How casual is too casual for an airplane’s first class section? If you paid for first class, and a bald guy in a Puma running outfit sat down across the aisle from you, would you honestly feel short-changed? United seems to think it’s inappropriate.
MyFox Atlanta DC says that Best Buy vice president Armando Alavarez’s first class upgrade was revoked last week, after the gate agent saw he was wearing a Puma running outfit. He said he frequently checks his suits and wears more comfortable clothes for the flight. You can see by the photo or the video clip below that his Puma running outfit was in excellent shape.
For those who don’t want to watch the video (are you sure? you’ll miss Alvarez talking about his Puma running outfit!), MyFox DC says Alvarez wrote a letter to United to complain about having his upgrade revoked, but he hasn’t heard back from them. The network says it contacted their customer service department three times but never heard back, either. I’m pretty sure you have to write a hit YouTube song to get United’s attention these days, Alvarez; you might want to see if Best Buy can hold a United Hates Puma Running Suits sale or something.
“Man Denied First Class Seat on United” [MyFox Atlanta] (Thanks to Diasdiem!)
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suppose though, you are like me. I lost 63.6 pounds so far on (weight loss program starting with W) and my clothes are ALL yoga pants and zip up shirts, hoodies(like the velour baby phat, urban type brand of clothing sets)because of constantly losing pounds and not investing a ton on stuff that will be too big in a month.
Is there an airline that refuses flip-flops, so I’ve been warned?
It’s absolutely my favorite shoewear (during the warm months of course, damn North American winters).
Would love to watch the video, except all I get is a 10 second Arby’s commercial, and then it freezes.
Since they are not focusing on service, they may as well start scrutinizing your wardrobe.
Anyone besides me feel like United is just trying to get it’s name out there as much as possible? Losing that video guy’s luggage, picking on the CEO of Best Buy, I’ve been seeing them in consumer articles a lot lately. Perhaps they’ve decided that bad publicity is a good idea?
If United is upgrading him on their dime, then a dress restriction is ok with me. If the passenger paid for the first class seat then of course he should be able to wear what he wants.
I do love the zoot suit fashion. I always have a laugh when I see these. Aren’t you supposed to wear them in the gym while woking out?
Didn’t see the flight plan, but I can only imaging that his travel plans involved one of the NY area airports and/or Las Vagas.
I sat in first (on AA) with a giant hole in the shoulder of my sweater. I didn’t realize that my sweater was falling apart at the seams. I was embarrassed, but no one said a word to me.
Honestly, this is discrimination any way you look at it. I never say this, but this guy should sue.
And if some starlet waltzes onboard in one of those velour sweatsuits, will she get kicked off too?
There’s not dress code for airlines. Anyone trying to rationalize this has their head up their tracksuit.
On the one hand, this rule seems very silly, and I would be annoyed if it happened to me.
On the other hand, it’s hard for me to feel empathy for a millionaire who got denied a free first class upgrade.
I was on a United flight out of ORD about a year ago. There was a gentleman making a disturbance at the line to the gate. Come to find out, he was an lower-level “executive” at United, which qualified him for free upgrades to first class. However, he was wearing street clothes, and the gate agent refused his upgrade. He pitched a fit (rather unbecoming of an executive), and started accusing the gate agent of racism. Odd, since both he and the gate agent were African-American.
Anyhow, 2 supervisors later and a whole lot of swearing, he got his way. And was similarly obnoxious the entire flight.
As a flyer that logs over 125K miles a year for 15 years and gets upgraded on almost every single flight, I have to call BS on the claims that some are making here that this is common. I always, always dress in jeans, a tee shirt, and sweater. One, because I want to be comfortable, and two, because layers are the way to go on airplanes (you never know if it’s going to be too hot or too cold!).
I can’t count how many of my fellow first class passengers have been dressed much worse than this guy either. And never have I heard of a dress code for non-airline employees flying in first class, whether paid or upgraded. Yes, they have these rules for employees who are flying free (non-rev), but if they have this rule for customers it must be the best kept secret in the airline industry.
More likely, this was just a case of a surely gate agent, drunk on power.
Ever since security went bonkers after 9/11, I’ve started wearing a t-shirt, jeans, no belt and flip-flips, which is the perfect outfit to breeze right through security with little discombobulation.
