mre5765

I respect that. OTOH, a GA was taking abuse, and OP might have made the GA's day. The GA might have paid it forward with a nice gesture for another pax. I'm cheering it because OP defused the situation.

Until today I'd have never thought about it.

Still I am curious about something. Apparently the flight was NF0, but the F and A counters were non-zero. The 1P did not clear, even though she was inside the window for her status (without Op's trick, eventually she would have, even if she was boarding, assuming the GA wasn't too steamed). Yet the 1K cleared immediately (ok 2 minutes). Is this a 1K benefit?

bmvaughn

It's too bad that the OP couldn't randomly sponsor someone and have them get the upgrade on the OP's status. That would have made it sweeter.

notquiteaff

Well, the OP could have given his F BP to the person in the seat next to the 1P

I think what the OP did was clever and fair, and what the 1P got was deserved.

mcditolla

Is this really a case of stealing someone's upgrade? The OP wasn't going to upgrade and then changed his mind and had higher status than her, so it cleared and she didn't. Probably happens all the time, but without the Machivellian aspect of the GA drama. Had this been a scene in a movie, I think the crowd would have applauded when the OP took the upgrade from the passenger being a jerk to the GA.

goalie

classic dykhia

nicely done "passenger TFD " ^^

anc-ord772

It really is. Talking with non elites, when they hear "Passenger XYZ to the podium please." their walk is filled with dread.

The last time I heard my name over the loudspeaker I was smiling before I got to the podium and my colleague couldn't understand why. We (one PNR, no status companion) were upgraded from NC --> F on P.S.

Oh what a little loyalty can do.

cubfan99

An argument could be made that the OP's gesture was not being done out of spite, but rather to defend a berated GA. We love it when they go out of their way to help or support us. What's wrong with a pax occassionally returning the favor. Plus, in a larger sense, it is never "weird" for human decency to prevail.

UAX_Brasilia

That 1P should just switch to AA, where she wouldn't have this problem

onlyquestions

SPKG,

Just to be clear, I was nice because I know that GAs, especially in these cases, have a tough job as it is. I was not expecting two free upgrades, and did not ask for two free upgrades...I only asked the GA to apply my mile/copay upgrades that did not successfully clear on the original flight (but that had already been deducted from my mileage account and charged to my credit card).

Completely agree. I remember booking my parents on a biz class reward flight to India, and from what they recounted, it sounds like they were some of the easiest passengers to deal with BECAUSE they don't fly often and don't have unbelievable expectations like all of us frequent flyers.

The_seat_Baron

I can't even tell you how weird I find this thread, let alone how weird that most are in agreement with the OP. But then I guess it is human nature?

I don't want this to sound like a flame to the OP, but rather just someone looking inside, from the outside, of this box of craziness at the UA SFO gates.

1) You were happy with your E+ seat, you stated that early in your post and even gave justification to your reasoning why you choose to have it.

2) You take it upon yourself to punish this supposedly rude person.

2a) Did you ever take into consideration that this person could have had a bad day. That this person could have just lost her job, house, etc... and all she wanted in this whole crumby world of hers was the "Upgrade" that she thought she was entitled to. People under stress act in very weird ways, sometimes in ways that they normally wouldn't.

2b) Please note that I am not justifying this type of behavior, but rather trying to give reasons why this behavior might surface.

3) But no, you decided to act like the "mean b@st@rd...." and then say you had fun doing it. Wow! That's a big no, no, in the 'The Golden Rule Book'.

4) Couldn't you have made someone's day instead by trading your newly upgraded seat with someone else in Economy Plus? Or talked to the agent and gave it to someone who would have really enjoyed the seat, like an elderly person, etc... Instead of taking a seat you never truly even wanted.

So in my book:

(The Rude Person) + (Mean B@st@rd....) both contributed to a lot of negative Karma at that Gate in SFO.

Just wished that there could have been more of a positive outcome to this story.

PetePDX

HERE HERE! There are so many things in this world to get really angry about (e.g., world hunger, cancer, Grade B milk)--and this woman's anger wasn't for any one of these.

GAs, restaurant servers, bartenders: they're all in the service business, and there's a sizeable group of people who perceive that they're open and available for wholesale abuse.

There is no reason to abuse another human because one's having a bad day. The End.

DreamlinerI

KARMA....it may be on it's way back when you really need to upgrade next time....

SFflyer123

Ethical judgements aside, this is a great story. It really goes to show the whole process of elite favoritism on United. In the end, this is how it works at United, and it is what keeps me flying over 100,000 miles on this airline. I know that if I can hit that 100,000 mile mark, I will get perks that others simply won't get. Regardless of the reason you did what you did, it is the way the system works. And if that woman wanted the upgrade over you, she needed to get her butt on that airplane and fly as much as you do.

You played the rules fair and square--flying 100,000 miles--and you deserve to get that upgrade. You sacrified more of your personal time, money, time away from family and doing other things than she did. You fairly deserve that seat more than she did, regardless of how much complaining she voiced.

drummingcraig

No matter what the circumstances might've been they do not justify the behavior. Even if she had received the upgrade (and that was all she wanted in the whole world), she had already potentially ruined someone else's (the GA) day.

Can't comment for the OP here, but if it had been me, I would not have found it to be "fun", but rather I would've felt "good" for brightening the day of the GA.

I think its fair to say that most of us here (I'm sure this includes the OP) never truly don't want an upgrade, but rather are content with sitting in economy under certain circumstances. Once the upgrade became a reality, I am sure the OP was more than happy to sit in F.

If the OP hadn't done what he did, the abusive lady would've probably gotten her seat in F, left the now grumpy and further jaded GA in a bad mood, and probably still would've sat in F and fumed about something else or continued to complain about things she felt entitled to. I see it happen all the time. You can't always fix what's broken. So as I see it, there was a very positive outcome: The OP undoubtedly brightened the GA's day and most likely contributed to lessening his/her perception that elite flyers are arses.

I think the OP used their whit and resources reward the proper party, that being the GA.

And if its a flight being handled by the GA from his story I'd say he'll have no problem getting it. @:-)

The_seat_Baron

You are correct there is no reason to abuse another human because one's having a bad day. But it isn't the "end" because you are forgetting that Humans are emotional creatures, and such emotions can trump and override the persons ability to understand what they are doing is wrong. I am sure you did something that you normally wouldn't have done because you were emotionally charged at the time you made the decision?

As to how to treat people: When you work with the public, you will always have to deal with people like the op stated because they are in the service business. This does not give anyone the right to treat the person any which way, but if the company values their employees, they train and give them tools to deal with such people.