MSNBC’s Chris Elliot judges you and your Platinum Card

by Grant Martin on

One of our favorite airline columnists over at MSNBC.com and from Elliott.org published an interesting article today on the separation between coach and first class called “Frequent Criers: Elite Fliers are Ruining Air Travel”. In it, he points to the increasingly childlike behavior among top tier passengers that has recently been giving first class passengers a bad name — and asks whether this is a function of the passengers themselves or the airlines catering to an unbalanced class of service.

As an elite member myself, I have thought about this topic several times and part of it is true — Elliott points out a variety of instances in which first class passengers have acted unruly and entitled. But I don’t think that it’s limited exclusively to first class passengers — in fact, there are idiots in all classes of service and modes of transportation.

It doesn’t take much effort to be an obnoxious jerk when you’re in cramped quarters and have been traveling all day. In the same way that the taxi cuts you off when you’re merging into traffic or the guy on the stairs walks down the left side instead of the right side, some people just don’t make common courtesy a high priority. Yeah, it sucks. But it’s okay. They’re in the minority that think differently, but we’ll get over it and we’ll continue to do the nice, right thing.

There are good frequent fliers out there. I’m sure Chris Elliott flies all over the world and like myself and many frequent travelers on Gadling is professional and courteous. Don’t lose faith, fellow passenger — first and coach passengers are all stuck in this aluminum tube together. We can’t let articles like this tear us apart.

Plane Answers: “When did first class become the crew lounge?”

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s latest feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from take off to touch down and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Dennis asks:

As one who travels somewhat frequently for business and pleasure, I have taken notice recently of just how pervasive it has become for United Airlines (the carrier I usually fly) to seat airline employees dressed in full uniform (most probably dead heading to the next hub) in the First Class cabin, even though in many cases there are ample seats available in economy. Somehow I get a little offended by this. At the very least, wouldn’t it be a show of goodwill if space is indeed available to upgrade paying customers at the gate and let the crew sit in back? Is this a common practice amongst all airlines? What are your comments on this topic?

Thanks for the question, Dennis.

While I can’t speak for United Airlines, I can give a little background on this practice as it relates to my airline. Employees have negotiated improvements to their benefits as they relate to non-revenue travel and deadheading while at work.
For us, non-revenue coach travel is free for employees with at least five years of employment. If the employee would like to travel in first class, a fee is assessed. In either case, the employee is responsible for the taxes normally applied to airline tickets as well as a separate income tax on this benefit.

Deadheading employees are often used to fill gaps in coverage at other bases or if one of their legs of a trip has cancelled. These employees can put themselves on the upgrade list online or while at the gate.

In both of the above cases, crews are offered seats up front only after all first class revenue passengers and frequent flyer upgrade requests have been met. These seats would have otherwise gone unfilled. Pilots and flight attendant unions often negotiate these benefits, and airlines are willing to use them to attract new employees.

I discussed this policy with a gate agent today and she explained that some confusion occurs when passengers that request to use an upgrade voucher give up and decide to take their originally assigned coach seat during the boarding process. Usually the agents wait for no-show passengers before processing the upgrade requests, and if a passenger elects to take their seat in the back they’re unable to go on board and move that passenger up to first class.

Airlines are hesitant to upgrade coach passengers even with empty seats in first class probably because they don’t want remove any incentive for travelers to pay for that premium seat.

Employees have sacrificed their pay and work rules for the past seven years–often helping their airlines pull through some tough times. I hope you don’t fault them if they’re sitting in an otherwise unused first class seat every now and then.

On a somewhat related note, my Irish friend Ruthann provided me with a story that might just work for you if you’re out of upgrade vouchers:

Several years ago, a sales department (frequent travelling) co-worker of mine was passing through LAX on his way back to Ireland when he decided to try his chances with the AA desk clerk and charm her with his Irishy Irishness. He put on his best leipreachán accent and requested an upgrade to first class.

The lady seemed to flirt with him, and was very happy to upgrade the remainder of his trip to first class for free. It was love at first sight, at least for her. He promised her the world, being the funny, jokey charmer that he is. He came back and boasted to us all about the AA clerk he’d charmed into a free upgrade.

A few days later, he got a long distance call. She had kept his info and phoned him, just to see if he got to Ireland safely…

Several years later and they’re due to get married soon.

So there you go. But you might want to proceed with caution if you don’t have the requisite Irish Irishyness!

