running for the door 'cuz I feel a group hug coming on and I am not a touchy-feely kind of guy!

But how many of us have a lot of fun at airports people-watching? Manufacturing various back stories, thinking about where they came from or where they're going, trying to pick up clues from what they wear or are carrying. It's fun, admit it. So not much of a stretch, when you've got an airport full of people playing amateur detective, to expect the same thing when waiting at the gate. Is that person a GS or 1K? Or did they actually, gasp, pay for that upgrade???!!! And the Gate Agent having a bad day... is it within your power to put a smile on his or her face? You rate the odds internally, seems impossible, but you go for it anyway!

QBK

No worries. This is not HugClubTalk. This is FT. If a group hug appears to be imminent, it is merely a facade to make you lower your guard prior to the unleashing of a massive ad hominem

Dang it. Now I'm going to be doing that. And up until now I didn't.

Okay, that one I admit to. Oddly enough, all of my memorable experiences of that sort to date are with CO staff (from the checkin agent at MIA on Christmas day who was clearly very unhappy to be there, but grimly determined to do her job to the letter... to the incredibly cheerful and funny white-haired GA at IAH who managed to make pax laugh while moving them to 33B).

MayorMcKnife

I don't mind being goofed on. But let me set the record straight since my OP might have been confusing: I was in paid F. I had nothing to gain or lose by what I perceived to be GA shenanigans. I put this out there to see what you all thought I should do. And "the people has spoken" (who said that?). I'll drop it. I OP-ed it here since DullesJason, by his own accounts would not have done something like this. I have met him and he's cool and would certainly hook a bother up if it was in the SOP. And I have had no shortage of rules bent for me, but it's usually because I have been brutalized by some IRROP!

ND76

great post, really enjoyed reading it.

davewang202

In 1998 or thereabouts, I was flying home from Portland to Washington DC. I was flying America West. This was after a long summer working in Portland, so I had three large suitcases with me. This was before they charged for luggage.

When I was waiting in line to check in, one of the agents at the counter was wrestling with a passenger's bag to load it onto the conveyor belt. She came back and jokingly announced to the passengers waiting in line that "no more heavy bags". Then when I checked in, sure enough, I got her to check me in, and she looked at my pile of large bags and jokingly asked - "Didn't you hear the announcement about no more heavy bags?" I just smiled at her and that was that, and she finished checking me in.

Then, after we were done, I pulled out a $20 CDN bill (worth about $13 USD at the time) from my wallet, and I told her that since she was having a bad day, I'd like for her to have a gift certificate to the country of Canada. She was stunned, and told me that she couldn't take that "gift certificate", but I insisted, so she accepted. So I walked away happy that I made her day, and want on my way into the plane.

As I boarded, I noticed that there was a female pilot in one of the first class seats, then I just walked past all the first class seats to the back of the plane. Then some 10 minutes later, I see one of the gate agents come onto the plane, have a short conversation with the female pilot, who proceeded to get up, go into the cockpit, and pull out a tiny jumper seat in the cockpit and sat down.

Then the FA called my name, asked to see my up front. So I walked up. He asked to see my boarding pass, so I gave it to him. He then proceeded to tear up my boarding pass, hand me a new boarding pass and told me to sit in the first class seat that the female pilot just vacated. I was stunned, but didn't protest too hard and sat down like I was told.

Later on, I realized that the plane was completely full, and they needed to clear a seat in Y, so they kicked the pilot who was riding in F to go into the cockpit, kicked me up to First class so they could put that last person in Y. All because I accidentally bribed the counter agent with $20 CDN.

I've never tried that again, I think that if I tried that again, it might've been mistaken as a real attempt to "buy" an op up. Back then, I was far more naive and really didn't have any of that in mind, and it just seemed perfectly acceptable to me back then to give a counter agent $20 CDN as a "gift certificate to the country of Canada", and walked away without having expected anything in return.

GoAmtrak

Thanks for this great story. My many fond memories of the late HP growing up include two op-ups. ^ HPdbaUS never quite felt the same.

davewang202

Thanks.

That op up was special for another reason - that was literally the first time I sat in a first class seat. I was still quite a country bumpkin then. These days, I get spoiled with the domestic upgrades and ride in F all the time, but that first time was special.