The False First Class
It appears we may be on a direct flight back to the good old days of air travel. Dress codes, linen, attendants in heals and funny hats, assigned seating, glamour, travel for the rich, travel only for the few.
Oddly, I know some who might actually welcome this development. I’ve heard them loudly derail the demise of the airline industry, the cattle calls of Southwest airline, the unassigned seating, the superheated food, and charges for beverages on domestic flights. Travel for the middle class, travel for the common, travel for the masses.
The loudest and most consistent cry for the “good old days” seem to be coming from a group I call the False First Class. I also know them as the Point Rich, or the Miles Bankers, or even the Curtain Chasers, but they are also know in the industry simply as the Business Traveler. This group amasses bundles and bundles miles and/or points and with them awards that allow purchases or upgrades (with points or miles or a nominal fee) to the occasional or even frequent keys to first class airlines seats, and the corresponding service it affords.
Unfortunately, it also purchases them; more times than not, a corresponding attitude that belies the real reason that they are even sitting in first class. Not because they are wealthy, first class, nor would or could ever actually pay a first class fare. They are there because they’ve been granted access as a perk for traveling so much, because they are decidedly middle class, decidedly workers, and decidedly not first class. These miles are work miles. These points tell the story of their commonness not their opulence, style, education or sophistication. They may actually tell an opposite story not dissimilar to one told by the big flashy car about the homuncular driver.
I have friends only slightly more well off (possibly less educated, marginally less sophisticated, and absolutely NOT of a higher class) than me who claim, “I never travel coach”. That seems like a lot of pressure to put on yourself and an even greater loss of opportunity. I’ve met some the most interesting, scrappy, close to the earth travelers in coach. Traveling in the cheap seats I’ve met numerous doctors, lawyers, artists, researchers, students, teachers kids, moms, dads and entrepreneurs and even Nobel laureates and rock stars! All this from the lowly back seats.
Of course, it is human nature that to have tasted and flirted or even become comfortable in a first class world to naturally chaff and nash under the request or even the suggestion that we then settle back and weasel and squirm our way into seat 37F. So, I don’t blame my false first class friends for their attitude. Misplaced as it might be.
You see I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of the False First Classers. And let me tell you, it’s grand. Oh my god! Paaaaleasseee…..When I’m in coach I deliberately board last. But when I’m in first class I get on as soon as I can. I just love it. I particularly love watching coach passengers roll on by, head cast down, while I have a sip of my pre-flight sparking vino, and laugh with a gay nonchalance. Like all this is normal. Yes, I could get used to this. I like this. I do this very very well. Yes, I deserve this; this is the only way I’ll ever travel.
NOT.
I’m grateful false first classer. I don’t have many delusions. A couple perhaps, but hell…I’m grateful. Period. End of story. I’m grateful even if I’m flying is seat 37F, crammed against a window outbound from Hong Kong and the woman next to me just vomited all over me. Vomit isn’t fun, but flight is awesome. What flight allows is extraordinary whether I’m cramped in coach, feeling good with a bulkhead seat, or spread out and hammered in first class. It’s just transportation. Jeez. Get over it.
Sometimes my false first class friends look down the long arc of their nose in disbelief when I look far too comfortable in my coach class seat, or heaven forbid, and even desire it. They’ve found themselves, quite accidentally in most cases, in a new world and loath the thought of my ratty ol road trip, a bumpy crowded bus ride, a clattering train, or squatting along a dusty street for a meal and living as close to the earth and to people as I can.
Having sat in countless airline seats and on countless airlines I can speak from experience, Class is defined by much more than by where you are seated. I’ve been ridiculed and even judged at times by an unwillingness and deliberate refusal to ride in the narrowly defined and often highly oppressive and pressurized first class, or first world, seat. And besides, it should be glaringly obvious to anyone, if I’ve been able to make it into first class the number of times I have there is something screwed up in the system.
