“I’ve Upgraded To First Class”: Woman Demands Passenger Who Paid For His Seat Move, Captain Decides To Lure Her Out Of The Plane And Leave Her Behind
Being rude sometimes pays off because you get what you want when a person is just not in the mood or in a position to be able to argue. But you never know if the Starbucks barista didn’t spit in your coffee or if you are actually talking to the general manager who won’t be disrespected.
This Karen thought that she was the most important person on the plane because she upgraded to first class and the situation escalated to the point where the captain had to sort it out and he simply kicked her off the plane.
More info: Reddit
Just because you want something, it doesn’t mean you can get it by being rude, and this entitled woman got even less than that
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual image)
The story is told by a former airline captain who was commuting and bought a first class ticket as it was the last seat available
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)
A woman who was upgraded to first class wanted him to move because he was in her seat, but the captain paid for it so he remained in place
Image credits: Kelly (not the actual image)
The situation escalated and the captain of the flight had to intervene
Image credits: u/snarfleberry
He falsely promised the woman her first-class seat and a voucher, but she was actually escorted out of the plane
About 40 years ago, the Original Poster (OP) was an airline captain and has flown 727, 737, A-300 and DC-10 airplanes in his career. At the time of the story, he was living in Atlanta, but commuted to Houston and usually he would get a jump seat in the cockpit, which was free.
But on this particular day, the jump seat was already taken and the only available seat was in first class. The OP had to get to work, so he bought it and was calmly waiting for the journey to start.
This is when Entitled Woman enters the scene and incites a conflict as she was upgraded from first class and the OP was sitting in her seat.
Then another character appears: the flight attendant, who tried to resolve the issue, which there appeared to be none because the OP was right where he was supposed to be. At the same time, Entitled Woman was not cooperating and was avoiding showing her boarding pass.
That is when the final character of the play shows up, and that is the captain of the flight, who deescalated the situation by promising Entitled Woman that she would have her seat and even a voucher for the next flight.
Although that was a big fat lie, because the OP saw Entitled Woman pounding the window of the gate area, which meant she was kicked off the flight. Many people called the OP a liar himself because it would be a hassle to kick off a passenger because of luggage, so the story must be fake.
Well, the former pilot explained in a comment, “For whatever it’s worth, this happened well before 9/11 and there was no requirement in place to retrieve the luggage of a passenger who was deboarded.”
They also found it weird that there was no room for a colleague and he had to buy a ticket, in first class, no less. But others confirmed that it happens a lot even to this day, not to mention back then.
Image credits: Kelly (not the actual image)
The Redditor has more stories about flights on his account and one of them includes a woman bringing a bullhorn and announcing that the captain, a.k.a. the OP, would lead the passengers in prayer to have a safe flight.
Which just shows that there was little control over what people could bring on the plane or how things worked, because people in the comments were convinced that now a bullhorn would raise an eyebrow at security.
Most of the security requirements were changed as a response to terrorist attacks, but the biggest ones appeared after the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. Some of our readers will not even remember how it all looked before, but according to NPR, you could arrive at the airport just minutes before your flight, nobody would check your baggage, you didn’t need to take off your coat or shoes, and you didn’t even need an ID.
Jeff Price, who was assistant security director at Denver International Airport on Sept. 11, 2001, and is now an aviation security expert at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said, “Before 9/11, security was almost invisible, and it was really designed to be that way. It was designed to be something in the background that really wasn’t that noticeable and definitely did not interfere with aircraft or airport operations.”
So the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, was created and there was a requirement instated for all baggage without exceptions to be screened by X-rays. In 2003, TSA started training flight staff to use firearms if needed.
Then, in 2006, after British authorities managed to prevent a terrorist attack that included liquid explosives, the TSA banned liquids, gels and aerosols from passenger carry-on luggage, although they amended the rule a month later by setting a 3.4 ounce limit.
In 2008, airports started using dogs to detect bombs and in 2009, full-body scanners were installed when a terrorist was hiding explosives in their pants.
Since then, the security technology has been regularly updated and airports react to any advancements in bomb making. So you can blame terrorists for the long lines and for having to wake up in the middle of the night when your flight is only in the morning.
There has been no other similar plane hijacking since 9/11, and it’s probably safe to say that it’s because of the precautions and not because humanity is getting better, as there were many attacks that were prevented.
But one thing didn’t change and that is if the flight captain sees it necessary, they can kick a passenger off the plane, which people would like to see happen more often because it’s the worst when you are locked in a tight space thousands of feet above ground with an annoying person.
Do you think the captain made a good decision? Do you think the situation could have been solved in a different way as the woman probably had somewhere to be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Readers were amused by the story and believed the woman got what she deserved, but they also felt sorry for the airport staff that had to handle her
Either way, it's still a great story and well told.