How do I upgrade my airline ticket with miles?

by Grant Martin on

We had a question from a reader here at Gadling about upgrading a purchased ticket with miles into first class. Reader Ashley writes:

“My husband and I are blessed (cursed) enough to live in an area almost completely served by Northwest Airlines, and are trying to get a grasp on the requirements to upgrade an upcoming Europe trip to first class. We have enough miles to cover even the highest “cost” for upgrades according to the website (60,000), but are confused by the stipulations placed upon the “class” of ticket. It appears that, by selecting the box that allows you to upgrade, ticket prices more than TRIPLE!

Is this really the only way to upgrade? Is this one of those ploys that experienced travellers can find their way around?“

Unfortunately, Ashley, you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head. But let’s back up real quick.

On most carriers, it’s possible to buy an economy class ticket with cash or miles then upgrade that ticket at a later date into business or first class. It can be an economical way to fly in first without having to pay the often-ridiculous prices for a full fare.

The trick is, however, that airlines require you to be booked into a certain fare class in order to upgrade your fare — that is, you can’t upgrade the 170$ budget ticket to London that you bought in the super discounted fare class. Airlines do this on purpose to make it difficult for you to spend your miles; after all, miles you don’t spend are dollars in their coffers.

In your case, Ashley, you need to book a Y or B fare class in order to upgrade your ticket with miles, the former of which is “full” while the latter is “slightly discounted” economy. And I’ll bet those prices are significantly more than a regular “deeply discounted” economy ticket.

One long shot that you can use to get around this is by tracking down a System Wide Upgrade. Super-elite members are given vouchers that allow them to upgrade any ticket to first class. If you can find one of those members and make him or her a deal, they might give away their voucher. But you have to fly at least 120,000 miles per year to get these vouchers so they may be sparse.

In that light, I’d recommend you use your 60k miles to buy one economy ticket for the pair of you and pay out of pocket for the other. If you’re proactive, you can book a bulkhead or exit row on an A330 giving you unlimited legroom and in-seat entertainment. Then, use the money you saved to get a nice hotel room in Europe when you get there where you can sleep away your jetlag and any recollection of your flight in coach.

Next feature for the A380? Showers!

by Grant Martin on

Dubai’s Emirates airline just started revealing some plans for its A380 configurations. They’re the second customer for Airbus’s giant airship with delivery slated for later this year. And it looks like they’re going to try to beat Singapore Air, the first customer, in sheer ridiculousness of their first class product.

With showers. Yes, first class travelers on the new, highly-coveted Emirates A380 routes will soon be able to take a shower while they’re flying in the world’s skies. The service is slated to unroll on the new New York – Dubai A380 route scheduled for October 1, but eventually will be augmented into all of their super jumbo jets.

I’m curious as to whether this is going to be a high-water pressure, multi-head luxury shower or a tiny RV-style drizzle of water from the ceiling.

To support this service, Emirates plans to haul an extra TON of water on the aircraft, thus as the Times Online reports, increasing the carbon output by an extra 25 tons. Baffling. But as many airlines are wagering these days, the real money lies in the business class product. We cattle will pay anywhere around $1,000 for a flight between New York and Dubai, but each business class ticket should run around $18,000.

So much for being eco-friendly.

Travel luxuries for the rich and not-so-rich

by Martha Edwards on

Few of us have access to the private jets and the penthouse suites at the best hotels, but that doesn’t mean the un-wealthy shouldn’t have access to travel luxuries too. Men.Style put together a list of travel upgrades that can make the coach traveller feel like a poshest of jetsetters. And the price tag might reflect that, but hey, you gotta splurge sometimes.

What made the list? Here are a few items to invest in on your nest trip:

  • A Wi-Fi Skype phone will allow you low-cost calling and Internet access anywhere
  • A visit to the Qua Baths and Spa at Cesar’s Palace in Vegas will make you feel like you’re living a life of luxury, if only for a few hours.
  • But if visiting the spa isn’t your thing, Kama Ayurveda bath products, available in Asia, bring the spa to your bathroom.
  • Rozerem is a pill that will help you sleep on a flight and wake-up hangover-free. So might be wedged into an uncomfortable coach seat next to a sumo wrestler, but you’ll feel as rested as if you had your own bed.
  • The Loro Piana travel pillow is made of cashmere and guaranteed to give you a good sleep. Well, all I can say is that at $800, it better!

Want to know more? Read the full article.