Sorry, but I don’t care about making a good impression on people who I’ll sit next to for a few hours and never see again. I used to love traveling by plane, but now I’ll drive if it’s less than eight hours or so.
We used our miles last summer to fly First Class to Chicago, and I rolled up in shorts. No one said a word to me. This was on AA though, so they may have different rules.
Solution to the problem:
Get a 100$ suit from (Sears, Kmart, WalMart, wherever). Pack the track suit in carry on. 5 mins into flight go to the restroom, and change. Go back to your seat in comfort, and ask for a white russian. Now what? Are they going to demand you go back to coach? When stupid rules are made, point out how stupid it really is.
so bogus. i’ve flown first class wearing torn cargo shorts with a day pack, kites and a sleeping bag. this was just a brainless agent being an ass.
This is BS, look at any of the sites that carry photos of celebrities and see how they dress when going through airports. I’ve seen them wearing track suits and I’ll bet they got their butts kissed the entire flight.
The smartest clothes to wear are clothes that will help you survive if the plane should have an incident… overshoot the runway, be diverted to some backwater airport, or fall from the sky with everyone screaming…
That means wear confortable running shoes, avoid highly flamable or meltable clothes (denim is ok)… men, women and kids… girls definitely no nylons…
If something happens you want to be able to get the hell off the plane as fast as possible… you don’t want the heat of fire to melt your clothes to you or have you burst into flames… You want footwear that allows quick sure footed movement… if you have to run over shredded metal or slippery victims you can… etc.
20 odd years ago I was reading a guide/manual for folks working in Antarctic research stations. This was some of the advice from that manual. It makes great sense and I have followed it ever since.
UPDATE (10:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 5): United is out with its side of the story. (Scroll down for the original post.) Airline spokesman Robin Urbanski told me in an e-mail Thursday evening that the airline does not have a policy that would prevent a customer from sitting in first class for dressing too casually. Instead, the gate agent apparently thought the customer in a track suit was an airline employee. If that would have been the case, an employee would have been subject to a dress code.
“We are working with our sub-contractor that was helping us with this flight to investigate what happened and ensure something like this does not happen again,” Urbanski said in the e-mail. “This was an unfortunate miscommunication with the gate agent who speaks English as a second language and was simultaneously assisting another customer when he believed Mr. Alvarez to be an airline employee in which a dress code policy is required.”
Congratulations United Airlines. I completely support your decision. I always wear a suit, or jacket and tie when I fly first class.
maybe the gate agent had been slighted by a Best Buy Protection Plan in the past and decided that some sweet justice was in order..
but seriously I think this is borderline discrimination, just because the man isn’t wearing something the airline deems suitable doesn’t mean they can bump him unless there is some small print somewhere that deems what is acceptable to wear on the plane. I know when I went and came back from Europe on a United flight they bumped a couple random seats(all of which in the schools name) up to business and first class, we decided to let the orchestra teacher and his wife get the first class bump because they did so much on that trip, while the students drew straws. The girlfriend and I got bumped up to business and while we had some odd looks most of the people flying business liked us.
@diasdiem: My thoughts exactly. I mean, you could get married in this in New Jersey.
/it’s iJuicy Couture, dammit!
@diasdiem: Yes, explain to them you are a legitimate businessman in waste disposal.
@diasdiem:
+ pouting lips
+ orange skin
+ spiky hair
@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: I think he went to a competing Rolls dealership and bought one, and then drove by the first one and flipped off the salesman.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: I wish more people would prove me wrong by handing me huge wads of cash.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: Like that scene in Pretty Woman:
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@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: Actually, iirc, it was the drummer John Bonham in the story. He liked has cars and collected them. When the dealer was rude based on his appearance, he asked for the keys of the showroom model, started it up and promptly drove it through the stores large plate glass window. He stopped just outside the store tossed the keys back to the dealer. John told him he would buy the car, and to fix it up and put a fresh coat of the paint on the car and that he would pay for all the damage to the store. But, he added, never treat anyone that way again… Also it could have been another story as I’m sure there are many out there, or I could be wrong.(that happens often) But man I love that story.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: Pretty sure that was Bonzo, but whatever, same band.