Load More Replies...Maybe I'm being a b'stard but it is about time that when people like the EW do this and are caught out they should be banned from ALL future flights.
Or bannished to the belly of the plane in a dog carrier. If people wanna act like animals, they can be treated like one.
Load More Replies...I can tell this guy's a pilot... Writes like a DR (daily report)... just the days events. Was strangely refreshing to see and read😊
i just wrote my comment, where i said the same thing. either you're good, or me, or both.
Load More Replies...I remember when flying used to actually be enjoyable. You weren't treated like a criminal at the airport, you didn't have to get there 8 hours before your flight and people behaved like they lived in a society rather than everyone being a NPC in their world. I don't even like going out anymore due to how self centered, awful and entitled everyone is now.
Even before 9/11, the luggage had to be removed from the plane, if its owner did not board. This rule was introduced because of a former terrorist act (PanAm plane over Lockerbie, if I'm not mistaken).
On a flight from London to Washington and on to Houston... I got held up by customs (damn me for bringing chocolate truffles into the US, how dare I! Very dangerous substance, that.) and missed my connecting flight (On election day, nice one, Continental). Next one was at 6am the next morning. (Try finding a hotel in DC on election night. GL.) Alas, I had to retrieve my luggage from the luggage desk when I got to Houston, because... my suitcase made it on the flight, even though I didn't. So yeah, definitely happened.
Load More Replies...Yeah, the whole story, especially the "no, I won't show you my boarding card" thing is sooo believable.
And the "I'm more important than an employee" thing. Some people don't know when to tone down the "embellishment" of a story. It makes for good reading, but also gives the reader the eyerolls.
Load More Replies...Someone asked if the Captain has the authority to deplane someone, and the answer for anyone who's curious is Absolutely. The Captain has complete control over who they allow on their plane. Usually they deplane people who are a safety problem or disruptive. Buying a ticket gives you no ironclad right to be on the plane; read the fine print.
I was just about to write the same thing,,but thought I'd check the comments first. Thanks 😊
Load More Replies...There's this odd incongruence between the way this story is presented as being real, and the fact that it is clearly fake. If it were presented as "just a story," I could enjoy it, and if it were genuinely real, I would enjoy it even more. But since it's presented as real, and it's not, that just makes it a load of b*llsh*t, and I find that so distracting. I genuinely don't understand how people enjoy it, and want to comment on it like it's real, when they know it's not.
... and when someone points out that it's b*llsh*t, they get downvoted. Down below in the comments, a woman named Antoinette said, "Some people don't know when to tone down the "embellishment" of a story. It makes for good reading, but also gives the reader the eyerolls." And that's EXACTLY RIGHT. That's the problem with this story, is that it's over-embellished. And Antoinette's reward for pointing that out is to have her comment at negative five right now. Good lord, maybe BP's audience just ain't that bright. 🙄
Load More Replies...File this under "things that never happened but make good urban mythology".
I don't get this. Was this woman basically lying and had not upgraded at all and just wanted to kick someone out their seat? Surely everyone knows that a boarding pass shows which seat and class you are in and that's that? Sometimes these stories are a bit odd and I'm sure that what most people talk about are not necessarily 'entitled' normal people but people with section-able mental health problems that shouldn't be in society. Also thieves and criminals are bullies and act entitled. That's how they get their results. There seems to be a fine line between being entitled and rude and actually being very very mentally unstable imho.
sounds that way, if she was refusing to show her boarding pass that would prove it. like when I was a dental nurse, and if our surgery was quiet, the nurses would often help out on reception. at our practice it was mostly private, but we DID treat NHS patients that were exempt from paying (under 18. pregnant. pensioners. people with an HC2 form you can apply for if you are on a low income) one woman ticked that she was NHS exempt on her form, but refused to give us the details. without the details, we can't process the procedure through the system, and receive no payment. you either tick one of the boxes, or fill in the HC2 form number which remains on the system until it expires. I gave her back her form and explained she needed to fill in the reason for NHS exemption, and she started SHOUTING AT ME like a crazy woman, that I had no right to ask her personal questions, and I should just take her word for it and how dare I humiliate her in public.
Load More Replies...How did they determine that the Pax didn't have luggage in the hold? That would have been a whole different ball game .
Loved this .. that's why my client hire the whole plane .. no idiots on board
I’ve worked on an airport as a check-in agent, so yeah, no way this story had happened as it said. If they kick off a passenger (the captain has that kind of authority, yes), we have to search for the pax’s luggage, have to make a new passenger list, etc… Also, the passenger would be escorted from the plane BEFORE they close the door.
LOVE. THIS. CAPTAIN. Entitlement should be punished like this at every instance, no matter where the Karen in question is trying this nonsense.
Just as a sidenote, after DB Cooper got away the next attempted skyjacker brought a sub machine gun to the party. That's when metal detectors were installed at airports.
