Empty seats in Club Class?
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Empty seats in Club Class?
When there are empty seats in Club World (for instance), how does one go about moving up without creeping past the curtain when no-one's watching? Obviously cabin crew don't offer them to anyone, but what happens if cheeky chaps ask?
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What happens when a cheeky chappy asks, you say...well...that would rather depend on whether you were the 1st or the 50th cheeky chappy who asked that day, but my answer would be, I will just go and get an upgrade pack, which card would you like to pay with? Depending on how many different cheeky chappies had asked, my wearingess level would vary from boredom to slow anger.
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Saw a lady try this a couple of days ago, there were 5 passengers sitting in Business Class, after the meal she slid into one of the empty seats. 5 minutes later the Inflight Supervisor advised her that if she didnt leave the seat immediately she would be met by the police in Heathrow and invited to pay the difference in fares between economy and business........
Needless to say, she promptly left.
Mutt.
Needless to say, she promptly left.
Mutt.
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WHY??? OK Let me put it like this...It is a bit like your going to a wine shop, and buying a bottle of cheap wine, and then saying to the shop keeper at the last minute...hey..you have lots of expensive wine, and no one is buying it...let me have one of those bottles of wine for the same price....GEDDIT??
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Not really: if a wine retailer has expensive wine left at the end of the day, it's safe to say it will be sold at some point another day. How exactly is an airline going to sell business class seats once the plane is airborne?
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Same thing really is it not? How is an airline every going to sell seats in business class, if it lets every clown sit their on every flight, who would bother buying business class seats? DOH!
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What really annoys me is when there are empty seats in club but they won't let you upgrade using your airmiles.
18 months ago when I had a special family reason to travel Club from the USA back to Europe. I checked with DELTA and they told me it would be ok to upgrade an existing ticket using my airmiles.
When I got to the airport they hit me with this rule and I had to pay cash for the upgrade which at the time cost me an extra $1900.
I just hope I've told enough people that it was DELTA that treat people so well.
18 months ago when I had a special family reason to travel Club from the USA back to Europe. I checked with DELTA and they told me it would be ok to upgrade an existing ticket using my airmiles.
When I got to the airport they hit me with this rule and I had to pay cash for the upgrade which at the time cost me an extra $1900.
I just hope I've told enough people that it was DELTA that treat people so well.
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cwatters:
So you paid for the upgrade $1900.
According to davethelimey, he should be able to sit next to you, in business class, when he has paid, say $400 for his ticket. How would that make you feel?
As a fare paying passenger, who occassionally has to pay for business class, would you write to the airlines to express your support to allow economy paying pax to occupy business class seats if they are empty, but at no extra cost?
davethelimey:
As for your original question, I can see no way to "quietly" upgrade yourself. Your argument regarding the expensive wine isn't valid..... If the wine retailer is going to sell off the expensive wines at some point, they will be at a reduced price, but probably never as low as most of the cheap wines on offer. The same applies to airlines. They frequently have offers on business and first class seats at a reduced fare, to encourage business.
If you had paid full fare for a first or business seat, and the crew allowed anyone and everyone to upgrade on board if there was empyt seats, at no extra charge, would you continue to pay full fare for your ticket in the future? I think not.
Don't mean to be harsh, but your view of the situation seems a bit morose.
Calle Belle:
Can almost feel your frustration emanating from the screen.... I do not miss schedule flying at all !!
So you paid for the upgrade $1900.
According to davethelimey, he should be able to sit next to you, in business class, when he has paid, say $400 for his ticket. How would that make you feel?
As a fare paying passenger, who occassionally has to pay for business class, would you write to the airlines to express your support to allow economy paying pax to occupy business class seats if they are empty, but at no extra cost?
davethelimey:
As for your original question, I can see no way to "quietly" upgrade yourself. Your argument regarding the expensive wine isn't valid..... If the wine retailer is going to sell off the expensive wines at some point, they will be at a reduced price, but probably never as low as most of the cheap wines on offer. The same applies to airlines. They frequently have offers on business and first class seats at a reduced fare, to encourage business.