And this is dirty little secret of first class airline travel, and too, of the False First Class. On any given flight and estimated 80-90 percent of the first class passengers reclining in their wide-body seats are there on points, not money. Put another way, only one or two seats in a common first class section are occupied by actual first class passengers. The rest are the False First Class.
Isn’t this what really started the airline industry on its descent from the lofty and glamorous “good old days”.
What my false first class friends don’t want to hear is that the same economics that superficially fabricated them into first class are the exact same trends that created Southwest, Jet Blue, discount fares, awards, package deals, and every other perk, cheap seat and cheap plastic and cheap electronic gadget in our society. Southwest didn't single handedly kill first class or the airline industry. In truth they followed the lead of United, Delta and American. When they and other airlines moved the curtain and allowed coach travelers into the first class world they, indeed, heralded the end of the golden age of flight. The same exact same trends that created the budget airlines also pushed aside the curtain and perhaps momentarily, built a False First Class.
There was a time when the curtain between first and coach classes was actually a wall. Now it is simply a tattered rag worn thin by the countless meritless masses who like a frantic Wizard of Oz struggle and posture to maintain a smoky façade of grandeur and intimidation while exclaiming “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” That is a delusion of a falsely purchased aristocracy and a constructed separation that dehumanizes everyone involved.
So if you are one of these curtain chargers, I’ve been one, and you bemoan the state of an airline industry for the masses, you’re on a plane with only one wing. And you’re copping an attitude you have not earned and embracing a class world you don’t actually reside in. You may visit there at 30 thousand feet but back on the ground chances are you drive a car similar to mine, struggle with unexpected expenses, sweat over your work, and just like the rest of us squirm through a life that is generally “coach-class” but that from time to time finagles the system into a higher class.
I don’t begrudge anyone for playing up. So long, that is, as they don’t do it on the backs of others or think that the difference between themselves and those huddled behind them is any more significant than a seat number. Class, in this instance, isn’t defined by where you’re seated. If things continue we may indeed return to the good old days of flight where only the truly rich and glamorous fly. But I, as a humble False First Classer, will be careful what I wish for.
I’m off to laundry mat.
All good things,
Wig
posted by wigdawg at
10:22 AM
7 Comments:
This blog entry is AWESOME! You broke it down. Love it.
My favorite paragraph: There was a time when the curtain between first and coach classes was actually a wall. Now it is simply a tattered rag worn thin by the countless meritless masses who like a frantic Wizard of Oz struggle and posture to maintain a smoky façade of grandeur and intimidation while exclaiming “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” That is a delusion of a falsely purchased aristocracy and a constructed separation that dehumanizes everyone involved.
Kim
Sounds like sour grapes to me.....
Except when your in First Class....
The demise of the airlines, as we once knew them, has been that it is strictly driven buy two things: Price and Lack Brand of Loyalty.
When people will jump from carrier to carrier just to save $10 you end up with an industry that looks like this one.
Honor Brand Loyalty and your will reap the rewards....
En Vino Veritas
Sour grapes? I don’t didn’t see anything sour in these grapes or this post. See, “I’m grateful false first classer.” And “I don’t begrudge anyone for playing up.”
You may have missed the point. I might suggest (false first classer) a deep breath, a dose of humility and then a re-read. It is time to stop pulling those tattered cords and hiding behind that worn curtain of your arrogance. You are just like the rest of us and “reaping the rewards of brand loyalty” is a pretty thin rebuttal to what I saw as a very thoughtful post about Class, misplaced arrogance, humility and of course, flying on a plane with one wing.
Sounds to me like the sour grapes may be yours. I found only wine here. “En Vino Veritas”
The Gratitude Attitude
Kim, Anonymous 1 and Anonymous 2 thanks for posting,
Nope. Not bitter. Not sour. As my family and friends would attest, wherever I go, I go with an overriding attitude of gratitude. The Gratitude Attidude, it’ll change your life! Keeps you smiling and keeps you humble. Keeps you in touch and willing to embrace whatever you find, wherever you find it. Oh, and when I get to wherever I’m going or anywhere along the way, I’m happy to play up to first class (with gratitude and humility) or play down to last class (with equal gratitude and humility).
