Sometimes you just have to laugh at the entitlement on display when a traveler demands benefits he no longer qualifies for and some he never qualified for.
“Back Of The Line Fredo!” Entitled United Passenger Demands Premier Benefits He Doesn’t Have, Plus Five Carry-On Bags
Take a moment to read this rather humorous story, as shared by DENflyer3 on FlyerTalk:
Had a fun one yesterday EWR/DEN. Keep in mind probably 85% of the flight was exhausted from days of Ryder Cup and drinking. Oversold flight of course, and they were asking business passengers if one person would give up a seat and move to coach, as they needed to shuttle a pilot to Denver. With all of that, I knew enough to know, this was not the day to start demanding extra things, let’s just board and get off the ground.
Oh boy, was I mistaken, as the very large person touting five bags, yes large Tumi bags fully packed, right up prior to pre-boarding. Starts demanding to board with GS since he “used to be GS before COVID”, and that he really needs an aisle seat, since his upgrade didn’t go through, and he was not going to check any bags, “I don’t care what the policy is.” GA did a good job looking at his ticket to see what the GS problem was and says, “Sir, you do not appear to have any status and show up very low on the upgrade list. This is a full flight, I cannot move someone for you, and yes, you will have to check 3 of those 5 bags.”
His response got several laughs, from the Pre-boarders, “Well what good is the explorer card if I cannot get upgrades, aisle seats, or even pre-boarding to stow my MODEST (yes he said that word) luggage.”
Fortunately for me, a EWR regular, in his I’m born and bred in NYC, just jumped in with, “back of the line Fredo.” Gawd it was perfect.
Unlike the tall tales on reddit, I tend to trust these anecdotes and I can just picture this guy walking up incredibly entitled, making those demands.
Kudos to the gate agent (in Newark of all places…) for handling this so professionally.
I must admit I laughed out loud when he described his five carry-on bags as modest, but I guess for certain entitled people, it is hardly surprising. And yes, I’ve also run into travelers who think that their “Premier Silver” status or “I’ve spent a lot of money on this airline” quip entitles them to first class upgrades and pre-boarding.
Yelling, “I don’t care what the policy is” is generally not going to get you a policy exception, nor should it ever. Using miles to try an upgrade does not give you access to any premium perks unless your upgrade clears.
CONCLUSION
I know travel can be draining and sometimes you do feel exasperated…but I think the only way we will dissuade such tactless behavior is never to reward it, even an inch.
“I was Global Services before Covid” has to be the airline equivalent of “peaked in high school”. You’re not one now, so go pound salt, And the Explorer card? The one that’s just one step up from the most basic card? Get a Club Card, fatty, and we’ll start talking.
This sounds like Delta Platinum and SPG Platinum card holders demanding entrance into the Centurion Lounges because they believe they have Platinum cards. Apparently, it really is still a thing if you believe Reddit and Flyertalk, etc.
There are some passengers that should be put on their place right away. Due to changes in my job I haven’t been flying much this year which I see as a blessing. But last week I had two flights after 2 months without stepping on an airport and I had so much fun just watching people around me. If you like people watching, nothing beats an airport. A few things I observed last week:
– People still have no clue how to handle TSA and x-Ray machines. Passenger in front of me had to go through 3 times because there was always something he forgot on his pockets. Coins, keys, etc… Guess what? That holds the line and makes going through security much longer.
– You have TSA Pre, so why do you still remove your shoes and take laptop, cell phone, keys, all out of your backpack and place on a tray? There is no need for that.
– GAs talking about 1 carry on and 1 personal item is basically checking the box. Nobody follows that and GAs Neve enforce it. What happens? Boarding becomes a zoo since it takes much longer for passengers to store all the crap they brought home with them and of course not all passengers can fit their bags and have to check.
– I waited probably 15 minutes by the gate before boarding the plane. I noticed this lady sitting close to me and she was already sitting there when I arrived. I boarded first and took my seat. After a few minutes she boards, takes a seat close to mine and guess what? She goes to the back of the plane to use the restroom while everyone is boarding. Why?? She sat for over 20 minutes by the gate and there were restrooms next to the gate but she had to wait to go inside the plane.
– Passenger in front of me arrives and stores all his things on the overhead bin. He sits by the window. Passenger in the middle and by the aisle stand up so he can get in. Literally 2 minutes later, he asks them to move since he needed to grab something from the overhead bin. WTF!!!
