First Class or No Class?

June 13, 2004 5:02 PM

What happens if you sit in the first class cabin with a coach class ticket? I got on a plane a couple of days ago, near the end of the line. First class passengers had already boarded. A nervous, but respectably dressed man in front of me sat down in a spare, first class seat. I don't know if he had a first-class ticket or not - if he was lying, what risk was he running? Does anyone, for example, check first class tickets after boarding?
posted by andrew cooke to Travel & Transportation (20 answers total)

Yes. The first-class flight attendants have a list of every occupied seat along with the name of the person registered in that seat.

Often when I fly first-class, I get addressed by my name after I sit down.

Most likely, his seat would be listed as vacant and he would be approached to see if there had been some confusion.
posted by vacapinta at 5:09 PM on June 13, 2004

There's a good chance that the ticket will be checked if the flight crew knows that the seat was unsold or that the seat was available for upgrade; the biggest risk is that you will be asked to pay for the upgrade or will be escorted to your own seat. There is also a very good chance that the first-class passenger whose seat that was will show up late, just before the door is closed.

The flight crew also only loads the proper number of meals for checked-in passengers, so it's very likely that the crew will notice a discrepancy at that point.
posted by SpecialK at 5:12 PM on June 13, 2004

Response by poster: thanks! i guess he was legit then... :o)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:14 PM on June 13, 2004

I had a guy try this right next to me one time. He sat down int he aisle seat beside by window seat, which I'd been told was vacant when I checked in *at the gate* and then openly joked with me about how he hadn't even paid first class, but who would know the difference? Ha ha.

Personally, I always fly first class because it's usually only half full. You can't put a price on not being swarmed with morons at 30,000 feet.

I whispered something to the masseuse during the first few minutes of my hour-1 massage, and by the time I got back to my seat, he'd been escorted to a cargo bay, where he had to tough out the rest of the trans-atlantic flight with a blanket, two foil-cups of water, and a dinner roll.

Shitheel.
posted by scarabic at 5:38 PM on June 13, 2004

Bummer. That sounded momentarily like a very good scam to try.

On preview: an in flight masseuse??? Jeez, I need to marry some money and fast.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:40 PM on June 13, 2004

MetaFilter: being swarmed with morons at 30,000 feet.
;)
posted by gen at 9:51 PM on June 13, 2004

Don't you people watch Seinfeld?
posted by coolgeek at 10:14 PM on June 13, 2004

Even if the plane seats sixty, but is only carrying six, you will get sent back to coach. Even if you point out that there actually isn't even a living soul up there in first class, and even though the "first class" section is really just a few seats spaced a bit further apart but not actually curtained off. And even though you want to actually get a view of Europe as you're flying over it, and they put you in coach with a lovely view of the wing...

...not that I'd, uh, know, you know. Nope.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:57 PM on June 13, 2004

I confess. I've never flown first class. Why? Because it costs a ridiculous amount of money. Like 10X the cost of a coach seat. It really is for people who have no care whatsoever for costs (or have duped clients into paying expenses - haha!).

The good news for us peons is that, while first class passengers receive a seat that's 50% more spacious than yours, and food that's marginally more tasty, they pay incredibly much, much more than you do. Their extravagance brings your costs down. So thank them! Donate a massage or two!

uh, yeah right - fuck you bastards
posted by scarabic at 12:37 AM on June 14, 2004

Actually, very few first class seats are full-fares. I've flown first-class a lot and never once paid full-fare.

For one, I used to work in consulting where I flew back and forth once or twice a week. This gets you all kinds of free upgrade passes and a ton of miles to use for upgrades.

Plus, more than once, when they were overbooked in coach, they bumped me up to first class in order to avoid throwing others off the plane. This happened to me on a trip to Europe. And International first-class is a whole other level.

Also, I'm good friends with a senior flight attendant and they, like pilots, are given friends/family passes to give out. That is also how I know a lot of this stuff.

You are right in that full-fare firstclass as well as coach passengers (last minute business flights) help fund everyone else.
posted by vacapinta at 12:54 AM on June 14, 2004

Yup, I'll ride back in the cheap seats, which move exactly as fast as the comfy ones up front. So I can afford to make many more trips overall.

Unless someone else is paying. Then make with the shrimp cocktail, baby.
posted by Vidiot at 1:14 AM on June 14, 2004

My resentment toward vacapinta has been downgraded to business class.
posted by scarabic at 1:53 AM on June 14, 2004

I just made my first first-class long-haul trip. For those long flights, it is worth a lot of extra! Fortunatly, I didn't have to pay for it. The near bed-like seat is worth it alone, but add personal video-on-demand and, simply, WOW! The better food and service are just icing on the cake. The pajamas add a level of comfort I hadn't imagined. Yes, it was Virgin-Atlantic, complete with onboard massage.
posted by Goofyy at 2:35 AM on June 14, 2004

Any tips on how to become the one among the sheep back in the cattle car to get bumped up into the world of massages and handmaidens? I have no idea how to go about getting an upgrade.

I have been on more than one transatlantic flights where the first class cabin was full but I got five seats to stretch out on back in coach. Yes I had strange metal things poking into my back, but I was horizontal and had privacy and snickered at the suckers in first class.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:06 AM on June 14, 2004

You have to be in the upper echelon of that airline's frequent flier plan. The flight attendents have lists.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:02 AM on June 14, 2004

Check-in early.Coat and tie.Be really nice.And make a polite enquiry as to the booked load.

The most important is the threads.
posted by johnny7 at 7:48 AM on June 14, 2004

I've succeeded in the past by bringing Krispy Kreme donuts for the gate agents. Really.

But that won't work now, in the days of closely tracked elite-level frequent-flier programs and automatic upgrade priorities.
posted by Vidiot at 8:21 AM on June 14, 2004

Airlines frequently extend flight benefits to employees and their relations in the form of bottom-of-the-ladder standby tickets which can go to whatever section of the airplane is open. If the flight is heavily booked, these standby passengers are the last to board. Additionally, airlines may require that to fly in such a manner, you have to dress up to a certain standard. If it was a heavily booked flight, that would explain the man's nervousness. I'll bet that's what you saw, andrew cooke.
posted by furiousthought at 9:12 AM on June 14, 2004

I don't normally mind coach, but for long-hauls, holy crap, it makes a world of difference.

Smaller airlines, like ATA, have started selling first class seats for 25-20 bucks at check-in. it's ann easy way to get a small amount of extra revenue and please some customers all at the same time. smart.

Some people rag on the smaller guys, but I've had very good experiences with them (the ones with new fleets, that is).
posted by o2b at 3:19 PM on June 14, 2004

Alaska Air does the same thing, if there are empty seats in first class. In fact you can do the whole deal from their automated kiosks. I believe it costs $40, or it did. Did it on the a Seattle to San Francisco flight one Macworld, and my traveling companion and I were the only ones in first class. Actually, the entire plane was mostly empty, he and I could have had an entire row apiece back in coach, so in reality it was $40 wasted. But at least they were plying us with booze before we even left the gate.
posted by kindall at 8:25 PM on June 14, 2004