5 ms·

This guy was a stockbroker, not some random barista. He knew what he wanted and how to ask for it. Trying to pretend that travel agents did this all on his beha

This guy was a stockbroker, not some random barista. He knew what he wanted and how to ask for it. Trying to pretend that travel agents did this all on his behalf and he's just a poor victim is naive.

Aeolun 7y ago
If I ask airline personnel to book me an empty seat on my free ticket and they say ‘sure sir, no problem!’ what exactly am I supposed to think went wrong?
- paulcole 7y ago
  If I have a $500,000 golden ticket that I’ve built my entire identity and life around, I’m not going to trust some random ticket agent who’s just trying to get me off the phone.
  - naikrovek 7y ago
    He didn't deal with random ticket agents. Lifetime pass holders call a dedicated number just for them. Those answering knew who he was and he knew them by name.
    - tomnipotent 7y ago
      If you have the American Express Black Card, sure. These customers were handled by the standard Executive Platinum team.
      - atdrummond 7y ago
        Are you sure? I've been AirPass before and we book through different agents. Same when ConciergeKey wasn't a published benefit.
      - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
        Per the article, he very much knew all the personnel by name, to the point of sending them gifts and calling his "friends" to talk about anything and everything when feeling depressed.
  - listenallyall 7y ago
    He didn't place his trust in ticket agents (though his were far from random). He had a handwritten letter from CEO Robert Crandall: "I am delighted that you’ve enjoyed your AAirpass investment — you can count on us to keep the Company solid, and to honor the deal, far into the future."
    - paulcole 7y ago
      The CEO wrote him a letter saying, “Sure, go ahead and book an empty seat for your suitcase under the name Bag Rothstein”? Because if not, it sure sounds like he put his trust in ticket agents.
      - Aeolun 7y ago
        I mean, I wouldn’t trust a ticket agent to manage my finances, but you kind of have to assume they know how to do the one thing they were hired to.
        paulcole 7y ago
        Just different risk tolerances I guess. If I had spent $500k on something that could be worth $10+ million, I wouldn't take a risk based on the word of a front-desk person. My belief is that this guy truly knew he was in the wrong and did it anyway because he thought he could get away with it. Classic rich guy move that came back to bite him.
        zrobotics 7y ago
        Aside from the booking staff, who could he reasonably have expected to advise him? The only people who could actually say if AA considered this behavior abusive would be members of the airline's legal staff of senior management. Any other attorney or other form of advisor can't possibly definitely state what AA would consider abuse. These aren't random front-desk booking agents, they're high up enough in the chain of command to deal with customers like the unlimited pass holders. Who else could he have trusted to tell him if the behavior would constitute fraud in America's opinion?

Aeolun 7y ago

If I ask airline personnel to book me an empty seat on my free ticket and they say ‘sure sir, no problem!’ what exactly am I supposed to think went wrong?

paulcole 7y ago
If I have a $500,000 golden ticket that I’ve built my entire identity and life around, I’m not going to trust some random ticket agent who’s just trying to get me off the phone.
- naikrovek 7y ago
  He didn't deal with random ticket agents. Lifetime pass holders call a dedicated number just for them. Those answering knew who he was and he knew them by name.
  - tomnipotent 7y ago
    If you have the American Express Black Card, sure. These customers were handled by the standard Executive Platinum team.
    - atdrummond 7y ago
      Are you sure? I've been AirPass before and we book through different agents. Same when ConciergeKey wasn't a published benefit.
    - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
      Per the article, he very much knew all the personnel by name, to the point of sending them gifts and calling his "friends" to talk about anything and everything when feeling depressed.
- listenallyall 7y ago
  He didn't place his trust in ticket agents (though his were far from random). He had a handwritten letter from CEO Robert Crandall: "I am delighted that you’ve enjoyed your AAirpass investment — you can count on us to keep the Company solid, and to honor the deal, far into the future."
  - paulcole 7y ago
    The CEO wrote him a letter saying, “Sure, go ahead and book an empty seat for your suitcase under the name Bag Rothstein”? Because if not, it sure sounds like he put his trust in ticket agents.
    - Aeolun 7y ago
      I mean, I wouldn’t trust a ticket agent to manage my finances, but you kind of have to assume they know how to do the one thing they were hired to.
      - paulcole 7y ago
        Just different risk tolerances I guess. If I had spent $500k on something that could be worth $10+ million, I wouldn't take a risk based on the word of a front-desk person. My belief is that this guy truly knew he was in the wrong and did it anyway because he thought he could get away with it. Classic rich guy move that came back to bite him.
        zrobotics 7y ago
        Aside from the booking staff, who could he reasonably have expected to advise him? The only people who could actually say if AA considered this behavior abusive would be members of the airline's legal staff of senior management. Any other attorney or other form of advisor can't possibly definitely state what AA would consider abuse. These aren't random front-desk booking agents, they're high up enough in the chain of command to deal with customers like the unlimited pass holders. Who else could he have trusted to tell him if the behavior would constitute fraud in America's opinion?