Sometimes you just have to laugh at the entitlement on display when a traveler demands benefits he no longer qualifies for and some he never qualified for.

“Back Of The Line Fredo!” Entitled United Passenger Demands Premier Benefits He Doesn’t Have, Plus Five Carry-On Bags

Take a moment to read this rather humorous story, as shared by DENflyer3 on FlyerTalk:

Had a fun one yesterday EWR/DEN. Keep in mind probably 85% of the flight was exhausted from days of Ryder Cup and drinking. Oversold flight of course, and they were asking business passengers if one person would give up a seat and move to coach, as they needed to shuttle a pilot to Denver. With all of that, I knew enough to know, this was not the day to start demanding extra things, let’s just board and get off the ground. 

Oh boy, was I mistaken, as the very large person touting five bags, yes large Tumi bags fully packed, right up prior to pre-boarding. Starts demanding to board with GS since he “used to be GS before COVID”, and that he really needs an aisle seat, since his upgrade didn’t go through, and he was not going to check any bags, “I don’t care what the policy is.” GA did a good job looking at his ticket to see what the GS problem was and says, “Sir, you do not appear to have any status and show up very low on the upgrade list. This is a full flight, I cannot move someone for you, and yes, you will have to check 3 of those 5 bags.” 

His response got several laughs, from the Pre-boarders, “Well what good is the explorer card if I cannot get upgrades, aisle seats, or even pre-boarding to stow my MODEST (yes he said that word) luggage.”

Fortunately for me, a EWR regular, in his I’m born and bred in NYC, just jumped in with, “back of the line Fredo.” Gawd it was perfect.

Unlike the tall tales on reddit, I tend to trust these anecdotes and I can just picture this guy walking up incredibly entitled, making those demands.

Kudos to the gate agent (in Newark of all places…) for handling this so professionally. 

I must admit I laughed out loud when he described his five carry-on bags as modest, but I guess for certain entitled people, it is hardly surprising. And yes, I’ve also run into travelers who think that their “Premier Silver” status or “I’ve spent a lot of money on this airline” quip entitles them to first class upgrades and pre-boarding. 

Yelling, “I don’t care what the policy is” is generally not going to get you a policy exception, nor should it ever. Using miles to try an upgrade does not give you access to any premium perks unless your upgrade clears.

CONCLUSION

I know travel can be draining and sometimes you do feel exasperated…but I think the only way we will dissuade such tactless behavior is never to reward it, even an inch.