Do you know if someone's been upgraded? Do you....
 

...treat them any differently from those that have paid?

Just wondered.

Nope absolutely not...

(however I have noticed that you can frequently tell the upgrades/freebies by the sheer amount of finger-clicking etc... i.e. theres an *inverse* relationship between how much they paid vs. how demanding they are!)

Though I must admit I will (discreetly) look after staff first and foremost....

Yes, we know who the upgrades are, from the Pax Information List who is issued at the end of the check in and handed to the Cabin Chief.
All pax in the same "cabin" (we don't use the word "class") are to be treated the same way.
My company (like most) upgrades prioritarily the members of the frequent flyers scheme.

Bluehair - please notice the "heart" msg icon I have used. Cabin crew are close to my heart. :) This SLF is "top elite" FF on AA and One World alliance. Get lots of upgrades. Fly lots (100k + per year). Your experience mirrors Pareto's Law that says 80/20. That is 80% of your pax will be nice and the other 20% will be flaming aresholes. For FFs it is probably closer to 70/30. I apologize to you for the 20-30% as their attitude besmirches the other 70-80% of us.

Next time this happens, go over to this pax and ring the "call button"; leave it on while you explain loudly that this is the "attendant call button for those who don't fly very much"; then turn it off and ask how you can help (NOT "serve") this pax. Might embarrass them enough that they will at least mind their manners for the rest of your flight. If not, then "spill" something hot on them!! I despise those arseholes as much as they offend you. They shouldn't be allowed in an airplane. No excuse for bad manners ever!!

dAAvid -

Haha good one...

Many thanks for your comments and yes thankfully it is a smaller percentage that believe they are royalty once they board an aircraft.

It dosn't bother me I have to admit , water off a ducks back at this stage. Everytime I see someone ignorant, rude, smartarse I feel pity for them since I really believe it must be a ***** way to go through life....

(funnily enough being visably *not* bothered by the attitudes usually means they lose interest quite rapidly)

Oh Blue hair,
I SO agree with you. You normally dont even have to look at the pax list to find the upgrades. They are the ones with the call light constantly on and they are surrounded with as manys drinks and freebies that they can squeeze out of you. Unfortunatly at the moment they also seem to be outnumbering full fare pax.

I have a mixed attitude to u/g's. Some of my colleagues seem to think pax who have used their airmiles to fly J are somehow not proper commercial J ticket holders. The fact is they have had to fly(ergo spend) a hell of a lot with my company in order to do so.
The ones who are involuntary u/g's (love that term! Mental mage of arm-twisting cramp class punters to sit in the big seats!) can take the **** sometimes and that really ticks me off. They don't seem to realise that the airline didn't have to accept them just because there were available seats in a higher class. Read the small print in you ticket carefully, although arguably the Warsaw Convention unfairly favours airlines.
I always remind an arsey u/g of their good fortune in haveing a much better seat than they payed for. All in the most subtly pleasant way of course!

Seeing as we're talking about upgrades I just have to share a story one of fellow crew told me a few weeks back that happened to her last year.

Flight to New York, still on stand, packed to the gills and the last few are putting their stuff away when a rather 'posh' looking lady in her 50s calls over my friend (we'll call her Mary ;) ).

Mary asks if there is anything she can help with whereupon the lady starts pointing at her seat and saying 'it's entirely unsuitable for a lady of my stature'. There's absolutely nothing actually wrong and Mary finds it impossible to get a reason from the pax other than 'seat me somewhere befitting my class!' (I kid you not!).

After a few minutes the lady finally turns to the gent who was sitting beside her and exclaims 'Frankly I refuse to sit beside that' pointing to the gent (who happened to be of african descent). When asked to elaborate on the problem everything from 'the smell' to 'unable to speak the language' was thrown at Mary all the while the lady was going on 'Do I have to spell it out for you? I should be upgraded!'. The poor guy was visably mortified :(

Mary finally says she'll consult the senior on board, and returns a moment later. Now you really have to picture the next bit to get the full effect.

Mary to Lady: "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting madam and I apologise for the seating difficulty you are experiencing and of course we have arranged something that should address all your concerns. Now under normal circumstances we don't upgrade but (short pause then turns to the gentleman) Sir would you mind following me up to First Class!" :D :D :D

The lady was gobsmacked and there was even a short round of applause from surrounding pax who had heard it all happening! :) She didn't say a word the entire flight :)

One of the GREAT old aviation yarns blue ... nice to see it happen again, about thirty years after I first heard of it.

One of the GREAT aviation urban myths! Does anyone know if it ever actually took place. The version I heard was on a flight to/from South Africa on BA many moons ago (first heard it 8 years ago) ;)

Loved the one about the gent of african descent being upgraded. Did you here the one about the BOAC era. Imperious wife of senior civil servant, lording it over cabin staff. Asks all kinds of damn-fool questions about their new posting. Finally asks, "and what is the domestic servant situation there?"
To which the cabin attendant replies " I'm sure Madam won't have any problem finding a suitable job."

