Lawsuit Over Alaska Airlines First Class Lavatory Usage

The 1st class doesn't even have a divider on my flight I'm sitting on right now. Coach passengers are allowed to place their carry ons in 1st class overhead. Several, not just one. This meant that two 1st class passengers had no where to put their carry ons. I don't mind if one or two coach passengers need to use the bathroom when the cart is out. But 1st class passengers should be able to use it when they need to. 1st class passengers should supersede the line at the curtain, or lack there of curtain.

I don't see that anyone has addressed the issue that affects my husband. He flies Alaska Airlines weekly for his job. Because he's a loyal customer, he earns MVP 75K status yearly, which gets him upgraded to 1st Class for about 90% of his flights. He has no problem with the occasional person using the 1st Class lavatory when they're seated in the front area of coach and are blocked by the drink cart from getting to the back of the plane to their own section's lavatory. Also in cases where the coach passenger is elderly or disabled. But this typically isn't the passenger from coach using the 1st Class lav. I've witnessed most coach passengers using the 1st class lavatory being incredibly disrespectful. The past four times I've waited (long waits--15-20 minutes) for a coach passenger to vacate the lavatory in my section (which by the way, if you'll look online at Alaska's policies and advertisements, I'm told is ONLY for my use, as in my ticket purchase includes a dedicated bathroom solely for 1st Class). Upon entering the lav following these coach customers, I've encountered disgusting messes. I'm talking urine sprayed all over the toilet seat, on the floor, fecal matter smeared on the seat, a bone dry sink so clearly the customer didn't bother to practice good hygiene and wash their hands following their defacating on the seat, throw up spatters on the toilet seat, sink and vanity....well, let's just say beyond gross. I don't believe that was done on accident. I think the resentment by some coach passengers is so intense they purposely leave treats for all of us "privileged" 1st Class passengers. I've had to grab the FA to clean up these messes before I could use the lav. In all of these cases when the coach passenger attempted AGAIN use the front of plane lav, I have to give credit to Alaska Air personnel--the FA halted them and told them they had to use the restroom in their section. Because we fly so much with Alaska, I can tell you this. I've never seen a line form at the front of the plane/galley area. NEVER. Sitting in 1st, I've even always been asked to stand by my seat in the aisle to wait as no line is allowed to form at the front of the plane. Yes, that is a federal law. If you ever see any FA allowing even one person to stand and wait in line at the 1st Class lav, you have every right to request your FA to ask them to step back to stand by their seat to wait (if seated in 1st) or behind 1st Class area if seated in coach. 1st Class passengers DO HAVE FIRST RIGHT & OPTION to the lavatory dedicated for their usage. No it's not for 10 passengers whoever originally suggested that. It's for the 16-20 first class passengers who paid for or earned the privilege. It's for the two captains (who, trust me, sometimes have to use it a LOT on some flights), and it's for the flight attendants (usually 4-5 people per regular sized flight). So if I'm seated in 1st Class, I'm sharing the lavatory typically with 24 other people. Let me also state that even though my husband has the highest status with Alaska Air that's given, MVP Gold 75K, when he is seated in coach (usually is in seat 6C behind 1st Class), he has never, ever, not ONCE, used the lavatory reserved for 1st Class. He follows the rules. Period. Regarding laws, the last I knew, it was a federal rule that when flying over international waters, coach passengers could NOT use the front lav for obvious safety reasons. It was the only time flying on Alaska that I got to watch the 1st Class FA turn away every coach passenger. And yes it was clearly announced, three different times on PA, that this was federal law and it would be adhered to. Do you think that stopped about 20 different coach passengers from trying? Even after it was re-announced clearly on the PA and they could see ever the being turned away from using that lav?? Nope Additionally, something I haven't seen addressed here...my husband is battling very personal health issues I won't expand upon to protect his privacy. Side effects of those issues are two-fold. (1) He needs to urinate much more frequently. (2) His immune system is much more compromised. He chooses to pay out of pocket the upgraded flight cost at time of booking his ticket to have guaranteed 1st Class seating for his weekly work flights. He has every right to expect Alaska not to allow coach passengers to flood his supposedly reserved-for-1st-Class-only lavatory. The more people using the lav, the more germs you're exposed to. He has the right to be sitting in an aisle seat and not have numerous coach passengers bumping into him going back and forth to a restroom not in their section, that they've been asked not to use. He has the right and the expectation when seated in 1st to expect a reasonable wait time for access to the lavatory he's been told is reserved solely for his seating section's use. He has the right to feel safe that there are only limited people allowed to access the restroom that's adjacent to the cockpit door. Frankly, having flown partner airlines recently using accrued air miles, Alaska is the most lenient about allowing coach passengers to infringe upon the front lavatory. I think they should stop allowing anyone in coach who does not appear disabled or who isn't elderly to use it. It's not right, it's not fair. No one is forced to fly and to fly in coach. If you don't like it, take a train. Ride the bus. Drive. There are many other options of travel. Want to be close to a iav when you fly? It's simple. Reserve your seat in the back of the plane on the aisle. You'll have easy and fast access to three bathrooms. They're the last seats to sell--you'll have no trouble reserving one. I didn't always get to travel 1st Class. Most of my life I traveled coach. Never did I ever resent those in 1st Class having a dedicated lav. They paid huge for their ticket or traveled a ton to earn the upgrade; why would I begrudge them a dedicated bathroom??

We flu in this airlines, the experience was horrible, we depart from Oakland on the 9-14-2014, first class, seat 4D the tray table was broken. (no operable) then the flight attendant says I have bad news for you the tray does not work . Menu: 3 meal and 2 choice for the second, we order the 3rd option, again I'm sorry because you seating in the 4 raw, this meal was taken by orders passenger. We came back the 9-27-2014 the small tray that goes between seats was broken too.(first class again) When you enter the plain all the flight attend chatting, and ignoring the presence of the passenger, I look by my self, were our seat are. Not small cover provided, the air inside the plain was freeze. All the passenger from the plain, including the economic class, use our bathroom, when I used was really dirty. I never will fly again in this Alaskan airlines.

Another case of FA acting like they are from the FBI and they can make passenger's life miserable by just writing or saying anything. They threaten passengers since they know they will get in trouble if they are in the "no fly" list. Similar situation happened to a family member on an international business class flight where the FA started to act she was the authority there and suddenly half of the cabin stood up and gave their business cards to my family member that she could contact them if she had any trouble because of the FA and they would serve as witnesses that the FA was over entitled and threatening her. By that time the captain came and the FA "disappeared" for the rest of the flight. No police was involved when the aircraft landed. Problem is passengers usually do not want to get involved in trouble for someone they don't know but if more passengers stood up in these types of situations FA would go back to their job and not try to become FBI agents.

"I have no problem with economy passengers using the 1st Class lav." You might not, and good for you, but other first passengers might (and it's their right to have a problem with that). "The simple solution is to hold the coach queue for the first class lav at the front of coach. That lets first class passengers still have first dibs, it lets people who paid extra not have butts in their faces, and it gives coach folks an extra lav." If you're going to allow Y passengers into premium bathrooms, that seems like the best policy to use. A premium passenger should not have to wade through a line of Y passengers, or wait for a line of Y passengers, to use a premium bathroom.