When DYKWIA becomes the full <airline> tanty

[JohnPhelan]

Occasionally resulting in a full on tanty when they're told no by the cabin crew because they didn't have any spares on board. On a couple of occasions, I have actually heard the dreaded DYKWIA come out of the mouths of some supposed elite level frequent flyers. IMO, if they were actually frequent flyers, you'd think they would know that special meals need to be pre-ordered.

I wouldn't hesitate to point that out to them!

 

[emeline]

Oh, I've had something similar.

Priority Lane empty so we walked up, to hear a Bogan voice of "the lines back there, mate", as his Mrs flipped her hair and jingled her new island braids with a "yeah, back there".

Now my husband, the peace maker and always with a smile on his face just turned slightly and said "Not for business class" and kept walking. This is as confrontational as he's ever going to get.

I'm guessing it was the same man that as he walked passed us announced "Plebs up the back!"

Haha, I have a similar story but for QF F - a woman (who I'd heard prior to boarding telling everyone that would listen that she was in premium economy) actually grabbed my shoulder, pointed to the mile long Y queue and said 'Hey there's actually a line young lady!' to which I replied 'Not for first class there isn't!' She was obviously quite shocked that a woman in her early twenties could be flying in F on her own.

I have stood in that long Y line many a time envious of those boarding for first and business class, so there was no way I was joining the queue just to be polite!

 

[DrA]

Haha, I have a similar story but for QF F - a woman (who I'd heard prior to boarding telling everyone that would listen that she was in premium economy) actually grabbed my shoulder, pointed to the mile long Y queue and said 'Hey there's actually a line young lady!' to which I replied 'Not for first class there isn't!' She was obviously quite shocked that a woman in her early twenties could be flying in F on her own.

I have stood in that long Y line many a time envious of those boarding for first and business class, so there was no way I was joining the queue just to be polite!

I actually got this by ground staff in PER more than once when I was lining up for J boarding and getting told that Y boarding was "over there". I just stood my ground, showed them my boarding pass, and kept my mouth shut, lest I say something that would give them an excuse to not let me on the plane.

 

[Canny man]

I enjoyed this one a few years ago.
Flying Chicago/LHR in J with BA in the early evening. The person in front of me got to the boarding card inspection and was told 'Welcome Mr XX, it's a full flight and we would like to see if you would change seat...' Queue massive tanty: 'I paid lot of money for that seat, you aren't moving me, I'm a gold FF etc, etc" FA says fine, that's not a problem and gives back the boarding card. I'm up next and as tanty man moves on she asks in a loud voice, "I don't suppose you would mind moving seat to First Class then"
Tanty stops in his tracks and turns round. I smile and say thanks. I thought he would burst a blood vessel.

 

[anat0l]

I enjoyed this one a few years ago.
Flying Chicago/LHR in J with BA in the early evening. The person in front of me got to the boarding card inspection and was told 'Welcome Mr XX, it's a full flight and we would like to see if you would change seat...' Queue massive tanty: 'I paid lot of money for that seat, you aren't moving me, I'm a gold FF etc, etc" FA says fine, that's not a problem and gives back the boarding card. I'm up next and as tanty man moves on she asks in a loud voice, "I don't suppose you would mind moving seat to First Class then"
Tanty stops in his tracks and turns round. I smile and say thanks. I thought he would burst a blood vessel.

That would be even funnier if you had not paid that much for your ticket (e.g. award ticket), and your status was lower than him.

I hope not another word was exchanged between both of you, otherwise you might have felt the brunt of the firing line.

There are some stories that go like that where the Mr John or Ms Jane Tanty proceeds to go back and argue that they should get the upgrade, or they try to be contrite and "win" it back.

 

[OATEK]

I haven't even started with any of stories.

Don't be shy JohnK, that is not like you at all. Please explain...

 

[henleybeach]

I enjoyed this one a few years ago.
Flying Chicago/LHR in J with BA in the early evening. The person in front of me got to the boarding card inspection and was told 'Welcome Mr XX, it's a full flight and we would like to see if you would change seat...' Queue massive tanty: 'I paid lot of money for that seat, you aren't moving me, I'm a gold FF etc, etc" FA says fine, that's not a problem and gives back the boarding card. I'm up next and as tanty man moves on she asks in a loud voice, "I don't suppose you would mind moving seat to First Class then"
Tanty stops in his tracks and turns round. I smile and say thanks. I thought he would burst a blood vessel.

Brillant, just brilliant

 

[Moody]

This has occurred on more than one occasion...

I order a VGML on all my flights due to a food allergy. I know due to many years of flying that special meal requests need to be made in advance, so the requests are always made at the time of booking, rather than at the last minute, and I check that it's still in the booking 48 hours before I fly to be sure. However, I have seen one too many occasions where my neighbour cracks it when I get my meal first, or when they see that my meal looks more appetizing than theirs and they demand the same. Occasionally resulting in a full on tanty when they're told no by the cabin crew because they didn't have any spares on board. On a couple of occasions, I have actually heard the dreaded DYKWIA come out of the mouths of some supposed elite level frequent flyers. IMO, if they were actually frequent flyers, you'd think they would know that special meals need to be pre-ordered.