I could go on and on and on. I had my noise canceling headphones on and just sat there observing how people are absolutely clueless and make travel way more complicated than it should be.
Removing shoes at TSA Pre-Check may not be cluelessness but expediency instead. Unbeknownst to me when I bought them, my very comfortable (slip-on) shoes have a little metal plate in them for support (buried from about the front of the heel through the arch – I’ve seen the x-ray image of them). When worn, they set of about 80% of the metal detectors in the system at Pre-Check.
I flip them off and send them through in a bin every time – and, yes, I get the “You don’t need to remove your shoes” quip from the TSA and occasionally from a fellow passenger. But setting off the detector – and then having to go back through, get a bin, remove them, send them through, and go through again takes way more time.
If you are a frequent traveller, you know what shoes to wear that will not trigger the metal detector and won’t make you walk in socks or barefoot on that nasty airport floor. In your case it is a matter of choice as you know the shoes will trigger the metal detector but the majority of people is the lack of understanding what benefits TSA Pre brings to them.
Amen Santastico! It keeps getting worse by the day.
The preboard situation is an absolute joke on AA. While I’m not a Dr and have zero issue with those with obvious physical disabilities getting on early, it’s clearly being abused by others. Mid aged overweight customers and others with no visible disability are all getting on early. 25+ people on my flight Saturday were called and lined up before even CK and then FC. Add in AA now calling families with children under 2 before Group 1, which is getting abused by families with only kids that are well over 2, and ExP in Group are boarding after 50-60 people in many cases. Some might way it doesn’t matter and we are all getting on but it’s frustrating getting on in Group 1 and finding Premium Economy overheads and seats in the first couple rows full when getting on. And seeing your seat mate with a Group 9 Basic Economy ticket appearing to be fine when getting up to walk out after the flight. Color me entitled.
Add in some agents unwilling to stop people boarding with the wrong group and boarding is a mess. The addition of the beep when boarding with the wrong group has only made it obvious to others they don’t want to confront customers. In some cases it’s foreigners or others that don’t (or pretend not to) understand English. But AA invested in the technology for a reason, now utilize it.
As for the a$$ clown in the story, public humiliation by customers and the agent is the correct remedy.
Rant over.
Ohhhh, yes, I forgot about that. When GA called passengers that needed extra time to board, around 10 people just walked in and boarded. Absolutely no wheelchair, no verification of disability, nothing. They simply thought they “needed” extra time to board. WTF! It is a total joke.
” nothing like people watching at an airport”
It is like a trip to the zoo ! ; · )
@Matthew – Why do you say you trust these anecdotes when the second sentence has a major error? “Oversold flight of course, and they were asking business passengers if one person would give up a seat and move to coach, as they needed to shuttle a pilot to Denver.” – Pilots travel in first class domestically when deadheading, WHEN AVAILABLE – if there is no space in first class they fly economy, it is written in their contract and there is no way that United will kick paying passengers from first to economy for a pilot deadhead.
Andy, As a former UAL F/A, I totally agree with you, that would never happen. Not only would they put the pilot in coach, they could put him in the cockpit on 1 of the 2 extra seats available there. Sometimes 1 small fact check in a post makes me think the whole story is made up
This reminds me of a story years ago, also on United out of EWR (but to LAX). I was GS at the tine and it was still paper tickets and I’d been paged to come up to the desk and pick up my upgrade. I’m standing in line a few back from the front where this woman wearing Senior Executive VP attire is absolutely berating the GA on every known vector around her displeasure in not getting upgraded. How much she spent on United, how many years of loyalty, the price of her current ticket, yadda yadda. As she finally storms off, unrequited in her desires, the elderly black gentleman standing next to me (who will always be Morgan Freeman in my minds eye, but it was not Morgan Freeman) turns to be and says “First Class is a way to lead you life, not a seat on an airplane”
That moment as stuck with me to this day
It’s a cute story, but I find it exceedingly unlikely that he would have made it past the ID checkpoint with 5 bags. Though considering the boorish behavior on display at the Ryder Cup, it wouldn’t surprise me if attendees would have acted that way this guy did.
Newark gate agents have heard it all many times before, and in general terms are not to be fkd with.
Hopefully the EWR GA charged them for the excess baggage.
What does Fredo mean in this context?