If you had paid full fare for a first or business seat, and the crew allowed anyone and everyone to upgrade on board if there was empyt seats, at no extra charge, would you continue to pay full fare for your ticket in the future? I think not.
Don't mean to be harsh, but your view of the situation seems a bit morose.
Calle Belle:
Can almost feel your frustration emanating from the screen.... I do not miss schedule flying at all !!
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Psr777:
You wrote: Don't mean to be harsh, but your view of the situation seems a bit morose .
That's what I would be if I had davethelimey sitting next to me for nothing more than a Y-class ticket if I had paid for a C-class ticket, just because the seat next to me was empty. Morose = sullen and moody.
By further extending davethelimey's logic. If seats are available in economy after this session of musical chairs has taken place, they could be filled with hitch-hikers patiently waiting at the side of the runway with a handwritten board stating where they would like to fly to...gives "nonrev SA" a whole different meaning!
I think davethelimey's view is closer to moronic...which, incidentally, comes right before morose in my dictionary (Collins). Then of course the (ever increasing) desire to have something for nothing...ooops, I think that is greed. Maybe we should also look up the definition of envy?
Nope, davethelimey, you want to fly up front? Pay for it or earn it (ff miles, status, airline staff, etc...) just like the rest of us.
You wrote: Don't mean to be harsh, but your view of the situation seems a bit morose .
That's what I would be if I had davethelimey sitting next to me for nothing more than a Y-class ticket if I had paid for a C-class ticket, just because the seat next to me was empty. Morose = sullen and moody.
By further extending davethelimey's logic. If seats are available in economy after this session of musical chairs has taken place, they could be filled with hitch-hikers patiently waiting at the side of the runway with a handwritten board stating where they would like to fly to...gives "nonrev SA" a whole different meaning!
I think davethelimey's view is closer to moronic...which, incidentally, comes right before morose in my dictionary (Collins). Then of course the (ever increasing) desire to have something for nothing...ooops, I think that is greed. Maybe we should also look up the definition of envy?
Nope, davethelimey, you want to fly up front? Pay for it or earn it (ff miles, status, airline staff, etc...) just like the rest of us.
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I flew recently from BRU to ATL with Delta. I travelled with my partner on a R2 ticket. On the outbound leg i was asked after boarding by the purser if i would like to sit in Business class. As there was only 1 seat available and i wanted to sit with my partner i refused. But was told by her no problem seeing as you cant sit in business i will compensate you by giving you some goodies. On the return flight my partner and i were upgraded to Business without our knowledge. It was only when we got onboard that we realised we were in business instead of economy. I did not expect this and would never have asked to be upgraded however. I guess i was lucky enough on both legs to experience a bit of professional courtesy. I would however try my best to upgrade crew on a flight i was on in place of anyone else. Lets call it professional cameraderie.
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I just flew lgw - cvg - lgw with Delta and have only the highest praise for their cabin crew and checkin staff. If any of you are reading this, we were the two guys who checked in really early and were last on because I forgot there was an hours difference between ind and cvg. Sorry, oops and thanks especially to Jane N at cvg.
I pay for all of my travel and my business is still too young for me to pay for business or first, when I'm sitting down the back I'm grateful to the people sitting in the nice cabin for subsidising my seat. ANYONE WHO SNEAKS UP THERE WITHOUT PAYING IS A THIEF - PURE AND SIMPLE.
I pay for all of my travel and my business is still too young for me to pay for business or first, when I'm sitting down the back I'm grateful to the people sitting in the nice cabin for subsidising my seat. ANYONE WHO SNEAKS UP THERE WITHOUT PAYING IS A THIEF - PURE AND SIMPLE.
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It's hard to say this without sounding like a git, but one of the nice things about flying business class is the possibility that you won't have to sit next to anyone. "Hell is other people", remember?
My point is that if I'm travelling alone in biz class and no-one is seated next to me I regard that as a bonus since it means I get peace and quiet to work, I can spread my stuff on to the seat next to me and whan I want to sleep I can do so in peace without being disturbed. The possibility of getting an empty seat next to you is another bonus of flying biz class.
