[Travelandtourism] Travel news

[Reese]

Well, I sure would have been fighting to make sure my client would have been 
properly accommodated for this unfortunate situation.

Reese

Common wisdom holds that if you dress nicely, you have a better chance of 
scoring a first-class upgrade at the gate. This is a bit silly, of 
course-dressing nicely certainly doesn't hurt, but it seems unreasonable to 
assume that a jacket and tie trumps one's elite status, especially in this 
era of highly complex loyalty programs.

Tell that to Armando Alvarez.

Alvarez claims United denied him a first-class upgrade because the track 
suit he was wearing was deemed too casual for first class. "I was humiliated 
and embarrassed," said Alvarez, a VP with Best Buy and a United Red Carpet 
Club member. "If this happened to me and I'm a United Airlines Red Carpet 
Club member then I believe it's happening to other people and this must 
stop." He says other people in the boarding line thought he was joking when 
he told them what happened.

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There once was a time when flying was something you dressed up for-suits for 
the gents, dresses for the ladies-but today, largely due to the cramped and 
uncomfortable nature of flying (first class exempted, of course), airlines 
are the dominion of yoga pants and comfy sweatshirts, even in first class. 
Alvarez may have violated some antiquated ideal of flying as a grand, 
high-class experience, but in reality he was dressed like just about every 
other person that flies every day.

United is investigating the incident, and says it will speak to the employee 
from the gate and review security footage. The airline says there is no 
passenger dress code, but cited two rules: Ticketed passengers cannot be 
barefoot and must be clothed. Well, we know Alvarez was clothed, and we can 
assume he was wearing shoes, so what gives?

This isn't the first time an airline ruled on someone's clothing. Southwest 
famously kicked a woman off a flight because her clothes were deemed too 
skimpy.

Readers, what do you think? Is it fair to deny an upgrade because a 
passenger's clothes are too casual? Should airlines have the right to 
essentially judge a passengers fashion choice, especially when the passenger 
is dressed in a decent manner (i.e. no excessive or inappropriate exposure)? 
Leave a comment below with your thoughts.





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