Young-ish pax experiences

[simongr]

Mind if i ask what some of you guys do for a living to be flying all around in F/J.

Im early 20's and am in no way a WP FF, though id like to be..
Not that i am going to change jobs just so i can fly around the place.

Internal Audit here across Asia Pacific with a boss that used to be based in the US and now with a boss in the UK instead.

 

[serfty]

Mind if i ask what some of you guys do for a living to be flying all around in F/J. ...

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...er-program/work-paying-f-j-flights-10023.html

 

[harvyk]

I'm another young one here (under 30), who likes jeans and t-shirt over suits. I've found myself being treated exactly the same as the guy next to me in J. Sometimes badly, sometimes good. It really depends on who the FA's are on the day and what sort of day they have been having.

Both my worst J flight and best J flight have been on the same day. (The first one was with a skybed, so the second one really didn't have a leg to stand on comfort wise).

That said the second one was with a bunch of FA's who would have rather been anywhere else but on that plane.

 

[abc12345678]

Interesting thread.

I'm an early 20's WP and do about 2-300k miles per year (at a rough guess). Generally I find the overall service I recieve is equal to that of all other WP's.

However, I also understand that I may get treated differently becuase of my age and accept that. It doesn't worry me one bit because it always evens out.

You get the odd glance in the FLounge or Dom JLounge but nothing uncomfortable.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Cyclogenesis]

I would get an odd glance in the F-Lounge...
Mainly because the only way I could get in there is to run past the Qantas staff

 

[Durin's Bane]

Mind if i ask what some of you guys do for a living to be flying all around in F/J.

Im early 20's and am in no way a WP FF, though id like to be..
Not that i am going to change jobs just so i can fly around the place.

I'm 31 and work in Project Management. Currently WP and also LTS.

Travel quite a bit through work, mostly Y, with overseas trips in J (though it's more difficult to get overseas trips now!!). I'm fortunate that I can now afford to fly J or F on holidays too.

There are good and bad with every airline, but I have been disappointed on a few occasions with Qantas when I've paid for J and service was non-existent, and occasionally rude. I've never experienced this on SQ or CX J. The best inflight crew I ever had though was a Qantas crew from Perth to Melbourne in J, so go figure!

In general I get a few funny looks in J or F when I board in shorts and a polo shirt, with my thongs or sandals - one guy sitting next to me last year from Hong Kong to Sydney in QF J refused to speak with me even when I said hi!

 

[spiggy_topes]

I'm another young one here (under 30), who likes jeans and t-shirt over suits. I've found myself being treated exactly the same as the guy next to me in J.

I'm some way past 30 (actually 46) but have never found clothing to make any difference to the way you're treated in F or J. On long-haul flights I'll always dress for maximum comfort, which equates to what I'd wear for a long day in the bush (polo short, army pants, fleecy jacket if it gets cold, backpack which is a lot easier to carry through large airports). Yet I still get a handshake and nice words from the purser etc... YMMV.

Come to think of it, it's seldom you see any other F passengers dressed up smartly - perhaps they've sat through too many long flights.

 

[Mal]

I'm a smidgen over 30.

Generally I find I'm respected well enough by most airline staff I meet. Can't think of any time I think I've been snubbed because of my age or what I wear.

 

[Diesellife]

For my experiences....

CX - Treated equally regardless whether I'm in Y/J/F.
QF - Ok in Y, no service in J (Rather than being ignored), excellent in F most of the time.
BA - Miss and hit but it can be quite extreme for both ends.

I guess it usually depends on the crews on a particular flight but then again, more training should be given for that matter. We are in the new age that wealth can be built (destroyed) in a short period of time and in which, age is no longer a factor / indication for success...

Side note: I know CX has a list for all elite members on flight, and thus allowing to provide expected service for elites regardless of travel classes. I wonder if other airlines do the same practice??

 

[jamesatfish]

Come to think of it, it's seldom you see any other F passengers dressed up smartly - perhaps they've sat through too many long flights.

Coming back from LAX in mid-Jan this year my wife and I came across a bloke sitting in 1A who boarded wearing a very nice business suit (it was a midnight departure) and sat down, jacket & all, for the first hour of the flight - by which time he was the only F passenger not wearing the PJs or some other sleepwear.

When dinner started to be served he finally got up and took a suit bag out of the cupboard, so we assumed he was finally going to take off the suit and relax. He emerged a few minutes later wearing a full dinner suit - bow tie and jacket included - which he wore during the meal service. I slept the rest of the flight but he was wearing the business suit again when I woke up before descent.

I never got a chance to speak with him but he seemed very friendly and he certainly had the best service from the QF staff on the aircraft and in SYD - including an escort through customs & immigration.

 

[harvyk]

I just find that weird. Fair enough if you want to get doled up for a dinner at a nice resturant, but on a plane? I've been known to take a change of clothes with me for a day trip CBR-MEL so that I didn't have to wear a suit on the plane (Or for a second longer than necessary). But then again I am very anti suits (which is why I own three of them )

I've had more strange looks from J pax than FA's, but I figure that just comes with the territory of being young and in the part of the plane which young people shouldn't normally be able to get into.

 

[NYCguy]

When dinner started to be served he finally got up and took a suit bag out of the cupboard, so we assumed he was finally going to take off the suit and relax. He emerged a few minutes later wearing a full dinner suit - bow tie and jacket included - which he wore during the meal service.

That's priceless!

