Entitled plane passenger name drops to get upgrade; stewardess maliciously complies.

Flying brings out the worst in people. Fighting over overhead bin space, getting out of your seat immediately when the flight lands, and being rude to flight attendants to get what you want. There's something about the altitude that brings out the worst in humanity.

On a popular Reddit thread in the Malicious Compliance Subreddit, a flight attendant has to deal with an entitled passenger and finds a way to comply with their request maliciously.

They write:

I used to work at a regional airline. The jet we used to fly to the 'big city' had six business class seats. The business class service was good for a two-hour flight. It included a full bar service, a hot meal, a warmed bread basket, and a trolley with dessert and signature coffee.

One of our regular travelers was a local business owner who was a slimy businessman (SB). He had a reputation for making money from some pretty shady deals. We would roll our eyes when we saw him coming to the check-in counter because he would always name-drop and ask for special treatment.

He always used the business class check-in line even though he was usually in economy. He didn’t have frequent flyer status, but he was buddies with one of the airline executives and always told us this fact when he checked in by telling us that he was good friends with Vice President Karen.

He would always ask for free upgrades, extra baggage, not charging a change fee, last-minute discounts, etc. If he didn’t get what he wanted, he immediately called VP Karen, who would usually call us and approve whatever he wanted.

So one day, SB checks in for his flight to the 'big city' and, of course, name drops and asks for a free upgrade to business class because 'I'm friends with VP Karen and said it would be ok.' He was traveling on a discounted ticket that was not eligible for an upgrade even if he did have an upgrade coupon, which he didn’t.

I informed him that he was not eligible for an upgrade on this ticket and gave him his boarding pass, and sent him on his way. Of course, he flips open his cell phone and immediately calls VP Karen. Within two minutes, the phone at the check-in desk rings, and it’s VP Karen authorizing me to override the policy to upgrade SB to business class with no upgrade coupon required 'if there is room.'

The flight that day wasn’t that busy, and only one person booked in business class, leaving five open seats. I was irritated, but I begrudgingly put SB on the upgrade list anyways. He returned to the check-in counter and picked up his standby boarding card, and gave me that smug 'told you so' look. But then what VP Karen said clicked with me - 'if there is room.'

The next passenger I checked in was a SUPER nice lady big smile, friendly, please, and thank you, oh, thank you so much for checking my bags to my connecting flight, that’s so nice of you. I took my time, and we chatted a bit since it wasn’t that busy.

She was a teacher going on a trip to see her family, and it was her first visit with them in over a year and was going to meet her new little nephew for the first time. She was overjoyed to have time off to travel.

I typed a few things into the computer to make it look like I was checking something about her connecting flights and then said, 'Oh, you have been selected today to receive a free upgrade to business class.' She was shocked. 'I’ve never flown business class in my life! This is so amazing!'

At that time, we were rarely questioned if we upgraded someone without a certificate.

Over the next 20 minutes, I found excuses to upgrade four other passengers - one who worked for one of our top corporate accounts, one who was legitimately a frequent flyer, can’t remember the other reasons, but by the time I went to board the flight I had to tell SB that I was sorry, but business class was full and couldn’t offer him an upgrade today.

The teacher I upgraded profusely thanked me again when she boarded with the rest of the business class passengers. Little did she know that it made my day, also!

The internet loves karma for bad passengers.

Hubble_bubble753 says:

Love this. I bet that lady still tells people about the nice person who upgraded her to business class and how she had such a wonderful experience.

Pretend_Barracuda300 says:

Yeah, don't tick off the worker behind the counter, ever.

SupermanistheDR says:

I was flying to Texas from LA once with a stop in Phoenix. I have gotten for years never h had any problems but on my flight from LA to AZ I threw up the whole way. I got off the flight and walked up the the counter looking as green was Kermit the frog. I asked where I needed to connect the agent looked at me and said 'had a rough flight?'

Typed a couple things into the computer and said 'have a better day' when I got to the gate I was upgraded to first class in my connecting flight. Warm towels, putting up my feet, and all the ginger ale I could keep down went a long way to making me feel better. I will never forget that agents kindness.

Heaven is a business class flight on a high-end airline.