Have you ever felt the euphoria of clearing an airline waitlist and either getting a seat upgrade or a better flight? I certainly have, and it is undeniable that when these magic stars align, it can make you feel like you have just won the lottery. However, a colleague of mine recently shared a “waitlist gone wild” experience he had when flying from New York to Shanghai that left me speechless.
My colleague was on his way to Shanghai for some important meetings and was taking a typical flight route from New York that had a connection through Chicago. Due to bad weather, his flight from Chicago to Shanghai was canceled. He then proceeded to the ticket counter and managed to get the last seat on a flight later that day that would allow him to keep on schedule and make his meetings. The only twist was that this seat was in coach and he would be waitlisted for business class.