I say, “play up” and “play down” but you should know that I consider the people who inhabit these fabricated class worlds, and all those in-between, with the same attitude, respect and honesty. Titles, celebrity, income rates, curtains...they are all nonsense.
Those who know me also know that I often speak the truths that others won’t. I’m not afraid to speak an unspoken darkness or utter an unrealized brilliant vision. I often do this with humor and maybe that it the problem when I actually say something serious. There is a line in Somerset Maugham’s book the Razor’s Edge that goes something like this, “That’s the trouble with me, when I’m being serious people always think I’m joking and when I’m joking people always think I’m being serious.” I have a niece who, when she was younger, was so accustomed to me making her laugh that when I became serious she laughed even harder.
No…it ain’t easy being me sometimes! But I’m grateful for that too.
Laugh if you want to.
Brand Loyalty
WigDawg is my brand and I think you should all be really loyal. And tell your friends too. It is free after all. Or perhaps you feel like you pay a heavy price each time you read my blog. Who knows? Brand Loyalty is influenced by many things, some mysterious and some less so. I think Brand Loyalty is really important and the factor of price plays an important, though not complete, part too.
Price. How important is it really? It is everything? Can your brand loyalty be bought? Is price never a factor? I agree, for most it isn’t purchased for as little as $10. For some it is and I honor that criteria and dollar value for judging loyalty. What about $100? Still loyal? Or $1000? Or $10,000? Or 100,000 or more? What then? To what depths does our Brand Loyalty extend? How far is it appropriate, right or even responsible to stick with a Brand that might be, indeed, sticking it to you? When do you cut bait, retackle your line, and drop into the water for a new fish?
Brand is about more than simple price. Prestige for one. And service, style, taste, and perhaps social responsibility, return on investment, etc…What if the service of your company (safety, earnings, frequency of on time arrivals or even the reputation of your company) tanks repeatedly? How about if the technical innovations at company “A” become clearly better than those of Company “B” (your company)? What then? Does an over-zealous brand loyalty cause a sort of blindness or even arrogance that can ignore innovation, service, poor performance, inferior quality and even your finances? Is there a limit to Brand Loyalty? Is Brand Loyalty an across the board good thing?
Further more, is Brand Loyalty acceptable only if it fits a certain criteria? I know people who have frequent flyer cards on budget airlines. Don’t those customers, based on this brand loyalty equation, deserve the same respect as those who base their brand loyalty on other criteria? They are Brand Loyal after all. Don’t those budget industries who also struggle with brand loyalty (winning and losing and retaining valued customers along the way), deserve the same respect and admiration as those who base their Brand Loyalty on ever so slightly though more often then not competitive brand strategies?
I heard people just before the last election saying that if Bush was reelected they would leave the country and in essence, abandon the Brand. I was never one who flirted with this sort of brand disloyalty. I believed, as had happened in the past that our brand could pendulum back to the other side and like a heavy ballasted ship, right it self. Or rather, left it self.
As a brand loyalist I also had the responsibility to go out and defend my brand in any way I could. I didn’t want to add my poison to the brand by abandoning it or looking down my nose at those who appear to like this particular Bush-envisioned, neo-con brand USA. They are part of our brand, agree with them or not.
Strict and unwavering Brand Loyalty doesn’t intrinsically ruin industries nor guarantee their success. Judging a person by their Brand Loyalty –whether they have it or not - is foolish. The automobile industry is riddled with people who for years bought only American. Reaping what rewards? More and more and even more more recently have seen the superior line up of technologies, reliability, fuel economy, and features and at an entire range of price points abandoned “Made in the USA” for these brands.
How far do we take Brand Loyalty? For Brand Loyalty do we go down with the sinking ship or do we abandon that ship and head for the New Better Brand about to out perform the old? The New Brand is yellow, inflated and most importantly, floating. For Brand Loyalty do we disrespect other decent Brands only because they are not “Our Brand”. For Brand Loyalty do we continue to ride in poorly engineered and out of touch gas guzzling luxury automobiles just because it says “Made in America?”
