Airport gate agents & carry ons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fly all the time (United 1K) and am also a petite (although not as petite as the OP) female, and haven't run into this issue. I would print the luggage specifications and whatever you can find from the Briggs and Riley website that says that this is an appropriate sized carryon. I've had issues with gate agents questioning my visas when I fly internationally and I find that showing people a piece of paper makes them calm down and lets me move on.

Not the point at all. But ok

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flight attendants and gate attendants definitely treat white women worse than white men. My friends and I have exchanged numerous stories like the ones above.

I am specifying race because I don’t know how it plays out with different races

I’m the FA PP from upthread, and I couldn’t disagree more. I can’t speak for gate agents, but I have so many female and gay coworkers who go out of their way to deliberately screw with business men, in particular, because they are so self-important, and who are quite protective of solo women travelers.

Sorry, FA pp, but while you and your friends may be all about “girl power” it’s simply not the experience for most of us female frequent fliers, who are regularly expected to be more accommodating and blatantly given inferior treatment to men flying in the same class of service.

Just look at the incident that went viral when the pregnant wife of a pro baseball player was told by the flight attendants she needed to get on the ground to clean up all the popcorn her child spilled on a flight. Whether you want to characterize her as entitled or not, do you really think if it was a man traveling alone with a child they would have treated him the same way?

Omg, I cant believe someone is using this as an example of discrimination against women. If anything, it is entitlement of awful parents expecting other women to clean up after them (ie the FAs!). Your child makes a f***ing awful mess, and you expect other people to clean up after you? Do you expect the park ranger to clean up after your dog sh**s in the park too?

While I agree people should clean up their/their kids' mess (and I do), have you seen how people leave their seat areas? People are disgusting and leave so much trash on planes, you can see it when you disembark. I totally believe moms of kids are targeted more on planes: they typically won't fight back and are fun to have a power trip with. Nobody is telling gross first class men to pick up anything.

Do gross first class men often toss popcorn all over the floor, aisle and other peoples chairs? GMAFB. This lady was so far out of line it was unbelievable. If you can't manage flying with your children as the wife of a multi-millionaire, maybe you should have brought the nanny? They make at least $1.5M/year, they just thought they were too good to clean up after their spawn and wanted the woman making $50k/year to do it for them. Entitled pricks, nothing to do with discrimination against moms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

I'm pretty sure there is just one psycho anti-FA poster. They are just prolific at posting.

That said, I do notice a HUGE disparity between the demeanor of some FA's and others. Its kind of nuts how over-the-top friendly and accommodating some can be and how rude, gruff, and power-tripping others can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Seems like you would know. Start treating people better.

Exactly! The only worse/ruder flight attendants than those with US Airlines are those with Air Canada. I have found those in European countries to be more helpful/ kinder.

Definitely not Lufthansa- they’re the worst of all!

[Anonymous]

People, stay on topic. The entire thread is about GATE AGENTS which are completely different from flight attendants anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure there is just one psycho anti-FA poster. They are just prolific at posting.

PP. Agreed. It's obvious.

Anonymous wrote:That said, I do notice a HUGE disparity between the demeanor of some FA's and others. Its kind of nuts how over-the-top friendly and accommodating some can be and how rude, gruff, and power-tripping others can be.

I share that observation.

That the customer is the problem "is possible," was the point I was making. And of course it's a possibility among others. That's not a controversial statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Seems like you would know. Start treating people better.

Exactly! The only worse/ruder flight attendants than those with US Airlines are those with Air Canada. I have found those in European countries to be more helpful/ kinder.

Definitely not Lufthansa- they’re the worst of all!

Oops...you're right. I forgot about them. Any country who was responsible for the Holocaust...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Seems like you would know. Start treating people better.

Exactly! The only worse/ruder flight attendants than those with US Airlines are those with Air Canada. I have found those in European countries to be more helpful/ kinder.

Definitely not Lufthansa- they’re the worst of all!

Oops...you're right. I forgot about them. Any country who was responsible for the Holocaust...

What a bizarre comment. Have you been drinking?

[Anonymous]

Why not just smile and tell them they are welcome to check. Then wait. I mean, this in the end inconveniences them. If they insist you do it show them a picture of your bag in the sizer and tell them "yes the Samsonite model ABc-567 is 19.8x28x14" (or whatever exact dimensions) "fits well, but if you want to verify, please go ahead." Then wait, with a neutrally polite Kamala Harris debate-style "yes your bs bores me" facial expression while they do if they decide. But usually at that point they've already lost and they know that.

I am a woman executive and I find being coldly smiling and hyperexact (kind of my gray rock) to these sorts of officious people helps me not get too out of sorts with these types of slights. I also feel that in the end the gate agent might end up embarrassed but you look totally like you are doing everything right, so they may feel disincentivized from doing it in the future. They get no power trip at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's feel your pain OP. We fly a lot. I think women do get treated a lot worse then men when flying. I have a theory. Many of the flight attendants were raised in blue collar or lower class homes where men ruled. They are used to cowtowing to men. Many never went to college...so are not that bright.

We have a rule when flying .." No eye contact" with agents and we act like we don't speak English.

Surely as a bright, college-educated person, you know that the term is "kowtow." It's nothing to do with bovines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's feel your pain OP. We fly a lot. I think women do get treated a lot worse then men when flying. I have a theory. Many of the flight attendants were raised in blue collar or lower class homes where men ruled. They are used to cowtowing to men. Many never went to college...so are not that bright.

We have a rule when flying .." No eye contact" with agents and we act like we don't speak English.

Surely as a bright, college-educated person, you know that the term is "kowtow." It's nothing to do with bovines.

Isn't it hilarious, the people that look down on service workers are some of the dimmest around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

I'm pretty sure there is just one psycho anti-FA poster. They are just prolific at posting.

That said, I do notice a HUGE disparity between the demeanor of some FA's and others. Its kind of nuts how over-the-top friendly and accommodating some can be and how rude, gruff, and power-tripping others can be.

I totally agree with this part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Seems like you would know. Start treating people better.

Exactly! The only worse/ruder flight attendants than those with US Airlines are those with Air Canada. I have found those in European countries to be more helpful/ kinder.

Definitely not Lufthansa- they’re the worst of all!

And KLM. I had a KLM FA tell me if everyone wanted as much water as me ther wouldn't be enough for everyone, so no, I couldn't hava a third cup of water while very visibly pregnant and flying 6 hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynicism and combativeness toward flight attendants in this thread makes it hard to believe this is simply a matter of systemic discrimination embedded in the airline service industry.

People can usually tell an a**hole when they see one; this is especially true for service industry workers. And, hear me out. It's possible, you just might be an a**hole.

Seems like you would know. Start treating people better.

Exactly! The only worse/ruder flight attendants than those with US Airlines are those with Air Canada. I have found those in European countries to be more helpful/ kinder.

Definitely not Lufthansa- they’re the worst of all!

And KLM. I had a KLM FA tell me if everyone wanted as much water as me ther wouldn't be enough for everyone, so no, I couldn't hava a third cup of water while very visibly pregnant and flying 6 hours

I mean, she shouldn't have denied you (or anyone) water, but your "pregnancy status" does not entitle you to more than anyone else.

[Anonymous]

If you wanted more water, you should have paid for at least business class