I have been a victim of the reverse. Mrs Moody and I received a very unexpected and last-minute J upgrade HNL/SYD some years back (we had actually already boarded), and you should have seen her eyes when she scanned the menu (particularly the wine list). When the food service came around she went for it big time, then when the got to me they said "here is your low-fat meal, Mrs Moody .... oh .. sorry Mr Moody - you must have inadvertently swapped seats"

Fortunately there were enough "real" J meals to cover for my wife's change of mind!

 

[drewbles]

I've seen some doozies in my time.

Once on AA, when flying on Paid F, I had an AA EXP ranting to me about 'my right to be in F' at security and 'how dare they start selling seats for $50 at check in!' (refering to the F upgrades on short haul flights being last minute paid options). I played dumb. 30 minutes later or so, as i'd boarded my flight and had my PDB G&T in hand, guess who should walk on-board and look right at me. I simply raised my glass to him, nodded, and took a sip. The look on his face was awesome.

I've also had a QF flight MEL-SIN (just before they started the DXB hop instead) with a man proclaiming loudly to be an Aboriginal Elder (now i'm not a racist person, and of course you cannot necessarily tell someones ethnicity by the colour of their skin, but this guy was as white as I was). He then started ranting that no one would serve him a drink (actually, it all started with that, and him asking 'who do you have to root (not using that word, was harsher) to get a drink around here' whilst we were taxiing for take-off (it turns out the AFP denied him boarding the day before for being drunk, and whilst he was sober upon boarding, it was clear he did not wish to be; makes me wonder why they let him board really). I was in 80A, and he was in the row in front. I simply sat there with my headphones in, but not plugged in, and listened to it all unfold. He then started calling 'Qantas a pack of c***s' (yes, those exact words) and demanded to see the captain to be allowed to have a drink. He was accusing crew of being racist white c***s because they would not serve him a drink. On and on he went about being a lawyer, and was in some trash-tv show on pay tv (I never did find out if he was despite searching). He then said Qantas were 'white c***s abusing our land and i'll see to it that you c***s and your c***y company never fly over our cough****g land again'. Charming fellow. About 2-3 hours it went on, and the CSM handled this like an absolute pro. The crew were nothing short of amazing.

Once the hubub had died down, I quietly slipped to the galley to let them know i'd seen/heard it all, and if anything came of it i'd happily vouch for them not being racist and being nothing but professional. The CSM then came to me 5 minutes later, apologised for the whole situation and that she'd not said hello earlier as I was a WP. I was fine and she said sorry but the flight was full, and wished she could upgrade me but there were just no seats. I didn't expect an upgrade, as he had finally settled down. He was met in SIN by several men with machine guns.

Upon check-in for my return flight at LHR, they apologised they could only clear my upgrade to SIN and i'd have to re-check in the lounge for the onwards segment to MEL. I was a little surprised to say the least, but I can only assume the CSM on the original flight had made a note, and requested me to be upgraded. FWIW, the SIN-MEL segment cleared before I took off from LHR.

When QF crew are good, they're amazing!

 

[smit0847]

My favourite part of these stories is where people see the DYKWIA onboard walking past them back to Y and raise a glass to them with a smile. That would irritate them even more!

 

[smit0847]

My experience- The new Pier F HKG lounge last week. British guy I noticed sitting near me in the restaurant and then as I left to board he was in full tirade at the front desk complaining about the food:

'Inedible'
'So disappointing'
'How hard is it?'
'Can't believe you could ruin 2 dishes'
'It beggars belief'
'Now I'm forced to eat on the plane and will lose sleep because of your incompetence'.

I thought the food was delicious

 

[emeline]

My favourite part of these stories is where people see the DYKWIA onboard walking past them back to Y and raise a glass to them with a smile. That would irritate them even more!

Or going for a casual stroll past Sir/Madam Tanty's seat wearing first class pyjamas...

 

[UP4014]

My experience- The new Pier F HKG lounge last week. British guy I noticed sitting near me in the restaurant and then as I left to board he was in full tirade at the front desk complaining about the food:

'Inedible'
'So disappointing'
'How hard is it?'
'Can't believe you could ruin 2 dishes'
'It beggars belief'
'Now I'm forced to eat on the plane and will lose sleep because of your incompetence'.

I thought the food was delicious 

Ha, he probably wanted a bowl of chips. (seen Pommies ask for chips in some weird places where I'd say they've never heard of them)


Matt

 

[Sdtravel]

Sorry also not a DYKWIA story but one i like.

