Last week I wrote about the one thing that annoyed me about my Air France first class flight.
It was another passenger in the cabin, who staked out two seats for herself, sending her companion to the seat directly across from me when it was originally left empty.
The twist in the story was that I overheard talk of a “staff ticket” while they were checking in next to me (Air France was unable to check in her baggage all the way through because she had a “staff” ticket to Paris and “confirmed” ticket to Zurich). Furthermore, my escort said that one of the passengers was flying standby and her companion had upgraded from a “confirmed” business class ticket.
Based upon those pieces of evidence, I presumed it was some sort of non-rev employee traveling. After posting, many Air France employees let me know that under no circumstances are employees eligible for first class when traveling on standby. Even Air France CEO Ben Smith, cannot standby for first class on leisure trips.
More than one person on the inside did some digging and I received the following info from multiple sources:
- The lady was on a full-fare ticket, her companion was traveling on a discounted business class ticket that was upgraded
- Neither are employees of Air France
- Their assigned seats were 1E and 1F, the two middle seats
Since I was wrong in my initial assessment, this update is warranted. It appears there were no shenanigans: just a rude passenger who claimed two seats for herself. I will say this: the two took seat 1A and 1E for the first several minutes onboard before she verbally commanded her companion to take seat 1F so she could have a seat and a bed. But if she is a regular in first class, perhaps that is just her usual way of maximizing her chances for two seats.
CONCLUSION
As I said earlier, this did not detract from the flight: I refused to let it bother me once we took off. I am actually quite glad that there was not as much to the story as I originally thought. The amount of feedback I received suggests that Air France very closely follows upgrade and standby protocol. That is a good thing.
> Read More: The Only Thing That Annoyed Me In Air France First Class…
So they were just annoying rich people
Yawn.
I don’t really see how the woman is rude? How is it much different from when you had two seats booked in Swiss first and the FA let you occupy a third seat for your son? In both situations the cabin was booked less than full and people were able to spread out.
The way she barked orders and presumed the third seat belonged to her was rude. On SWISS, I asked before taking the extra seat. She just took it.
Well I don’t know if rude is the right description. But it would be kind of like if two people traveling together had a window seat and aisle seat on a flight with no middle seat taken, and you had a whole row to yourself across the center aisle (so you still have direct aisle access lets say), and the window passenger asked the aisle passenger to sit on your side of the aisle so they could have more space. The passenger being asked to move in the situation basically is not any better or worse off, but the person making the request is impeding on your privacy for their benefit, even though they know the person moving, and you do not.
Thanks for the update, Matt.
I appreciate the update too. Being devil’s advocate here but what if she did ask if seat 1A was free but you just didn’t hear it?
She didn’t – the cabin is very small.
“…refused to let it bother me…”
…Proceeds to file a complaint and write to articles on it…
*two
I didn’t file a complaint. Of course I wrote about it…I write about all of my travels.
I like that you provided the update. It’s an important lesson on how limited information and perception can lead us to jump to incorrect conclusions.
Good update but not sure what was rude other than the way she spoke to her companion.
I’ve done the ‘take another seat for a bed’ deal in first. It’s a lot more convenient so I get her deal.
Thank you so much for the update. This issue has kept me up nights. I will sleep better tonight.
Glad I could help.
Although the business and first class seats are superior to those in the 1990’s, when they were only slightly better than today’s premium economy, they are geared to people flying alone or with business colleagues that don’t want much interaction during the flight.
Someday, there may be a few seats where a cabin can be combined and the two seats are next to each other. Maybe there will be a sideways motor which can make the seats farther apart for two passengers not traveling together.
Yes, rude ( and aggressive and arrogant).
The important question actually is were you aware flying or paying cash? If award, how did you book it as AF only provides first to top tier members.
Already asked and answered several times. Your info is false.
I find it quite concerning that someone at AF would “dig around” passenger’s personal data for no reason other than feed what amounts to gossiping.
AF staff shouldn’t be doing this sort of thing. What other data do they unnecessarily have access to?
They did it to ensure there was no non-rev in F. Based upon the circumstantial evidence, there was cause for investigation.
Robert Mueller was appointed by Air France to conduct this investigation. Unfortunately he was not able to uncover any evidence of a crime.
How intriguing…I’m sorry but still suspicious only because what you say you heard about the bag check thru to ZRH was accurate. Non-rev and rev tkts work as you heard….cannot be thru checked. That does not jive with the results of this “internal investigation” that they were then indeed rev tkt holders. So either you greatly miss heard them at checkin or perhaps it’s an alleged cover up for a breach of their strict protocol which you A) personally witnessed and B) unwittingly then went on to make very public. Mmmm….quelle mystere! I’m guessing your hearing is perfectly accurate?
I’m 100% sure what I heard at check-in and from my escort.
It is very possible she was on “standby”, (yes it happens to revenue passengers), for an earlier connection to ZRH. In this case she has the option to check her bag all the way to ZRH, on her originally booked flight, or pick up her bag in CDG, and hope that she was cleared on the earlier flight. In this case, she has her bag checked on the new flight, since she would now be confirmed for an earlier connection. Not much of a mystery.
You really don’t come out well from these kinds of posts. I enjoy reading them to see how miserable, nosy and petty some people can be. All the comments about how you didn’t let it bother you etc. make it even more entertaining. You’ve got yourself one loyal reader here – keep up the great work!
Thanks for reading Sam!