@ElizabethD: Wow, makes you realize those Islamic countries aren’t as wacko as they seem
@badhatharry: That could be it. It’s been a while since I heard it, and there are so many versions of it that by now it’s apocryphal. Most people are familiar with that one scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts essentially does the same thing. Although Snopes does have a true story of a millionaire withdrawing all his cash from a bank because they refused to validate his parking, again based solely on how he was dressed. ^_^
@floraposte: Cue the outrage over United’s “Dress like a slob in first class” fee.
@floraposte: I don’t know, to me using my miles as a cash equivalent is close enough to paying for an upgrade that I would feel like I had paid for one.
@morlo: No, it just makes you realize how wacko we were 50 years ago.
@ElizabethD:
I agree that people should limit perfume because a lot of people are allergic or sensative to it and you should be properly groomed, but I’m glad I refuse to fly on United because when my flight takes 22 hours, I’m sorry I have to admit it as well, I put on a nice puma tracksuit (luckily I’m small so mine comes from the kids dept) I’d rather have someone next to me in a tracksuit than the drunk who can’t keep quiet, the fat person who takes up half my seat, the kid kicking my chair the whole way there, you want to set standards, these are the standards you should look to first. You lose your business customers United you lose your airline.
@redqueenmeg: I made the mistake of wearing my New Rocks to an airport once.
Worst. Idea. Ever. Apparently my boots could conceal a bomb and require super duper screening. Who knew?
@admiral_stabbin: Only if you have cell phone service with Sprint.
Two can play this game.
@supercereal: Is that true? I’m not sure it is, although IANAL…Airlines don’t check you out before they sell you the ticket, the way a country club would do when you apply. You get sold the ticket regardless of who you are, implying that the public can make use of their airline. Granted, you sign a contract with them, but they shouldn’t have the power to do as they please without giving you a heads-up about it in said contract, before you pay.
@supercereal: If they are going to regulate what can and cannot be worn, they need to:
a) post such a dress code on their web site so that people understand what is and is not OK to wear in a specific class before they dress for the airport
b) apply such a dress code evenly to everybody on all flights.
Because let’s face it, if it was a young, hot woman in mini-shorts and showing off tons of cleavage you can bet that a straight male flight attendant would not be asking her to change to fit a first-class dress code.
Personally, I wear business casual going to the airport. A suit doesn’t make too much sense for onboard a plane but otherwise the outfit puts off an air of respect, that I will pay respect to people who I talk to and that I expect respect in return. It’s an outfit that says I could have fit casual, but I didn’t, in contrast to a business traveler forced to wear a suit and therefore filters into everything else. Considering all the authority figures at an airport who just need a reason to make your day a miserable one, it doesn’t hurt.
@evarga:
yeah, I know I was a non-revver, but the same thing goes for the free upgrades. I have seen gate agents pull the first 3 people on the list for 1 spot and then give it to the best dressed person. It is ultimately left to the discretion of the gate agent.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: I had a kneebrace that led to a screener giving my leg a massage– I almost felt like tipping him for it, but then I considered not detonating the kneebrace to be tip enough.
@blash: I flew first class last week and wore yoga pants and a zip up hoodie, while the guy next to me was wearing jeans (not nice ones), Birkenstocks and socks. Hippie guy. No one seemed to notice or care.
If you want to dress so that gate agents and the guy at the Wolfgang Puck stand give you what you perceive as “respect” based on your clothing choice, that’s cool. But we’re not talking about respect, we’re talking about being able to sit your butt in the seat you paid for.
@diasdiem: Best.Comment.Evah!
@mmmsoap: your comparison makes no sense. Many business allow you to pre-pay for a service before you use it and they are private. just because they sell goods & services to the public does not mean they are a public entity.
the point it he already paid for it. pre-pay. if there was no stipulation in the agreement beforehand on dress-code then UA is wrong, if there is then he is wrong.
@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon:
I was making a comment on the state of how airlines treat their customers. I fly first class, (alot) and I was once bumped to coach because what I was wearing was not considered appropriate for “first class” (I was flying on British Airways wearing a brown jean skirt, and a long sleeve shirt w/ a sweater.) I have noticed that most airlines don’t care about what or who you are, but there are a few out there that have something shoved so high up their a–es that they will forcibly remove you from the plane if they feel you aren’t the “perfect passenger.” It happens all the time to the toddler that is apparently “alittle too loud” to this poor man who should be able to wear with track suit on the plane. I stand by my above comment, if you can’t read the message thats not my problem, I thought I was very clear.