jason8612

Nice!

wharvey

I am honestly shocked when I see how some gate agents are treated by customers. I was sitting at the LAX gate for IAD last Monday for a few hours... I had offered up my seat for bumping, so was right up front.

I was amazed at how vicious and attacking some people were in trying to get upgraded or moved onto this flight... when it was oversold. I even commented to the gate agent during a lapse... and he said "We are used to it." That is really sad.

I will do anything in my power to make their job easier... and I see nothing wrong with what the OP did in this case. Imagine if the other person had gotten their upgrade. They might have assumed that they got it because the were aggressive toward the agent. No need to reward that behavior.

No matter how bad a day I may be having, that is no reason for me to pass it on. We get upset when agents/attendants do it to us, we should not expect any different the other way around.

ajc1970

Why?

Because the upgrade rules that allowed him to try that "stunt" don't apply to you?

Your post is ironic, given that a rude-behaving person with the attitude that she was entitled to something (when she wasn't) was the OP's sole inspiration for upgrading.

Well, then you likely wouldn't have caught the OP's attention, as the person in his story did, since she was being rude with the GA. No reason to worry if you're always polite.

[Post edited by moderator to remove quotes to posts (and replies) deleted earlier.]

canada61

LMAO. Very nice. Well played to the OP and for this twist!
^

Ocn Vw 1K

There is another possibility here: creating an object lesson to the outranked 1P.

If the real concern was addressing a psgr. repeatedly berating or harassing the GA re a short-flight u/g with the 1K not that concerned about upgrading, the 1K could have accepted the upgrade and then promptly approached the outranked 1P, explained how the upgrade system worked, but then offered the upgraded seat to the 1P, provided that she gave a sincere apology to the GA. Yes, it could have cost the 1K an e-500 if the 1P made the apology, but it might have gotten a better solution for the behavior than might have resulted from the 1P simply being "1K'd".

iceman77_7

Or perhaps the 1P knew exactly how the system worked and was pushing the GA to confirm the upgrade so this exact scenario wouldn't play out.

EsquireFlyer

Based on the descriptions of the irate 1P, any attempt by the OP to explain what he just did to the 1P would have been more likely to result in the OP being punched in the face, than in the 1P apologizing to the GA.

jef7

Actually, in the contrary, it's a pretty good use of 500 milers since you get the 51 miles for free!. Just 1 500 miler for this route .

I'm not sure if I could be as nice as Ocn Vw 1K's suggestion. I'd probably first before handing a free upgrade to this passenger. Indeed, human beings in general could be vicious! I do feel the pain for many of these agents when things go bad, and most especially when they are simply beyond their control.

Javan69

As to the esteamed flyer the OP was referring to, some people need to take a Dale Carnegie course really badly.

6rugrats

Thank you for that post! It's the only one that illustrated how the OP could have made his point and actually taught the rude passenger something.^

mre5765

And yet others say the grace on e500s is 50 miles. And yet there are threads that say that this route is exactly 550 miles and not the 551 miles UA PC travel desk says it is.

WineCountryUA

In standard UA style there are two different system and therefore two different mileage numbers for SFO-PDX.

The "schedule" / ie the PDF version, quotes 551 miles but if you check you will see SFO-PDX always posts as 550 miles for Mileage Plus. For the purpose of mileage for e500s SFO-PDX is considered 550 miles.

It has been noted here on FT that the two mileage numbers disagree occasionally -- usually only by 1 or 2 miles. Note the UA and the GreatCricle Map site will also show some differences. It maybe the Mileage Plus numbers are forced numbers?? usually this difference doesn't really matter and SFO-PDX is the only one that I know that impacts e500s.

This was a FT last year that was sweating out an elite level by 1 mile and there was a more complete discussion of this issue then.

But we are getting a bit OT

gaobest

If the 1P knew how the system worked, surely they also would have known to *not* berate the GA about the upgrade, especially thinking that 1P status means anything anywhere with UA

I love Ocn View's post/suggestion, but fear that it would simply teach the rude 1P that by being loud and abusive and rude, they will *still* get the UG somehow, whether through the GA heeding their bidding or a 1K getting the UG settled and then "gifting" it.

There are tons of 1P/1K who don't use FT and who don't know how to "use" the existing system, and I fear this 1P was one of them. They probably earn 1P through tons of work travel but don't think about how to best use it, otherwise they'd have known to just use 15000 RDMs for that essential SFO>PDX UG that they really wanted.

As a 1P and FT reader, I realize just how "low" my status is compared to 1K and GS, and I still choose to not try for 1K. But before being 1P, I didn't fully understand how to best use/work with the UA system. It's only because I understand this better, that I now know that if I want a domestic UG, it's best to use my RDMs instead of hoping that e500s will be successful.

drummingcraig

I tend to agree with you. I think that idea looks good on paper (err uh...pixels), but in the end may reinforce the wrong thing. IMO, the lesson should be "hostile behavior towards others won't always get you want you want, entitled or otherwise". Had the OP singled out the offending px by lecturing her and then offering the u/g, she may perhaps have blushed but she still got her u/g.

Thats the great thing about FT. It was a very humbling experience when I first stumbled on this forum as a newly minted 1P and learned just how "mid-grade" I was. I recall hitting 2P when I first started flying a lot and thinking how cool I was. I also recall a few instances dealing with CS during irrops and expecting miracles because I had that shiny silver card. I literally had no idea how many other folks there were around me who had flown double or quadruple or more than what I had. FT educated me well. ^

i'mlovin'it

You hit the nail on the head Wharvey.