I'm just about to exit my 30s (don't get me started!), but I can pass for younger, thanks to a myriad of fancy potions, and a superbly talented Manhattan surgeon. I've experienced the ageism in premium cabins before, but not that often. Of course, being well-presented and well-groomed goes a long way in life, not only in impressing the cabin crew and one's fellow passengers in biz or first.

When confronted with an ageist attitude from cabin-crew, just smile sweetly and remind yourself who's sitting in 2A and who's pouring the coffee.

If it's your fellow passengers sticking their noses in the air, raise the privacy screen and pop on those fancy headphones.

 

[Voyages]

I am in my mid 20s, and a SG member of QF.

I've never flown F. The times I've been in J the service was absolutely fantastic - shorts/jeans & t-shirts most times, no problems.

Got the occasional stares from other J pax who heard the FAs addressing me as Dr xx_ xx_. Always a good warm-up/ light joke with them as I am not a medical doc.

 

[anat0l]

Amazing. Looks like there's a very healthy (pun intended? ) population of young AFFers here!

I've just turned 25 a mere month ago now, but probably unlike many people here that are WP, my predominant flying is AU domestic. A few TT trips in J, a fortunate JQ *C sale and a couple of AU SC runs sealed WP for me. Not a lot of it is for work travel, but it's travel that I like doing.

It's not regular per se either; most of my flying is in bursts. Having said that, in my last 12 months or so I did record some flying in about 9 of those months - whether you want to call that regular is up to you (I wouldn't). This year I have a super burst of flying coming up (more on that to come in a Trip Report)....

As for service and attitude, I pretty much find it's a case of doing unto others as you would want them to do unto you. And about 97% of the time, it pays off. You'd be surprised how many people never even say 'Hello' to a FA, let alone address them by their name, or ask them how their day has been (irrespective of how frumpy they may be). At times, I've managed to work in a conversation after that, and then some.

I've had about 99.9% good hit rate on talking to QF over the phone (and pretty much 100% since I've started being attended to by Premium desk).

Probably the "worst" staff (and that's an unfair qualification) I've seen are at check-in and at lounge desks. But these are very rare, and for most you can tell it's been "one of those days". Not a professional excuse, but to say they are the "worst" is still too harsh.

I have really never had any regular problems with airline staff so far (non-airline-airport staff is a different matter). Even DJ - who uncomfortably told me before my first flight that "I was going to have a lot of fun" - are very tolerable and somewhat friendly (although, I guess, sometimes a bit immature). LA are quite attentive and patient, especially since for the said FAs, English is most likely not their first language.

MH are probably the exception to all of this, who have been getting progressively colder over the years although my last flight with them in 2006 was a fairly neutral experience.

And just to give the background, the most casual wear you'd see me sporting whilst flying would be jeans and a short sleeve (polo or button-up). I travelled quite a bit when I was a munchkin, when paying for travel was truly a premium, and I was raised strictly to dress and groom decently when travelling. Some habits die very hard, but I believe it also projects a better and more accommodating attitude to the staff when flying. I've noticed no real difference if I'm travelling in civvies vs. wearing my business gear. Nor have I really noticed the difference between the treatment of someone young like me vs. someone older.

 

[jas]

So as a 25-year-old NB, who flies every so often personally to see friends/family across the country... I want to know how people my age and younger are in jobs that are flying them to WP level, and how I get in on that!

 

[harvyk]

So as a 25-year-old NB, who flies every so often personally to see friends/family across the country... I want to know how people my age and younger are in jobs that are flying them to WP level, and how I get in on that!

Company Director \ Sales here... Unfortunately my own travel policy specifically states must fly QF Sale \ Red-e-deal or Super Saver fares unless points allow for a J upgrade or flexible tickets are the only option (only happened once).

I had to make it like that to get it past the minister for war and finances.

 

[dajop]

He emerged a few minutes later wearing a full dinner suit - bow tie and jacket included - he certainly had the best service from the QF staff on the aircraft and in SYD - including an escort through customs & immigration.

Wasn't a former QF CEO famous for his bow ties?? ALthough he wore them with regular business suits.

 

[k_sheep]

So as a 25-year-old NB, who flies every so often personally to see friends/family across the country... I want to know how people my age and younger are in jobs that are flying them to WP level, and how I get in on that!

Replace 25 with 27 and that's me ... but alas, my career of choice does not avail much travel. I comfort myself with the thought that those who are travelling for work are very depressed about it and hate travelling Don't spoil the illusion for me!!

In terms of getting looked over by service staff, I found that on my europe-asia odyssey when I was 23yo I had the exact opposite experience - many many times someone would pull me out of long check in lines and direct me to premium check in, and would get empty seats assigned next to me several times. Doesn't happen so much anymore - maybe I'm too old or ugly now! Or maybe that now when I travel solo, it's generally on a LCC.

 

[toowongman]

So as a 25-year-old NB, who flies every so often personally to see friends/family across the country... I want to know how people my age and younger are in jobs that are flying them to WP level, and how I get in on that!

May I suggest:
- Gain skills that are vary rare or highly sought-after on a global scale
- Start your own business that requires travel; or a business/activity that you can run almost as an online presence. Then you can travel about and operate wherever that takes your fancy.
- Fall in love with someone a long distance away
- Get into federal politics in an electorate far away from Canberra
- Find people that want you to carry things for them around the world...

Or just work hard, save your money, and fly for fun.

 

[NM]

Wasn't a former QF CEO famous for his bow ties?? ALthough he wore them with regular business suits.

It takes a strong man to wear a bow tie in public