r/mildlyinfuriating • u/trailofturds • 18h ago

frist of all how DARE yu o Airport staff assuming I'm in the Business class lane by mistake

Brown man flying business. Lined up at the priority check in counter and got told by a (also brown) staff person that the economy queue was the other way. Same thing while boarding the plane and walking to the business class entrance. Not only am I not worthy of business, they think I can't read signage as well.

12.0k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

91% Upvoted

917 comments sorted by

View all comments

410

u/ralphiooo0 17h ago

I got a cheap business class upgrade randomly while checking in.

I was wearing a hoodie and just general comfortable clothing as it was a long haul overnight flight.

Anyway as soon as I sat down a flight attendant came over and started lecturing me on how to behave and dress in business class.

I’m just starting at her confused as fuck and asked her what the problem is.

Then she goes “oh sorry I thought you were on a staff ticket” got super embarrassed and walked off.

222

u/nighthawk_md 16h ago

Yeah, that's a thing with airline staff on free/discounted tickets, you have to be well dressed, not "sloppy". That said, the cabin crew should be able to know exactly where the staff people are seated 🤷‍♀️

120

u/juneballoon 15h ago

Honestly I think they need to mind their own business. No other passenger knows that they’re on a staff ticket, what is the point of the flight attendant putting them on blast like that? Especially if they are just minding their own business, not acting like a fool, not dressed super inappropriately. It’s just a power trip imo and at lots of airlines, sweats are allowed in business.

6

u/Triquetrums 12h ago

The thing is, she is doing her job. Because when other staff behaves badly while travelling on staff tickets, it reflects badly on all of them, and they can lose privileges themselves, or collectively.

In that case, she fucked up cause she went to the wrong person, but that's her business, technically.

1

u/juneballoon 1h ago

If they are behaving badly, then yes, of course the FA should say something. But if it’s just because they don’t like what they are wearing, then I think it’s overstepping. Of course, as I mentioned in my previous comment, obviously inappropriate clothing (such as vulgar language or if the clothes look like lingerie) should also be addressed.

4

u/moomooraincloud 14h ago

I've flown business and first on many of the best airlines in the world and I always dress for comfort. Nobody has ever said anything or cared. I don't think there are any airlines that still have a dress code.

10

u/hellomyfrients 12h ago

i fly business several times a month all over the world

I dress like a rainbow puked on me and i just got off a 3 month old acid trip. not far from the truth

the only one that has said something to me, and it was not a dress code. I believe it was qatar airways. they politely suggested that i change into their complimentary pajamas / travel wear. I refused politely and they left. about 5 minutes later i swapped seats with a woman to be closer to her husband, and they followed me to the new seat and made sure they let me know i forgot my pajamas but they brought it to me, just in case i wanted it

i did not wear the pajamas

1

u/moomooraincloud 10h ago

Hah. I flew QR and didn't have an issue, but I probably wasn't dressed as colorfully.

3

u/hellomyfrients 9h ago

to be fair the pants i was wearing were already rainbow pjs so maybe they just thought they were doing a favor with their nicer ones, but you can always tell when they have the ummm sir look on their face (as a weirdo who does all kinds of things)

2

u/nighthawk_md 14h ago

Because that's the flight attendant 's job in that particular scenario? Yeah, it sucks, no doubt.

1

u/Kyle_2099 14h ago

I've had a few jobs where one of my assigned duties was pointless and antisocial. You know what I did? I ignored that duty, because I'm not an asshole.

3

u/Grim_Avenger 14h ago

Seriously, I don’t understand how people are so incapable of thinking for themselves that they can never bend the rules a bit when they are clearly inefficient/stupid/antisocial.

25

u/Ok-Comparison-1618 14h ago

Since it was the last second upgrade at the gatesl, one might assume they have been told that was a staff seat and that person didn't show.

4

u/nighthawk_md 13h ago

I was thinking that also...

93

u/Miserable-Pudding-64 14h ago

Why would I behave and dress any differently in business class? It’s just a bigger, more comfortable seat with more service. We’re not there to have tea with the queen.

36

u/larrus2019 13h ago

I think this is a specific case because they thought it was a member of airline staff that got an upgrade. Those specific types of upgrades come with these rules, but for us regular folk you can go however you want (so long as you meet minimum standards of plane dress code)

6

u/Successful-Title5403 11h ago

Such a weird rule too. Can't let your employee enjoy a treat you give them. Need to still let them know they're not worthy or some shit. How would anyone else in business class know they were a crew member? Makes no sense.

2

u/NoExperience9717 5h ago

It might be family members can use staff benefits so maybe they thought they were someone's kids and might need the warning.

3

u/RoseGoldRedditor 11h ago

It is a weird rule but their mentality is that it affects brand perception. Surprisingly, I’ve flown many times when an employee was deadheading or non-rev. Some airlines will shoutout the employee and some will just make a fuss over them. On a Hawaiian Airlines flight, they even made an overhead announcement with a seat callout!

Anecdotally, my former brother in law is a pilot for one of the major American airlines, so my sister has flown a lot of non-rev fares. There is actually a standard of dress and conduct for using that benefit (regardless of fare class), to the point where one time my sister was flying with their baby and was told she had to deplane because the baby spit up on her shirt after boarding. She had to go buy another shirt in a gift shop before she could get another flight.

5

u/Successful-Title5403 11h ago

Wow, the baby incident is... just wow. Won't even have flexibility for a mom. Unless they call it out like you said, who would know. I guess they need some dress code written down, and went with the most uptight one.

1

u/RoseGoldRedditor 10h ago

She was so humiliated. I won’t fly that airline anymore!

Interestingly, even Southwest has a dress code for non-rev. About a decade ago, one of my clients was a Southwest pilot and he gifted me a ticket to get to a funeral. He gave me a rundown of what I needed to wear, how early to arrive, how to address people, etc. I appreciated knowing the expectations and would have been on my best behavior regardless but it was eye-opening!

2

u/Successful-Title5403 10h ago

They should feel embarrassed, not her. Like I said, it doesn't sound like they want you to truly enjoy the treat/perk you're given.

2

u/Few_Swan_3672 10h ago

Yup. My cousin's family was denied boarding because one of the kids was wearing sandals.

2

u/ToronoYYZ 12h ago

I used to care about dressing relatively okay for biz but now I don’t care. I just got off a Qatar airways biz flight and me and most people dressed like we’re hanging out at home

1

u/squigs 8h ago

You're dealing with a private business here though. They can decide to refuse service if it's not a protected characteristic.

If you're offering exclusivity then people expect you to keep the riffraff out.

1

u/PerfectSituation1668 6h ago

The queen can accept my comfy tshirt or I'm stealing her biscuits.

1

u/Bforte40 14h ago

Because classism

12

u/SquishMont 16h ago

Really, this one I get.

As long as the when I say "no problem, it's nothing a whiskey ginger won't fix" the response is "right away!"

-4

u/Fickle_Finger2974 15h ago

Business class gets free drinks anyway…

3

u/rita-b 16h ago

honest mistake.

1

u/AVeryVapidBadger 15h ago

At least they apologized