8 May - Beauty & Upgrades

I tell a friend who's recently travelled to the West Coast and has a very damanged foot but doesn't use crutches, that at a dinner the other night young A. said that her family use her younger sister and her old crutches (which she no longer needs after her mobility problem was resolved), as a decoy/ruse to ask for, and regularly get, upgrades on flights. The family is divided over this; mum and 2 daughters want to do it, dad and one daughter think it's deceitful and wrong. A. also says she got an upgrade (travelling sans family) on her way back or from Barbados last week. In relating this to my friend, I tell her tha A. is a beautiful 22 year old who favours high heels and extremely short skirts and has a Cheltenham ladies college uber posh accent which would put off a number of people but there are some who find it irresistible. She also uses her ladies college stare to make men get up and give her a seat on the tube. I remark that this never happens or happened to me as I thought the stare is a bit unnecessary.


My friend with real foot operation replies that she paid £800 extra to go premium economy this time and that it's A.'s beauty that gets the upgrades not the crutches since on her recent flight she witnessed 2 old /frail and with walking stick ladies heading for economy when in fact there were seats free in business and premium econ.


I reply that I agree about her point re A. and upgrades due to beauty but was thinking... can’t be true on all levels. In other words, what benefit does a check in woman for example, gain by upgrading beautiful girl A.? She’s not got second motives (which we could well ascribe or suspect in check in GUY, though he’ll know he’ll never see A. again unless he's doubling up as cabin crew, so … no chance to get to know her. So why would you upgrade on the base of looks vs. helping out the 2 old ladies who clearly need the more comfortable seats? Sure maybe there are guidelines from the airline that say people who’ve paid for Bus or first class ticket do not want to be sat next to 2 old ladies, though one of them may be Peggy Guggenheim and the other Barbara Bush (ok one for sure dead, can't remember about the other one). But why? I think charm for sure gets you stuff and A. is charming, no doubt about that. And maybe the 2 old ladies didn’t ask so it wasn’t offered. I think a major thing in life that we forget is our right to ask. They can say no. But .. we could go on. Maybe the old are discriminated against in general…. So I better start practicing asking!