Air travel has a host of annoyances and a few luxury perks, if one is willing to pay for them. But what happens when some people in a group fly first class, “leaving” the others behind in economy?

A man wondered if he was in the wrong when his surprise first-class ticket upgrade didn’t go over so well. While his girlfriend loved it, her mother, who didn’t get an upgrade, hated the entire concept. Readers debated whether his surprise plan could have used some more time on the stove, or if this was really just a case of jealousy.

Traveling in a group comes with the dangerous pitfall of figuring out what sort of tickets to purchase

Image credits: seventyfourimages (not the actual photo)

A man wanted to surprise his GF with first-class tickets during a family vacation

Image credits: seventyfourimages (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Amiaplanejerk

Economy class does mean sitting with a horde of other passengers

While jealousy is never a nice attribute, some people do struggle with the stressors that come from not flying first class. Air travel itself has numerous discomforts, seats that are never quite big enough, insufficient legroom, and that ever-present hum of the engines. “Hell is other passengers,” to paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre. Certainly, there is an abundance of cases where travelers disrupt entire flights, sometimes due to air rage, and sometimes due to incompetent airlines. Every once in a while, you even get both.

This is partially why first class seems like more of a luxury than it really is. Often, you are paying hundreds of dollars more for a few hours in a nicer chair and a “free” meal, which is anything but free. Nevertheless, travelers love it for a variety of reasons. Certain airlines offer what amounts to a private suite in the air, with showers, heated floors, and a bet. But very possibly, a major appeal of first class is just the ability to create some distance between yourself and other passengers. Screaming babies, snoring individuals, or cases of outright air rage are all possible, so a first-class seat is just insurance.

The actual mechanics of boarding a plane may actually cause some amount of distress. For those who are unfamiliar, on most planes, people in first class board first, and their seats tend to be toward the front of the plane. Only then the “regular folk” are allowed to get aboard, having to walk past all the people sitting in “better” seats. Not only do they have to wait longer, but they have to literally walk past first class. It’s like taking a tour of accommodations you will never be able to afford. Psychologists believe that this actually causes enough anger and annoyance to explain some amount of “air rage.”

Image credits: Alexander Schimmeck (not the actual photo)

But jealousy at the people in first class is immature

So the gap between first-class seating and economy creates a cycle of supply and demand. The increasingly luxurious first class accommodations highlight the gap between haves and have-nots, while at the same time potentially creating the sort of horrible traveler behavior that almost justifies the cost of a better ticket. This isn’t to shift the blame away from hugely immature fliers, as an airline can’t really be blamed for grown adults acting like spoiled, aggressive children.

That being said, cases of “air rage” are on the rise. In the US, for example, unruly passengers have gotten aggressive enough that about 30% of them actually cause flights to be diverted. A simple Google search will yield stories of brawls between passengers and even what looks like a pitched battle between different groups at an airport. So from a larger perspective, OP was lucky that at most he got a somewhat negative comment from his MIL, not, for example, an invitation to a duel.

However, none of these horror stories mean that air travel is actually that bad. In 2022, in the US alone, there were 853 million “enplanements” and the vast majority of them didn’t end in brawls or worse. The MIL’s argument about “splitting the group” are very weird, as not a single soul is out there tracking where a “group” is sitting. The plain and simple conclusion is that she was simply jealous and didn’t have the decency to keep it to herself. Perhaps it could have been nice to pay for the whole group, but they were already going on vacation which was no doubt enough of a cost. If you want to see what actual air rage looks like, Bored Panda has got you covered, you can check out our article on a man flipping out over a crying baby.

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

Some readers thought the MIL was just jealous

While others thought the whole thing could have been avoided

A few commenters thought OP was at fault and should have just waited

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