Was on a REX flight several years back into a country airport.
Went to the HERTZ desk to pick up the car. I was with a colleague and we were a little slow so I ended up at the back of the line.
The attendant finishes the first person a few minutes after i get to the line then suddenly call our "Is there a Mr SDTRAVEL". Im like "Yes thats me". Everyone looks back and sees me and the line disperses and with a huge smile on my face i walk to the front and get served. Me being the young age of 22 at the time walking past everyone else who is obviously somewhat older than me.

Glad i signed up for that Hertzone Gold membership online that was free. Priority Server SCORE!!

 

[straitman]

Or going for a casual stroll past Sir/Madam Tanty's seat wearing first class pyjamas...

They probably wouldn't understand the significance!

 

[RichardMEL]

I've seen some doozies in my time.
I've also had a QF flight MEL-SIN (just before they started the DXB hop instead) with a man proclaiming loudly to be an Aboriginal Elder (now i'm not a racist person, and of course you cannot necessarily tell someones ethnicity by the colour of their skin, but this guy was as white as I was). He then started ranting that no one would serve him a drink (actually, it all started with that, and him asking 'who do you have to root (not using that word, was harsher) to get a drink around here' whilst we were taxiing for take-off (it turns out the AFP denied him boarding the day before for being drunk, and whilst he was sober upon boarding, it was clear he did not wish to be; makes me wonder why they let him board really). I was in 80A, and he was in the row in front. I simply sat there with my headphones in, but not plugged in, and listened to it all unfold. He then started calling 'Qantas a pack of c***s' (yes, those exact words) and demanded to see the captain to be allowed to have a drink. He was accusing crew of being racist white c***s because they would not serve him a drink. On and on he went about being a lawyer, and was in some trash-tv show on pay tv (I never did find out if he was despite searching). He then said Qantas were 'white c***s abusing our land and i'll see to it that you c***s and your c***y company never fly over our cough****g land again'. Charming fellow. About 2-3 hours it went on, and the CSM handled this like an absolute pro. The crew were nothing short of amazing.

Wow.. reminds me of this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0uTqQwIRM4

 

[RichardMEL]

My experience- The new Pier F HKG lounge last week. British guy I noticed sitting near me in the restaurant and then as I left to board he was in full tirade at the front desk complaining about the food:

'Inedible'
'So disappointing'
'How hard is it?'
'Can't believe you could ruin 2 dishes'
'It beggars belief'
'Now I'm forced to eat on the plane and will lose sleep because of your incompetence'.

I thought the food was delicious 

Well Mr Ramsay could have gone elsewhere to eat

just kidding. I find it ironic that a pom would complain about food given most of the standards over there. LOL.

 

[JohnK]

Or going for a casual stroll past Sir/Madam Tanty's seat wearing first class pyjamas...

They might think you were weird wearing pyjamas in public.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

This has occurred on more than one occasion...

I order a VGML on all my flights due to a food allergy. I know due to many years of flying that special meal requests need to be made in advance, so the requests are always made at the time of booking, rather than at the last minute, and I check that it's still in the booking 48 hours before I fly to be sure.

However, I have seen one too many occasions where my neighbour cracks it when I get my meal first, or when they see that my meal looks more appetizing than theirs and they demand the same. Occasionally resulting in a full on tanty when they're told no by the cabin crew because they didn't have any spares on board. On a couple of occasions, I have actually heard the dreaded DYKWIA come out of the mouths of some supposed elite level frequent flyers. IMO, if they were actually frequent flyers, you'd think they would know that special meals need to be pre-ordered.

The dreaded DKYWIA comment mentioned above is probably the rantings of a twice a year red-e-deal NB that is confusing 'frequent flyer' with the real McCoy which is someone who actually flies frequently and has the status to prove it.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Just all this talk of Tiger reminds me of a mini-tanty just 2 weeks ago on NYE I witnessed - not really a DYKWIA but more a general rant.

I was flying QF MEL-SYD in Y (row 5). Jam packed 73H.

First amusement was the kid on the other side of the cabin yelling "I wanna fly Jetstar! I wanna fly Jetstar!" (and later during taxi when we passed a JQ bird "JETSTAR!!!!" which got a chuckle from people in my area)

This reminds me of our JQ flight last year HNL/BNE which had pax from the cancelled JQ HNL/SYD flight that day.

They weren't so much 5 year old mini DYKWIA rantings but inquisitive observations from a small boy.

I thought it was funny at the time so wrote it down.

On pushback and during the safety demo:

Why are we going backwards?
What are the life jackets for?
Where's the red tag?

During flight

I want to buy the dvd (player)
Dad I want my 2 muffins
Dad find my water quickly
Why is it (meal service) taking so long?
I want a cup cake
Are we there yet?
I am a good boy

On descent and taxiing in to BNE

I don't want to go to Brisbane
My ears are hurting
We're landing
Ding
Dad the tv went off all by itself
Bing bong