I think the case could be made that Brand Loyalty is a multi-edged devise. Sometimes it can be a good thing and sometimes it can be a bad thing. But is it a moral thing, an ethical thing? Did it really bring down the airline industry? Were there other factors at play?
Is it worth derailing an entire class of people who, for whatever reason, have a different set of brand loyalty values and guiding factors at play? And more, is Brand Loyalty and Price (strictly) the only two reasons that the airline industry has changed?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Honestly…I don’t know. Nor to I really care. I’m happy wherever I sit. Somebody out there does seem to have it figured out though. They’ve thoughtfully analyzed all the points, studied the research and all aspects of an entire industry, societal movement and made their judgment based on that depth of research and experience. They have it figured out concretely and distilled it to two simple points. And their initial caveat to their eventual concise strictly ordered two-point proclamation is that, “I’m sour”.
Sour? No. But I am giggling. Find a mirror. Look in it. The puckered face staring back at you is the befuddled Wizard of Oz, unmasked. Laugh if you want to. Toto too? Toto too.
I appreciate the comments on Price and Brand loyalty though. They got me to thinking…and to rambling. Yes, they miss my original point, the intended point of this post (beyond my expression and perhaps some entertainment value). What plaques our society isn’t the long fib of cheap gas, shifting brand loyalty, trade deficits with China, the Iraq War, our education system, or even who really brought down the airline industry. We are assailed by something deeper. It lays in our largely unconscious sense of entitlement, the apathy to act or speak real truths, in hidden shames, misplaced arrogance, failure to dream, disconnected with one another, and finally a simple, brutal and ugly carelessness.
Or put another way, in taking ourselves way too seriously.
Laugh if you want to.
All Good Things,
Wig
Eric, I think your comment about gratitude is key here. It is so easy to forget how lucky we to have the choice to upgrade to the false first class more or less ride with the masses in coach!
I honor my chances to enjoy a roomy seat, be offered a beverage before I can sit down, not have to share an arm rest and get a hot moist towel when I finish my meal (served on a plate and not from a cardboard box).
Interestingly enough every time I have been able to "upgrade" to the false first class it followed an experience I had where kindness hadn't necessarily been bestowed upon me. Like the time when I was traveling back to college after visiting my folks and I asked if I could upgrade my seat. I was condescendingly TOLD "To what" as if there was no other place for the little black girl but the back of the plane. However, karma works it's mysterious magic in the most amazing of ways. When I arrived at the gate to check-in the attendant apologized for not being able to find my seat reservation but there were two seats left on the plane--one in coach and the other in first class. She asked me which one I wanted. I smiled and said "I'll take the one in first class please".
Last year I spent my birthday in Mexico (a gift from my mom) with a couple of friends who during the trip at times weren't very friendly towards me and by the end of the trip found the panhandling of the struggling people to be tiresome and annoying on their "vacation". I, on the other hand, saw it as a moment to reflect upon the beauty of their country and to think about my own life and how could I live it better and be more grateful for what I do have. The concept of what I need and wanted I want changed drastically. The best day that I had in Mexico was the day that I spent alone because my traveling companions had left the day before. When I was alone I could think about all the things that I had seen and all the wonderful people I had met. I remember thinking how incredibly grateful I was for the entire experience bad company and all. When I checked-in for my flight the attendant said "we have one seat left in first class would you like it?" For fifty bucks I was able to fly home in style. Do I think it was because the airline just wanted an extra fifty dollars (especially when there were several other people in line he could have offered it to)? No, I think it was because the universe wanted me to to know that the good that I was choosing to put out into the world was coming back to me. I got into "first class" that day because I was true to myself and the people around me. Ironically, they ran out of cheeseburgers in first class but they had plenty for the folks riding in coach! I happily ate my only option, chicken salad, because I was grateful to be right where I was.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2236793120080623
My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.
Muhammad Ali
Well said wigdawg
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