Have you ever gotten a free upgrade and then immediately started complaining about how you don’t like the seat? Right, neither have I, but that is exactly what I witnessed on my recent SWISS Senses A350 first class flight…
A rather ungrateful operational upgrade recipient
Over the weekend I flew the new SWISS A350 first class from Zurich (ZRH) to Boston (BOS). Up until close to departure, I was the only person booked in first class. However, the flight was overbooked in economy, so there were lots of operational upgrades (between all cabins, so from economy to premium economy, premium economy to business, and business to first).
In the case of first class, I witnessed the other two first class passengers being informed of their operational upgrade from business class to first class. A free upgrade to international first class? That’s kind of the dream, eh?
I was in seat 1D (the center “double suite”), and then eventually the guy showed up who was seated across from me, in seat 1A. The flight attendant was friendly in greeting him, and asked if he had flown SWISS Senses first class before. He said he hadn’t, and his first comment was “I hate it.” He then continued “it’s like a box.” He then proceeded to spend a couple more minutes just ranting about the seat.
After that was done, he called up a family member on the phone, and… started complaining about the seat. Eventually he said “enough complaining,” and they talked about other things.
Toward landing, the purser came around to ask how the flight was, and as soon as those words came out her mouth, I thought to myself “oh, you’re gonna regret that!” In describing how the flight was, he put up his wrist and hand and shook it back and forth (as one might do if they want to convey “meh” or “50/50” or something). You can guess what he complained about (while at the same time not saying anything positive about the excellent crew we had).
People are entitled to their opinions, but…
I understand some people might not like the trend toward more private premium airplane seats. However, the irony is that he still used the privacy doors when he went to sleep, so if you don’t want to feel “boxed in,” that seems like something you wouldn’t want to do.
Ultimately people are entitled to their opinions, regardless of whether they paid cash, redeemed miles, or even got an operational upgrade. But when you literally get a free upgrade right before departure and then immediately start complaining, it does feel like it’s a bit in the “looking a gift horse in the mouth” category.
A minute into his complaining, I was very tempted to jump in and point out that I’m sure someone in a non-privacy seat in business class would be delighted to swap seats with him. But of course I didn’t.
In fairness to this passenger, it was a good reminder of how we’re all looking for different things from seats, and how there’s no first class or business class seat that’s objectively good.
A majority of people like the trend toward more private premium seats, and see that as major progress. But then you also have some people who don’t feel that way, and that’s fair enough.
Bottom line
I flew the new SWISS first class across the Atlantic, and the other two seats were filled by last minute operational upgrades, due to lower cabins being oversold. Usually people are delighted when they get operational upgrades, but the guy across from me wasn’t at all a fan of the seat, and complained to the flight attendant, the purser, and his family, about how the seat was like a box, and he wasn’t a fan.
People are of course entitled to their opinions, but being so upset about something you got upgraded to for free seems a bit extreme, as I’m sure someone in one of the most “open” business class seats would’ve been happy to trade.
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