Who wouldn’t like to get a free upgrade to first class, especially during a long flight? Probably everyone would – or at least most of us. However, it’s very unlikely that everyone who wants it could get it. You need to be very lucky or be loyal to the airline – and if there’s a possibility, it may be your lucky day.
One Reddit user had a similar situation – as she was a frequent traveler with the airline and had the most status out of all the passengers, she was offered a free upgrade to first class. However, according to her family members, she should have passed on the upgrade to her brother.
Starting a family vacation with drama is not the best decision
Woman shares that her whole family was going on vacation and since she and her brother live in the same part of the country, they were flying together
She emphasized that her whole family is furious at her and scolding her for not giving her first-class upgrade to her brother
A couple days ago, one Reddit user took her story online seeking to hear community members’ opinions on whether she was in fact being a jerk as she was told by her family. She took the free first-class upgrade that the airline gave her on a 12-hour flight and didn’t give it to her 6‘6” brother. The post went viral, collecting over 12K upvotes and 2K comments.
The original poster (OP) starts her story by sharing that her whole family was planning on meeting in Hawaii. And while there are 6 of them, she and her brother live in the same part of the country, so they were traveling together. However, after the boarding, the flight attendant came to OP saying that there was an available seat in the first class and due to her frequent travels, she had the most status of all the passengers.
OP explained that she took it in a heartbeat and had a great flight. However, when they landed, she met her brother, who, importantly, is 6‘6” (~198cm) and was very mad. After finally meeting with the rest of the family, their mom told OP that what she did was ‘awful’ and she should have given her seat to her brother. Needless to say, the whole family is upset with the woman and calls her a jerk.
However, the community members had the woman’s back – “Your family is outrageous. Would the brother have offered OP the first class seat if it was reversed? Doubt it,” one user wrote. “He would have not gotten the seat either way. Had you tried to give it to him, the airline would have offered it to the next person with a high status,” another noted.
In the comments, people online noted that OP’s brother is going to have quite a lot of perks by being tall, so he had no right to be a jerk about the seat. However, let’s look a little bit into how accurate it actually is that being tall brings quite a few perks in life.
Well, according to HubPages, height tends to correspond with confidence. If you are taller than normal, people will regard you as more confident, and hence take you more seriously. Another thing that, in fact, has been backed up by studies is that you can earn more money. A study conducted in Britain discovered that every inch of height over normal corresponded to an additional £789 in annual earnings.
Also, you are more likely to be successful and people are even more willing to help you. A study discovered that people are more likely to help taller persons than shorter people. Tall people are even more likely to get hired! Well, looks like it’s actually true – despite not being offered a first-class upgrade from his sister, he is going to have quite a lot of perks by being 6’6″!
Now, it’s no surprise that if you are really tall, it’s uncomfortable to fly. Luckily, AFAR listed a few tips on how you can make it at least a little bit easier – first of all, get a seat in the emergency exit row. Also, use the secret button on the aisle armrest. The button is intended for travelers with accessibility issues, but it can also provide a tall traveler extra room to stretch out in the aisle or shift their body during flight.
And finally, sometimes it’s worthwhile to invest in comfortable or economy-plus chairs and spend a little bit for premium seats, especially for longer flights.
So, what is your take on this story, dear readers? Do you think the sister was in fact being a jerk for not giving the seat upgrade to the brother? Or did she do nothing wrong? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