When I'm paying my own way I sit in the back. Sure it's not as comfy but you get what you pay for.
My point is that if I'm travelling alone in biz class and no-one is seated next to me I regard that as a bonus since it means I get peace and quiet to work, I can spread my stuff on to the seat next to me and whan I want to sleep I can do so in peace without being disturbed. The possibility of getting an empty seat next to you is another bonus of flying biz class.
When I'm paying my own way I sit in the back. Sure it's not as comfy but you get what you pay for.
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Sorry for causing offence with the questions. However, I don't recall being caustic or uncivilised in my posts: please extend the same courtesy to me.
of course you are right about it. But just to make you understand the reasons of the "causticity" of some answers, you should consider that it might be due to the frequence (more or less any time there are empty seats in Business...) we hear the kind of reasonments you made at the beginning of the thread. Not just that it's boring for us: it's mostly because our profession is a service profession and we actually are sorry to have to say "no" to a pax and not be able to help. We usually explain that in a polite way, while the answers we get are sometimes not as polite. That's where F/A start to get frustrated (hence the "causticity"): it's a situation where you know you are right (we only apply a company rule and we know the reason for it) but more than often pax are not incline to be receptive to the explanation and walk away more or less hating your guts just because you were the one who had to say "no".
In my company upgrading a pax without a reason (= without the Captain's permission, who needs to have a good reason too anyway), is considered, as Tony Flynn said, "theft". It is tolerated when it's done for company people or for other airlines flying staff, but I've seldom seen another kind of pax with an upgrading that was not by check-in staff.
Last edited by flyblue; 18th Sep 2003 at 04:27.
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This one came up recently on another thread in this forum Blagging it into 1st/Business class!? where some other moron asked for advice on how to take something he wasn't entitled to, and hadn't paid for.
It's enough to make you weep!
It's enough to make you weep!
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davethelimey
Sorry for causing offence with the questions. However, I don't recall being caustic or uncivilised in my posts: please extend the same courtesy to me.
Actually the initial post itself was uncivilised in my view. How do you expect people to react to someone expecting advice on getting something for nothing that they and many others pay good money for or earn in some way or another?
Start a thread like this and you can expect to be flamed. Under the circumstances I think you were treated gently and you should count your blessings....
Actually the initial post itself was uncivilised in my view. How do you expect people to react to someone expecting advice on getting something for nothing that they and many others pay good money for or earn in some way or another?
Start a thread like this and you can expect to be flamed. Under the circumstances I think you were treated gently and you should count your blessings....
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what about being back to the topic, in case someone has something to add, or let it die if there's nothing to add?
davethelimey has brought up an unpopular subject for C/A, but you were not forced to answer. He indeed has never been rude to anyone, and as naive as his questions may seem, he deserves respect.
This Forum is a privileged arena for controversial subjects, because people have the advantage of having the time (that we usually lack of when we play "live" during a flight) to articulate answers,. You might think that he is a "troll", but you know how many times we've been asked the question that starts this thread. I think that constructive answers wouldn't be wasted, for both pax and C/A. A sort of cabin-pax CRM
Please don't bother answering if you have nothing constructive to say.
Now back to the ball (not the player!)
PS davethelimey, I'm sure that if you just deleted your last post it would be an improvement to this thread.
davethelimey has brought up an unpopular subject for C/A, but you were not forced to answer. He indeed has never been rude to anyone, and as naive as his questions may seem, he deserves respect.
This Forum is a privileged arena for controversial subjects, because people have the advantage of having the time (that we usually lack of when we play "live" during a flight) to articulate answers,. You might think that he is a "troll", but you know how many times we've been asked the question that starts this thread. I think that constructive answers wouldn't be wasted, for both pax and C/A. A sort of cabin-pax CRM
Please don't bother answering if you have nothing constructive to say.
Now back to the ball (not the player!)
PS davethelimey, I'm sure that if you just deleted your last post it would be an improvement to this thread.