The Problem With First Class

Would the following people please come forward to the desk to recheck?

Warren Brown

Lee Smith

Sarah Lee

John Evan

Irene Green

Yes! 

Upgraded to first! 

Here I sit with my warm cashews and glass of Pinot noir, while my chicken and broccoli lunch is being heated in the front cabin. I have a blanket, pillow and I was offered an iPad and earphones.   My bag made it into the overhead space with no issue, because I was in the fancy boarding class of zone 1 before the space was full, and there is a lovely curtain behind me blocking off the whole rest of the plane.  

Oh - and did I mention my legs don't even reach the seat in front of me? 

Sprawled out.

First Class.

Class Differential.

Let me first tell you this.

I love first class. 
I love every part of it. 
I love that there is recognition for travelers who spend so much time on the road.  
I love the treatment. 
I love that it is a quality way to fly. 

The complimentary upgrade means even more when I’ve forked out money for a personal trip on a flight longer than 3 hours. 
A business puddle jumper to Chicago just isn’t quite the same.  
This has completely brightened up leaving sunny Florida to come back to Not-So-Quite-Spring.

But think about this for a second.

First, my next flight won't likely be in first class.

So why, oh why, would you show me first class and then make me give it back?  

Complimentary upgrades have the potential to do the opposite of intention. They could raise the bar on expectations and create a future let down if it can't be continually provided. Once I've flown in first, it just isn't quite the same going back to economy.  

Ignorance really is bliss. 

Now I'm going to be forever disappointed if my next flight is seat 28E at the back of the plane in the middle seat because of this experience today. 

(Just calling it how it is to anyone who designs frequent-anything-rewards programs.)

Secondly, and more importantly, because it's 2016.

I live in the liberalized country of Canada, a left wing society constantly challenging and pushing the envelope on equality, yet we still have class differentials on one of the oldest methods of transportation. 

(Not on all airlines, mind you, but on this particular one today we do.)

A global issue of gender wage discrimination still exists and groups are aiming to close the gap between men and women for the same jobs.  

Legalized marriages in our LGBT communities are a fixed news item in traditional right wing America where the process has been slower to catch up, and staggering announcements and bills are passed that just don't seem to make any logical sense in this day and age.  

Religious views still exist in extremes, stuck in archaic ways of operating that always has been and therefore always must be the same, with little forward progression as society has evolved.

There has been so much progress made with race and human rights but we seem to have so much farther still to go.

First class is a reminder that we just aren't there yet. 

Here I sit with a curtain separating me from the economy class, the less luckier who didn't make the upgrade cut today, the ones who look at those first few rows when boarding the plane and wonder what it would be like up there getting an orange juice and newspaper as you are seated.

I think we should get a checklist of stuff when we board and sit down and then we should be able to check the boxes yes or no. 

- Blanket

- Pillow

- Warm cashews

- Meal

- Drinks

- Newspaper

- Orange Juice

If we say no, we should open the curtains and be able to opt to send our treat to someone in economy.

Why should anyone else not get the chance to experience this? 

I bet the guy in 22A might like the hot nuts. 

(Just saying.) 

The lady in 26C might kill for a blanket or could be a nervous flier and want a glass of wine.

Don’t you think that is a wee bit more equalized way of operating?  

Silly perhaps, and yes, of course it doesn’t fix the core issue - but I didn't pay for this seat any more than the guy behind the curtain so why shouldn't I be able to share?

You, the complimentary upgraded passenger in 4a - would you like a glass of wine?  

No, no I would actually like to donate it to the lady in 17F.

Kind of like paying it forward but in flying standards.

I mean, there must be enough for everyone in first, so why can't I pass on the good fortune?

The bigger issue, of course, remains that we are still a society of classes.  
Inequality still prevails amongst us more than we may even realize.

Our youth, the younger generations, are the ones who we hope see the world 25 years from now operating in sea of equilibrium. 

Not us. 

We are fighting the battles, on the front lines, determined for change. Picket signs, voting, signing petitions, all paving the way to move the needle just a bit further. 

Would you ever consider going to someone in zone 4 or 5, the last zones to board, a single traveler and offer them your upgrade?  

Just reach out and allow someone the experience they have never had and give them a gift of generosity that could make their year.

On the weekday business trips I take, the first two zones to board are the whole plane. Everyone is traveling on business, and no one traveler is any better than the other, most of them chasing status of 100k+ mileage for the free family trip at Christmas to St Kitts.  

We all deserve that complimentary upgrade.

One day, I would love to randomly walk up to someone at the back of the plane, who has never been able to sit in seat 2A, and offer my first class ticket.  

Because as much as I love first class, I have continued hope for a world of peace, sustainability and equality - and I believe we should all play a role in that change.

** written 4/2/2016 and edited and reposted 11/13/2017