Flight attendant explains how passengers are upgraded between different classes while flying

Every air passenger's dream list is bound to include a free upgrade to first class. However, according to Destanie, a flight attendant, it's not an easy feat to achieve. No matter what charming upfront one might put on, the only way to get this upgrade is at the gate or through airline credit points. Though the attendants end up with funny stories from the passengers in this pursuit, Destanie—who goes by @destanieaaa on TikTok—emphasizes how this is downright impossible for an attendant to facilitate. It led to several people coming out with their stories about flight upgrades.

Destanie frequently uses her social media to answer questions about her work. In this video, she was responding to a query put forward by @LilyNoa. They asked, "How often do people try to sneak in business/1st class and do you allow it?" The flight attendant straight away answered, "We never allow that." She shared that these upgrades are always the responsibility of the gate agents. She says that any attendant trying to facilitate such an upgrade can actually get in trouble.

She shares, "Some people in my airline have told me that our airline considers it as stealing. Because the passenger didn't pay for the ticket or get the upgrade with first class." The flight attendant answered how in most flights, getting such an upgrade is impossible, as they are always full. However, in the case there is an empty seat in the first class, people with some status with the airline are given preference. They get pulled from the main cabin and given the happy news.

After that, she gets into the juicy bits. She begins talking about the ways she has been propositioned to make this upgrade. The flight attendant added, "There have been multiple times that men have hit on me, thinking that I'm gonna move them to first class because they told me I was pretty." A recent incident happened with her when a passenger came on board and complimented her, saying, "This is the most beautiful cabin crew I've ever seen." She was flattered but understood everything when he said, "I see there's a first-class seat open, like, I would love to take it. Please let me know if any first-class seats are open." She politely put him down and gave him back his compliment in clear words. He tried to "apologize," but the attendant got away from the situation with a smile on her face.

Destanie then moved on to talk about a common tactic pulled by the passengers. Often, they try to move to the exit rows, which are also upgraded seats. For her airline, people in the exit rows are served with free drinks. Therefore, when she sees someone moving to the exit rows, she has to stop them as an attendant. The majority of the time, she is bombarded with unnecessary queries. As a "nice" one, she deals with the passengers as politely as possible until it gets out of hand and she has to give them an ultimatum.

The video has gained over 10K views and people in the comment section share their own "upgrade" stories. @mandapanda0615 wrote how she got moved to the first class, "I got moved to first class when I was flying with my newborn and was having a hard time. The flight attendant was amazing for that." @mojitomeg commented on how they got an upgrade, "The only time I got moved from coach to Premium. Econ was flying JFK-ATH and my IFE wouldn't come up. The FA said they only had 1 aisle seat left."