At United Airlines the top published elite tier is 1K, named back in the days when flying 100,000 miles in a year was the way to earn this status and when computers only allowed two characters to designate the level. Premier Executive was designated “1P” while Premier was “2P” – and the mostly forgotten “Premier Emeritus” was “3P.”
A MileagePlus 1K passenger had an “absolute meltdown” seeing another passenger come up from economy trying to use the lavatory in first class. Are they actually permitted to do this, though?
Here’s what happened, according to a United Airlines captain,
Deadheading to work and had the displeasure of watching a 1K member have an absolute meltdown when a passenger from row 10 dared to use the first-class lavatory. The drink cart was out in the main cabin, and this poor soul in need of the bathroom came up from the back. OMG, this idiot 1K Member went bonkers, and told the woman the upfront bathroom was exclusive to first class only, and she should wait until the bathroom in her cabin class was available. Unfortunately, me in uniform and desperately trying to not get involved while I enjoy the latest episode of Tulsa Kings gets sucked into the mele, when Mr. 1K tells me to remind the offending passenger she is not allowed up here.
I explain to Mr. 1K that when you gotta go, you gotta go, and this particular passenger could not reach the rear lavatory due to the aisle being blocked. This logic was unacceptable to him, and I politely told him that while the airline appreciates his business, the aircraft was owned by United Airlines, and not him.
I felt sooo bad for the passenger in Row 10. She looked like a deer in headlights.
If you’re a coach passenger, can you use the bathroom up front in first class? What if a flight attendant’s drink cart is blocking the aisle and you can’t make your way to the back and you really have to go? In general the correct approach for a U.S. domestic flight is:
- Passengers should use the lavatory in their ticketed cabin first
- First class passengers should have priority for the forward lavatory
- However during drink service on a single aisle aircraft passengers blocked from walking back to the lavatory should be able to use the closest lav.
- And in an emergency you use whatever is available.
United had a long-standing policy to use the lavatory in your ticketed cabin, which they relaxed during the pandemic to simply encourage that practice but to allow coach passengers to use the first class lavatory to reduce crowding in the aisle and at the back of the aircraft.
American Airlines does not have a policy against coach passengers using the first class lavatory for domestic flights, or for flights departing the U.S. of course in the moment ignoring crewmember instructions not to leave your ticketed cabin isn’t likely to end well even when that order is contrary to company policy.
Other airlines – and jurisdictions – treat the matter differently! For instance a coach passenger was arrested for using a business class lavatory on a Vienna – Abu Dhabi flight.
The bottom-line is that a coach passenger can get up to use the first class lavatory on a U.S. domestic flight, but should follow crewmember instructions if turned back around to economy.
(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)
Make that 1000th or one thousandth flight by ’81
I don’t usually fly First Class, but in the rare cases when I do, I mind my own business. If you gotta drop one, any port in a storm will do. Whether that’s towards the front or back don’t matter to me so long as it’s in a toilet. ANY port in a storm.
It’s just a tiny loo on a plane that happens to be in the First Class section. Life is too short for such nonsense….
Mobility impaired folks may not have much choice. When I am in row 6, that head at the back is a LONG way away.
Although I hear flight attendants say this on flights often. There are some legalities on this. It is more or less a public restroom and you cannot deny access. In recent years it could also be considered a violation of ADA laws to bot grant access to a restroom.
I have Crohn’s disease, and though I try to travel with an empty stomach to avoid issues, when I gotta go, I gotta go. I have had to venture into 1st class on occasion, especially on transatlantic flights. Thank goodness British Airways doesn’t prohibit 1st class WC use by us coach flyers. It’s that or me causing a biohazard for how ever many hours or even rerouting because of an accident that never should have to happen. Entitled folks need to remember basic human needs and find their humanity.
What is truly pathetic about all these problems that arise from the discomfort forced on coach passengers is the greed of the airlines to squeeze as much profit as they can from each flight. And the government pretty much looking the other way is cowardly complicit. It is obvious that, to the airlines–and to the government–the passengers are mere cargo.