It’s oddly comforting knowing that there have been entitled passengers for as long as there has been commuter travel (noted in the article that this incident was 40 years ago). Humans are strange
I remember back before 9/11 I actually packed a Betta fish as a gift to my boyfriend when he was flying back home to Philly and I told him he couldn't open it until he got on the plane. Boy was he surprised to find he was carrying a fish home on his airplane ride home! And yes it was in larger than 3.5 ounce container 😂
AB-SO-LUTE GENIUS!! I really hope nobody else was told, so this was just a wink between captains. I love it when good people find novel ways to subvert bad people for the sake of other good people. Good should just happen, without a big song & dance being made of it like it's insanely rare and out of the ordinary. Evil, on the other hand, SHOULD be highlighted and the perpetrators interviewed and shamed on the news. Being pilloried was once an important reality check for the malignant and the entitled, and I'd very much like to see it make a comeback. Entitlement is a choice, and that choice should be very, VERY painful.
Clearly it’s a fake story, what if she had baggage or carryons those can’t fly with the passenger being on the plane
Let’s hope that the Karens and Kevins out there will think before announcing that they are more important than anyone else.
Never happened. They would need to offload her luggage first.
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Pilot paid for his seat? My sister worked for a major airline (in the 80's )and she always got 6 FREE passes a year. She worked in reservations. Highly doubt Pilot had to pay.
If an employee has to get to work and the flight is almost full, they absolutely will buy a ticket. It’s cheaper than missing work and avoids attendance issues. Source: I’m an airline retiree with lifetime unlimited space available benefits, and I have bought tickets when I had to be somewhere at a specific time, such as a cruise or vacation with several people. I’ve also worked with several people who commuted to work and they occasionally had to buy a ticket.
Load More Replies...So, stuff from 20+ years ago ISN'T funny or amusing, is that what you're saying? Has society's sense of what is amusing drastically CHANGED in the last two decades? XD
Load More Replies...Either way, it's still a great story and well told.
Load More Replies...Maybe I'm being a b'stard but it is about time that when people like the EW do this and are caught out they should be banned from ALL future flights.
Or bannished to the belly of the plane in a dog carrier. If people wanna act like animals, they can be treated like one.
Load More Replies...I can tell this guy's a pilot... Writes like a DR (daily report)... just the days events. Was strangely refreshing to see and read😊
i just wrote my comment, where i said the same thing. either you're good, or me, or both.
Load More Replies...I remember when flying used to actually be enjoyable. You weren't treated like a criminal at the airport, you didn't have to get there 8 hours before your flight and people behaved like they lived in a society rather than everyone being a NPC in their world. I don't even like going out anymore due to how self centered, awful and entitled everyone is now.
Even before 9/11, the luggage had to be removed from the plane, if its owner did not board. This rule was introduced because of a former terrorist act (PanAm plane over Lockerbie, if I'm not mistaken).
On a flight from London to Washington and on to Houston... I got held up by customs (damn me for bringing chocolate truffles into the US, how dare I! Very dangerous substance, that.) and missed my connecting flight (On election day, nice one, Continental). Next one was at 6am the next morning. (Try finding a hotel in DC on election night. GL.) Alas, I had to retrieve my luggage from the luggage desk when I got to Houston, because... my suitcase made it on the flight, even though I didn't. So yeah, definitely happened.
Load More Replies...Yeah, the whole story, especially the "no, I won't show you my boarding card" thing is sooo believable.
And the "I'm more important than an employee" thing. Some people don't know when to tone down the "embellishment" of a story. It makes for good reading, but also gives the reader the eyerolls.
Load More Replies...Someone asked if the Captain has the authority to deplane someone, and the answer for anyone who's curious is Absolutely. The Captain has complete control over who they allow on their plane. Usually they deplane people who are a safety problem or disruptive. Buying a ticket gives you no ironclad right to be on the plane; read the fine print.
I was just about to write the same thing,,but thought I'd check the comments first. Thanks 😊
Load More Replies...There's this odd incongruence between the way this story is presented as being real, and the fact that it is clearly fake. If it were presented as "just a story," I could enjoy it, and if it were genuinely real, I would enjoy it even more. But since it's presented as real, and it's not, that just makes it a load of b*llsh*t, and I find that so distracting. I genuinely don't understand how people enjoy it, and want to comment on it like it's real, when they know it's not.
... and when someone points out that it's b*llsh*t, they get downvoted. Down below in the comments, a woman named Antoinette said, "Some people don't know when to tone down the "embellishment" of a story. It makes for good reading, but also gives the reader the eyerolls." And that's EXACTLY RIGHT. That's the problem with this story, is that it's over-embellished. And Antoinette's reward for pointing that out is to have her comment at negative five right now. Good lord, maybe BP's audience just ain't that bright. 🙄
Load More Replies...File this under "things that never happened but make good urban mythology".
