Liz

Ok, I'm sure this has been discussed over and over here at FT but I wasn't around for it.

The other night I was purser on the A320, F was full with 12 pax. We had a steady stream of people coming up to the lav but I didn't mind because the carts were out. When it continued I looked back and there weren't any carts out, so for the courtesy of my pax I starting asking people to please use the lav's in the back. I got a couple weird looks but most were fine.

Then I had one "gentlemen" who came charging throught the curtains and up to the door, pulling and twisting on it as hard as he could, oblivious to the "occupied" sign. I asked him politely to use the lav in the back.

He said "Since when??". I told him since I don't want a constant stream of people walking through F and creating a line (a couple of my F pax had to wait).

His mature reply, "This is bull s**t!!! I am a PREMIER!!!!". Then he stomped off to the back.

For what it's worth we used the manifest to check the people out who came up to F and the majority were Premiers, lol.

So, was I wrong to ask Y to use the Y lav's??

chexfan

IMHO, nope.

A healthy discussion in AA-land:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/004162.html

danville 1K

Your pax would have been out of luck on my recent OAK-DEN flight... the FC lav was inop.
We had to head back to the back of the plane and bug the Y pax

------------------
danville 1K

smg77

No. But I wouldn't be so quick to correlate Premier-status with boorishness (despite the anecdotal evidence to the contrary ). On a lot of flights the majority of the passengers are Premier anyway. Especially international, Shuttle, and flights between hubs, from what I can tell.

1Ksuperstar

Liz,

You shouldn't have to put up with those attitudes; For one, you deserve a hug.

As a 100k flyer, when I'm seated in coach (how rare that is, since, I am the SUPERSTAR) -- I always, ALWAYS, respectfully use the Y lavs.

Of course, I wonder how often that Premier, when he's seated in First, gets annoyed with pax coming up to Y.

Once again, I just think its common decency.

But then again, Common Sense is dead.

-Adam

zrs70

Liz,

So sorry about that experience. I can't stand it when I see people push to the head of lines saying "But I'm elite .."

I remember a few years back when I lived in CVG, a DL flight was in the middle of boardings. Gold and Silver had already been called, and general boarding had begun. An elderly couple was at the front of the line when a Gold Medallion charged in front of the couple, cutting the line, waving his gold card, and expecting special treatment.

The agent calmly stepped in his way, to let the elderly couple through, and then took his boarding card.

When people use their status to abuse the system, it makes me ill.

Somoeone once said to me, "First class is not a seat, it's how you act."

gleff

A phenomenon I really hadn't noticed until this year. Every flight I can remember over the past few months has seen Y passengers walking through the curtain to the F lav. I don't really remember seeing it before this year. Those curtains always used to seem like an inviolable social barrier. No longer!

SNA1K

Liz, Thank you for saying something and trying to get a little respect for the curtain. I have no problem with people using the F lav when the carts are out, etc. but I hate that we end up with a long line! I wish that more FAs would remind the passengers that things need to be balanced out.

buterrier

Liz:

You were right on track. As a 1K, when I sit in Y I use the Y lav. You were right, and I wish more FAs were like you.

unixone

Liz,

If you were in the main cabin and a pax from
F came back into Y to use the restroom, would
you also tell them to please use the one in F?

I have seen this many times sitting in the
exit row in Y and have people from F come
back to use the restroom in Y because they
don't want to wait.

I for one don't have a problem with someone
coming up front to use the restroom. I think
if I was in Y and really had a need and the
line was long in Y, I would ask the FA if
it would be alright to use the one in F before just strolling up there.

ORD_UA1K

Irrelevant comparison. Passengers in F "paid" for that service, either in the form of a higher fare, upgrade coupons, or by virtue of being employees (OK, cheap shot!) They also paid for higher service.

An analogy similar to the one you use is with the Eurail passes. If you buy a first class Eurail pass and choose to travel in economy (a voluntary "downgrade" of service), the European railroads won't stop you. You aren't entitled to any refund. It doesn't quite work the other way around.

unagi1

I am a mere mortal 1P, but out of SFO I can upgrade better on some routes than others. FWIW, when I am in Y, I do the same as my 1K "brethren" above, and use the Y lav.

SF1K

I think using the lav in the cabin in which you are seated is appropriate. I understand the cart issue and that is certainly an exception on some planes. It is not that I am such the snob that I don't want Y passangers using my F lav, but instead sometimes it is rather enoying when the entire F Cabin aisle becomes a waiting area. I think you did the right thing Liz. On a recent Dragon Air flight the FAs sent ALL passangers from Y back to use the bathroom in the rear on an A320, I appreciated their courteous, but firm request.

ncorman

I agree with the general reaction here, use the lav that is in your class. It's not like there are more lavs up front.

However, look at the Shuttle planes. They have two lavs, one in front and one in back. Is it ok to use the F lav on that plane?

Sweet Willie

Liz, you did the correct thing.

The true issue is that precedence has been set. People come up to use F facilities because no one told them to the contrary. It continues to happen because no one educates/enforces the rule that you use the facilities in your cabin.

United and other airlines need to be very clear and direct people to the proper area.
this is not done, so it will continue.

There have been some flights where I have been upgraded and the FA has refused to let economy pax use the F facilities, Good for them!!
It's not a job I would want, changing customer habits is not an easy thing to do.

[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 08-09-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 08-09-2001).]