A man declined a $1500 offer from a NFL star to switch from one economy class seat to another on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Dallas. Was he just stupid or was there more to the story?
NFL star Cam Newton, a quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, was originally scheduled to travel from Paris to Charlotte on American Airlines in business class. He missed his flight and was rebooked to Dallas in economy class…he was told business class was not available and did not call Award Expert.
Newton is 6’5″, making economy class a difficult proposition in any seat. He approached a man seated in an exit row aisle (virtually unlimited legroom) and offered him $1500 to make the switch to his seat. The man declined. You can watch the video below captured by a passenger a few rows behind:
So this happened… @CameronNewton offered a man $1500 cash for extra leg room on a 10hr flight and the man said “No??” #GiveFranceTheNFL pic.twitter.com/xQohV9Ngef
— Eli Edwards (@ElisaraEdwards) June 22, 2019
Why would someone decline a move from an exit row to what appeared to be a bulkhead seat in economy that still had some room to stretch out?
- Was he suspicious of Newton?
- He appeared to be traveling with two friends or family members; did he not want to leave them alone?
- Is an exit row seat on American Airlines really worth $1500?
Whatever the reason, he said no. Newton just sort of shook his head in disbelief. So do I!
I certainly subscribe to the principle that time is money. At the same time, this was a daytime flight and if $1500 is nothing, why not fly business class? Why not negotiate if the amount was not sufficient? I agree with One Mile at a Time that people go into “survival” mode on airplanes and often stop acting rationally.
What I Would Have Done If I was Cam Newton
Let’s say I was on a paid business class ticket and missed my flight. And let’s also say that it was my fault I missed my flight, not the AA’s fault. First, I’d beg for mercy and ask to be rebooked on a partner flight, likely British Airways, through London or any other combo that would get me home same-day in business class. AA’s Paris – Charlotte flight departs at 1:00 PM so options were limited. Next, I would check out using miles on other carriers. Perhaps Lufthansa via Frankfurt or SWISS via Zurich? Both are good about making last-minute award space available.
If all else had failed and I had to get home that day, I’d next ask if the agent could arrange seats so that I have three to myself. To accomplish this, I’d indentify a row that had at least one (and ideally two) open seats. Then I’d ask the passenger(s), with the help of the gate agent, if they would mind swapping to other seats for a cash consideration. If that even that failed, I’d do exactly what Newton did, but keep increasing the offer (the man is worth $20MN) until I got a taker…probably in business class.
CONCLUSION
There were so many variables at play here and I don’t think Newton had an easy solution. I don’t blame him for trying to buy an economy class seat switch. I do wonder why he just gave up instead of sweetening the offer?
How much would it take for you to give up an exit row seat on a 10.5 hour daytime flight?
I’d put the $1,500 in context. How much is it compared to what I paid for the flight? Did I already pay extra for the exit row seat? (Those are becoming harder and harder to get just by asking.)
My father prefers bulkhead seats, but I find them very uncomfortable and unpleasant, and would need serious motivation to switch to one, especially if the bulkhead seat was no longer an aisle seat. I need somewhere to put my feet, not just my knees, so the bulkhead wall often provides LESS room, rather than more. (Some bulkheads these days are bent at the bottom to take advantage of the space below the seats directly in front of them, which is awesome, but some still go straight down.) And the tray tables for bulkhead seats are often cramped, sit on my knees instead of above them, AND the ones that fold out of the armrest mean an extra-wide armrest… which means less seat width for the passenger.
Now, I’m inclined to be considerate, even generous, so if the airline had screwed up and a small child was seated separately from a parent, I would do my best to accommodate a requested switch unless it was going to cause me real discomfort.
But as you suggest, I might also think about asking for more than $1,500 if someone as wildly rich as Cam Newton was asking for my hard-won exit-row seat.
Maybe I’d say “How about $1,500 for me and $15,000 for my favorite charity?” Then everyone wins.
Man, that’s a lot of analysis. I’d simply see it as free 1.5k and suffer the consequences. Unless I was travelling with a small child.
For a three-hour flight, I’d sit in just about any seat for $1,500. A flight this long changes the equation.
(Also, there’s no “video below,” unless you count the animated Sephora ad. Did you mean to embed something and forget, or has it been deleted?)
Fixed code. Thanks!
I would do it if it was Tom Brady. Not for Cam Newton. Go Patriots!!!! 🙂
Cam is worth a lot more than $20 MM. I would have bought La Premiere to anywhere in the US it flies and then connected back to CLT. Can’t believe he would endure economy for that long, especially considering the rehab he’s undergoing for his shoulder to get ready for next season.
Left out in all of this is how Cam determined that the “value” to swap to a bulkhead seat is $1500. I wonder where he came up with that number. And if $1500 was his maximum, why didn’t he start at $800?
As for Cam’s means, starting QBs in the NFL make $12M to $35M. Let’s assume Cam is in the $20M range. His net worth could easily be over $50M. So, while $1500 is way too much for the bulkhead imo, he could’ve easily offered more.
And curious to know the actual reason the person sitting in the bulkhead seat said no.
I wouldn’t take it once seated for that long of a flight. That’s $150/hr, which is a lot but not really in that exact comfort context. It’s just not a high enough offer in that situation, Cam Newton or not.
Personally, I’ve never heard of him and would have had no idea who he was if he approached me. I doubt I’d have taken his offer seriously unless I actually saw the cash.
In any event, the idea of begging the airline for a different routing or using miles is silly. He could have just bought a new ticket or even chartered his own plane. There are advantages to being worth $20 million.
So I would have taken the money. In a heartbeat.
That being said I would not have recognized him so his celebrity and net worth would not have played any part in my decision.
$1500 may have been all the cash he had on hand. And I’m certainly not going to take a check for something like this. Cash only, hence why he probably didn’t offer more. Also he may have felt $1500 was more than enough and likely what it was worth to him.
The other aspect is that of holding everyone up while he tried to make this work. I think he should be applauded for just moving on once he got rejected instead of standing there trying to make it work.
You make a very good point. Mr. Mewton showed a bit of humility by making a simple request, then moving on, and I respect him for that.