I don't get this. Was this woman basically lying and had not upgraded at all and just wanted to kick someone out their seat? Surely everyone knows that a boarding pass shows which seat and class you are in and that's that? Sometimes these stories are a bit odd and I'm sure that what most people talk about are not necessarily 'entitled' normal people but people with section-able mental health problems that shouldn't be in society. Also thieves and criminals are bullies and act entitled. That's how they get their results. There seems to be a fine line between being entitled and rude and actually being very very mentally unstable imho.
sounds that way, if she was refusing to show her boarding pass that would prove it. like when I was a dental nurse, and if our surgery was quiet, the nurses would often help out on reception. at our practice it was mostly private, but we DID treat NHS patients that were exempt from paying (under 18. pregnant. pensioners. people with an HC2 form you can apply for if you are on a low income) one woman ticked that she was NHS exempt on her form, but refused to give us the details. without the details, we can't process the procedure through the system, and receive no payment. you either tick one of the boxes, or fill in the HC2 form number which remains on the system until it expires. I gave her back her form and explained she needed to fill in the reason for NHS exemption, and she started SHOUTING AT ME like a crazy woman, that I had no right to ask her personal questions, and I should just take her word for it and how dare I humiliate her in public.
Load More Replies...How did they determine that the Pax didn't have luggage in the hold? That would have been a whole different ball game .
Loved this .. that's why my client hire the whole plane .. no idiots on board
I’ve worked on an airport as a check-in agent, so yeah, no way this story had happened as it said. If they kick off a passenger (the captain has that kind of authority, yes), we have to search for the pax’s luggage, have to make a new passenger list, etc… Also, the passenger would be escorted from the plane BEFORE they close the door.
LOVE. THIS. CAPTAIN. Entitlement should be punished like this at every instance, no matter where the Karen in question is trying this nonsense.
Just as a sidenote, after DB Cooper got away the next attempted skyjacker brought a sub machine gun to the party. That's when metal detectors were installed at airports.
It’s oddly comforting knowing that there have been entitled passengers for as long as there has been commuter travel (noted in the article that this incident was 40 years ago). Humans are strange
I remember back before 9/11 I actually packed a Betta fish as a gift to my boyfriend when he was flying back home to Philly and I told him he couldn't open it until he got on the plane. Boy was he surprised to find he was carrying a fish home on his airplane ride home! And yes it was in larger than 3.5 ounce container 😂
AB-SO-LUTE GENIUS!! I really hope nobody else was told, so this was just a wink between captains. I love it when good people find novel ways to subvert bad people for the sake of other good people. Good should just happen, without a big song & dance being made of it like it's insanely rare and out of the ordinary. Evil, on the other hand, SHOULD be highlighted and the perpetrators interviewed and shamed on the news. Being pilloried was once an important reality check for the malignant and the entitled, and I'd very much like to see it make a comeback. Entitlement is a choice, and that choice should be very, VERY painful.
Clearly it’s a fake story, what if she had baggage or carryons those can’t fly with the passenger being on the plane
Let’s hope that the Karens and Kevins out there will think before announcing that they are more important than anyone else.
Never happened. They would need to offload her luggage first.
Using the newest technologies is essential to staying ahead in the ever changing world of digital currency. Craker cyberdude Recovery is aware of this and uses state-of-the-art equipment and software to facilitate their recovery attempts. They make use of a variety of resources, such as data mining tools, blockchain explorers, and transaction analysis software, to increase the likelihood of success. Craker cyberdude Recovery presents itself as a pioneer in the bitcoin recovery services industry with its tech-savvy approach. While it may seem impossible, craker cyberdude Recovery is an expert at recovering bitcoins that have been misplaced or stolen. They commence their approach by collecting all relevant data on the lost bitcoins and doing a comprehensive scenario assessment. Then, using their knowledge of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency forensics, they take a methodical approach to find and track down the lost money. Craker cyberdude Recovery works to return your bitcoins to
Pilot paid for his seat? My sister worked for a major airline (in the 80's )and she always got 6 FREE passes a year. She worked in reservations. Highly doubt Pilot had to pay.
If an employee has to get to work and the flight is almost full, they absolutely will buy a ticket. It’s cheaper than missing work and avoids attendance issues. Source: I’m an airline retiree with lifetime unlimited space available benefits, and I have bought tickets when I had to be somewhere at a specific time, such as a cruise or vacation with several people. I’ve also worked with several people who commuted to work and they occasionally had to buy a ticket.
Load More Replies...So, stuff from 20+ years ago ISN'T funny or amusing, is that what you're saying? Has society's sense of what is amusing drastically CHANGED in the last two decades? XD
Load More Replies...
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