Flight attendants see just about everything, and the best of them manage to keep a sense of humor through it all. One crew member recently shared a handful of passenger stories from a single trip, and the first one is such a classic mix up that it is bound to make you smile the next time you glance at your own boarding pass.
Creator @ertg229 posted the tale in reply to a comment from a follower, adding with a smile that the passenger did, in fact, choose to fly to Atlanta.
@ertg229
The seat that was really a gate
The flight was boarding in Minneapolis when a woman came aboard and told the crew member she could not find her seat. The crew member asked to see her boarding pass, and she answered that she was at G18. The crew member politely explained that there is no row G on this plane, since the rows are A, B, C, D, E and F. She replied that her boarding pass said G18 anyway.
That is when the mystery was solved. G18, the crew member told her, was the gate. The plane was parked at gate G18. Then came the request again to see her boarding pass, so that she could be told which seat she was actually assigned.
She was not ready to give in. She said she wanted to sit at G18. The crew member explained that G18 was inside the airport, up the jet bridge, and offered once more to look at her pass. She repeated that she wanted to sit at G18 and was not sitting anywhere else.
So the crew member offered a solution. She could go sit at G18 in the airport, or she could hand over her boarding pass, find her assigned seat and fly to Atlanta. It was entirely her call, but there was no G18 on the plane, and the crew member said sorry for that. If she really wanted to sit at G18, it was back in the terminal.
More stories from the same flight
The creator did not stop there. Two more moments from the trip made it into the same post, and both are good for a chuckle.
In the first, a passenger asked for a vodka and orange juice. The crew member said okay and moved down the aisle. When it came time to set the drink down, the crew member called it a screwdriver. The passenger had never heard the word, insisted he just wanted orange juice and vodka, and then said he had made the drink up and it had no name. The crew member simply said okay.
In the second, the crew was giving the manual safety demonstration, showing how to put on the oxygen mask, when a passenger started trying to hand over his trash. The crew member asked him to wait one second. He kept at it. As the creator put it, if no one was paying attention before, they were now.
How to read your boarding pass
The G18 story is funny, but it also points to something worth knowing. A boarding pass has several pieces of information that look similar at a glance, and it is easy to mix them up, especially when you are rushing through an airport with a carry on and a travel pillow.
- Gate. This is the location in the terminal where you board. It usually combines a letter for the concourse with a number, like G18. It is labeled on your pass as the gate and can change, so check the airport screens.
- Seat. This is the row number followed by a letter, like 14C. Rows run from the front of the plane to the back, and the letters run across the seats in each row.
- Boarding group or zone. This tells you when you are called to board. It is a different thing from your seat.
- Boarding time. This is usually earlier than the departure time, so do not confuse the two.
- Flight number. This identifies the flight itself and is useful when looking at departure boards.
Seat letters also vary by aircraft. Smaller planes may stop at row letters D or F, while wide body jets can run to K. The crew member in this story noted that the plane had rows A through F, which is typical for many single aisle jets. If you are not sure which seat is yours, look at the numbers above the overhead bins and the letters on the bins themselves, or simply show your pass to a flight attendant.
Tips for a smoother boarding
If you would like to avoid a mix up of your own, a few habits can help.
Take a quick look at your boarding pass before you leave your seat at the gate. Find your row number and seat letter, and remember them. It is much easier to walk down the aisle with a clear target in mind than to search the cabin with a line of passengers behind you.
Have your pass ready on your phone or on paper, and keep it handy when you step on the plane. If you are stuck, step aside so others can pass, then ask a crew member for help. They will be happy to guide you.
Be patient with the crew. They are working to get everyone seated and the doors closed on time, and a little kindness goes a long way. As these stories show, flight attendants handle some very unusual moments with grace and a good sense of humor.
And if you ever do find yourself heading to the wrong place, there is no shame in it. Every frequent flyer has a story about a gate change, a missed turn or a wrong seat. The important thing is that you end up in the right place, which for this passenger was a seat on the way to Atlanta.
