Happy fourth! Not much celebrating going on here in Singapore. And today is also Filipino-American friendship day, which my Filipino co-workers here were quick to remind me of.
The flight here was fun. I went to check in at United’s counter and the nice lady says to me: “Sir, for only $330 more, you can get upgraded to first class.” And I was “really? can I use my miles to do that?”.
“Sure – only if you use your miles, you’ll be on the wait list – in case anyone else prefers to pay $$$ to get upgraded”. I decided to risk the waitlist and chose to use my miles.
Later, in the lounge while waiting for my flight to be called, I got a mimosa and sat there sending text messages to my friends, and I hear a voice say “Drink. Why aren’t you drinking?”
I look up and it’s the bar tender. A kindly Korean lady who seemed distressed. And she went on “I cannot understand, look around, everyone here is on a cell phone or computer or black berry – no one is drinking. Drink. Drink.” And she walked around muttering ‘drink, drink’.
It was around noon, and somewhere in the world it was 5:00 pm, so I drank.
When the flight is called, I board and once I’m in my seat, a helpful purser comes along and moves me over to first class.
I must say I was disappointed. The amenities in first class (at least on United) were what you would normally expect to get in Business class a few years ago. There are some treats – the wine you get is from a freshly opened bottle (not one from the earlier flight); your food is served warm and on real plates; there is a snack cart you can nibble on after the meal service is done; when the lights dim, they really go around and pull the shades down so the cabin is nice and dark.
On the other hand, there were 15 seats in first class, only 5 of which were occupied. And I kept wondering why United did not take the opportunity to upgrade some of the other business class passengers to first class (and some of the coach passengers to business). Wouldn’t it make sense to delight your customers so that they keep coming back?
Ok enough free advice.
