OReilly

Re the Lounge issue Canterbury: Do you have "status" with AA and are your BC tickets booked revenue or points?

Again, it comes down to airline rules and AA might have different rules to Air Canada. AC in the past (caveat because I haven't done this for a couple of years and the rules change every year) have allowed Gold members or BC revenue passenger to bring one guest into the lounge if they were traveling on the same flight. I have also been able to bring a guest on the same flight into UA lounges (partner airline) as a GOld Stutus member.

Again, there is no harm in asking - some airline employees are more accomodating than others and may be prepard to bend the rules. For example, AC partners don't have to let me into their lounge if I am traveling with a non-partner airline, but I have occasionaly asked ("I know I am not entitled, but would you let me in anyway because my flight is delayed?&quot and sometimes they have said no and sometimes yes. I don't get offended if they say no (most times) and am very grateful if they say yes.

Sue_xx_yy

All of this angst is going to be for naught, if two hot 17/18 year-olds of the opposite sex end up sitting next to your kids in Economy.

Sufficient unto the day of flight, is the economy class 'evil' (or business class goodies) thereof.

canterbury

Robjame -

You are correct.

We have decided to try this, but I wanted to know of any personal experiences.

In my experience, if you ask things in a nice way, at the right time, you have a good shot at it.

OReilly - thank you for the lounge information. I had forgotten to say that my husband is Exec Platinum. When we travel together, the family is always treated to his Elite status, (First Class checking, etc), although the last two times we did not use the Lounge for reasons I don't remember.

MarkvonKramer

canterbury,

You paid for 4 seats so whomever's family-butt occupies those 4 seats are nobody's business.

HLS my foot! What does that accomplish? I sure feel safer!

As long as you aren't playing 30 second musical chairs or doing constant "Asian Firedrill" (P.C.), nobody SHOULD have an issue with it. Your plan of the final 60-90 minutes of flight time sound very good.

MvK

canterbury

Sue - Yes - if there are some hotties next to the girls, this whole exercise will be moot!!

OReilly - We have used miles for the BC tickets. Bought the Coach seats. We've never split the family up between classes before.

Thanks for chiming in, Mark. That's also my feeling. My intuition tells me that having the kids sit up front for the last hour or so just won't be a problem.

canterbury

Robjame-

I misspoke. Actually, when I posted this topic, I really wanted to know if it was "legal." Somewhere in the middle, I changed my mind and decided to give it a try.

Thank you for your input and I apologize for the confusion.

c.

mari5

Wow! Lots of different opinions, and I think the current times we are in might affect these ideas.
About 10-15 yrs. ago my husband had business in London and had a Bus/first ticket. I went along(and we drove around England for a week afterward) and we bought a coach seat for me. It didn't bother me at all, because HE HAD BUSINESS MEETINGS THE DAY WE ARRIVED, and I didn't! I walked up to see him after dinner when the passengers were stretched out for a good sleep. He offered to switch seats with me, but I wouldn't even consider it for I knew I could rest the following day if necessary.
But perhaps things have changed some nowdays.
It seems to me that if a family of four has four seats on a plane,, and if you switch quietly with your grown children for an hour or so, it shouldn't matter to anyone.
I've never even thought about it being a problem. (however, rules are probably a little tighter now than several years ago).

robjame

Good luck with it and please post how it works out.
You know you may want to arrive really early to the airport and plead your case at check in. If the flight is not full there might be openings in BC and with your husband's status you would certainly be candidates to get free upgrades. Worth a try - we got bumped to first class last year. I think early arrival and dress as well as attitude has a lot to do with it.

rkkwan

Go check out this thread on the AA board at Flyertalk.com. The argument was as vicious there as here, if not more so.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=495608

Anyways, in my opinion, you can try, but don't be too disappointed if you aren't able to do it.

dutyfree

Canterbury-I would like to remind you that the last hour and a half is another meal service before landing(in either direction).Meal selections,etc. are always taken before takeoff in Business Class.

NorCalif

I've enjoyed the discussion (and your courtesy and good humor during it all, Canterbury). There's been a lot of theorizing, prognosticating, and what-if'ing - but here's an (almost) firsthand report of someone actually doing the dirty deed: My teenager - who was the one in business class! - switched with an accompanying adult and nobody seemed to care.

Here's the story:
Teenager (DD) was invited in summer of 2005 to accompany a friend and her friend's parents to Costa Rica for a vacation. We made DD's airline reservations separately from the inviting family's but on the same flight. At the last minute, DD was upgraded, for reasons unknown, to business class! The inviting parents were green with envy. DD of course was more interested in sitting with her friend than in the perks of business class, so part way through the flight one of her friend's parents switched with her and then, toward the end, switched back (I forget why). No one said a word, even though, since they were not even on the same reservation, they were not even officially considered to be traveling together and not one of them had actually PAID for business class.

I don't think, in their innocence, it ever occurred to any of them to ask permission - subscribing, apparently, to the same opinion as MarkvonKramer - that since the seat was DD's, she had some say in who sat in it.

Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.

canterbury

Thank you for your kind remarks, NorCalif.

Also, great story! I keep hoping it will happen to me someday too.

Sue_xx_yy

This is an interesting, if ultimately pointless discussion, since of course all that matters is what canterbury manages to do, or not do, on the day in question, with the flight crew in question.

I've been keeping tabs (yes, I need a life) and the nos seem to be about even with the yes'/maybes on this issue.

First, in favour of the yes', I have to agree that the Homeland Security argument only goes so far, since midway over the Atlantic is probably not considered anyone's homeland airspace but international airspace, where international law applies. (I will of course defer to any legal beagle's expertise on this matter, but that is my present understanding.)Still, that a poor argument has been made to buttress a position, does not mean that for all practical purposes, the position is wrong: ultimately, the captain still has jurisdiction over the aircraft, including vicariously through instructions left with the FAs.

Regarding the yes side's notion that one's seat is one's own, such that one has a say in who sits in it, this is also not a strong argument. The contract is between the airline and passenger X for his or her carriage as specified; it does not usually extend to a passenger's essentially subletting the seat, even if no money actually changes hands. (One's ticket is declared nontransferable, ergo, I would think this applies to the seat, if one wants to get technical about it.) This would particularly apply if the upgrade in carriage came solely at the discretion of the airline, which appears to have been the case in NorCalif's daughter's case.

Again, what matters is what actually happens.