Har Har another good one, Have to admit I wondered if 'Mary' was pulling my leg but I hadn't heard it before and it's a great story :)

Here is a real story from 'J' on SAA. Not an upgrade story but in a close vein to the above!

January 1988 and I was returning from a holiday in South Africa and was settling into my 'A' J-seat next to the window (see sig). The 'B' was empty and we were pushing back, so I was looking forward to a very comfortable night, by lifting the arm rest out and having the double seat.

Hear f/a voice behind me, "This is your seat, Sir." My mood sagged, I turned to greet my travelling companion ...

He was big. I mean BIG, he was so big that when he flopped into the seat, he spread up the side and overlapped the arm rest :(

A moment later - the smell hit me. I have to say that the smell was just about the worst I have ever encountered. It was gross. It does not matter what the colour of his skin was, he smelt foul DESPITE being dressed in an expensive suit!

At this stage, I have to say that I had treated myself and had paid for the seat out of my own money.

We were taxying when he tried to put his seat belt on. I was expecting it not to fit around him and that they would have to bring an extension belt. However, he gave it hefty tug to try and stretch it round his belly and ... it came away in his hand, broken.

Knowing that they could not depart with an unsecured pax, I range the call bell fast as the eye can blink ;)

In the mid section of the cabin, there were two seats adjacent that were empty and they moved him over there. I turned up the nozzle of the air jet!

Later in the flight, when he was eating, I saw that his belly was so large that the tray from the arm rest, could not be used as it was obstructed by flesh. He had his meal tray on the table of the adjacent empty seat!

The final ending was that, when I inspected his seat belt, I discovered that it was not broken ... the catch was not properly secured and all it took was a simple 'click' and it was working again! I am sure that he was happier sitting on his own. I certainly was!

the one time I have been upgraded was on a staff journey and the staff knew and came over and had a chat. I was amazed at the treatment that i received, no diff from a full fare pap and i have vowed to myself that i will never ring that bell no matter if I am in Y or J. I know how I would feel if I was expected to come to someone when they ring a bell.

working in reservations, the number of people who think that they should get an upgrade is amazing, they seem quite put out that as a low cost airline the only place to upgrade them to is the flight deck and that those seats are generally full. besides, when only paying £20 for a ticket, what do they expect..

Tagging on to the point about not ringing the bell. I can honestly not recall how many years it is since I had to do that. If I would like something, I normally wait until a member of c/c is passing down the aisle, unless they look very busy or are obviously engaged in something else.

If I am in the aisle seat, then I might wander to the galley and ask for it there. I get exercise and they have one less boing of the bell.

Have to agree with PAXboy, never have any problem getting drinks, etc and have never rung a call bell. Mind you with an ex flight Senior as a girlfriend I was very quickly taught the correct way to go about it.
Catch the eye or head for the galley and ask ever so politely, "No hurry just whenever you can" Works every time.

Sirwa69 I agree 100%, I'm not a frequent flyer, but I havenever used the cal button when I fly. Either I go to the galley or catch their eye and say loud enough but with some warmth "when you have a minute" never fails, actually I prefer to go to the galley,it gives me a chance to flirt with the female FA's. One of my first teenage crushes was on a FA, never really got over her. My preference is for the AA FA's

[ 28 November 2001: Message edited by: T_richard ]

Also, when you have been in the galley in the small hours of the night, don't forget to LEAVE. However pleasant their company, they are resting before doing breakfast and the landing. So make it, "Well, thanks for the chat and the good service, see you later." and go back to your seat.

I have been very lucky to have been upgraded a few times in the last couple of years by a number of airlines mainly BA and BD. The best was when my girlfriend and I flew back from NY this Feb. The check-in lady noticed my girlfriend's diamond ring and complimented her. My girlfriend went on to explain that it was new as I had proposed over the weekend. The lady then said 'wait' and tapped away on the keyboard and handed over some business class boarding cards with a huge smile that was matched by my now beaming girlfriend. I'm always very grateful to the groundstaff for things like that and as small token of appreciation I always rush off to buy the biggest tube of Toblerone in the shop for them.

It's a real shame that these days pax are so demanding and ignorant of the FAs. I think they do a great job given the number and diversity of tasks they are expected to perform. I often travel with my girlfriend so we take it in turns to go to the galley to fetch drinks but most of the time we carry a bottle of water anyway.

Anyway, to all cabin crew; nice job and always well done! Look out for my girlfriend and me - we always have a competition over who can hand back the tidiest tray, it always makes the people sitting next us laugh.

Guess we must have flown with the wrong airline on our honeymoon...

Ordered Champagne to be delivered to my new wife during the flight, as a surprise, but alas...

1. They got her name wrong on the tannoy, despite it being written on the gift tag correctly so didn't get it til I asked for it. (Had to use the call bell as seatbelt sign for on for the majority of the flight despite on of the smoothest transalantic rides I ve ever had)

2. Then told by very miserable fa that we weren't allowed to open it until we landed and would have to declare it to Canadian customs and pay any duty due!

Compared with Virgin a few years earlier who provided complementary champagne, with a smile and a visit from the captain for us simply due to it being my partners birthday!

Know where my loyalty lies! :rolleyes: