Is it acceptable to travel in shorts and sandals?

[sevenwonde]

Help! The friend group is split on this one and it is largely tongue in cheek

We’re off on a girls holiday soon. Half the group thinks it’s fine to travel in shorts and sandals (Birkenstocks), the other half thinks you need to look put together in the airport and dress in a nice outfit (linen, silk trousers etc), in case of an upgrade. They think the nicer you’re dressed the less likely you are to be asked to check your bag at the gate etc.

So, is it acceptable?! They’re not tiny shorts that show my bum cheeks!

I’ve been upgraded several times on Lufthansa when they’ve overbooked economy.

But the idea that you’ve more chance of an upgrade if you are smartly dressed is ludicrous: upgrades go to crew/employees first, followed by frequent flyers with gold status and so on down the list.

Upgrade will almost entirely driven by frequent flyer status, accrued points, etc.

Also without wishing to be alarmist @Fiftyandme makes a valid point re-clothing.

Christ. That’s a bit OTT!

Linen? You'd look like a crumpled messy bag lady at the end of the flight.
I wear things that dont crease and have plenty of room to move in.

The kind of flight you could get upgraded on is not asking anyone to check in bags at the gate.
Upgrades go to passengers with status or solo flyers that they need to move for operational purposes.
They aren’t upgrading a gang of women on a girls
holiday so wear want you want.

😂😂 so funny. Isn’t it self service these days? No one cares what you are wearing.

@SadiraOfTyr

upgrade if you are smartly dressed is ludicrous: upgrades go to crew/employees first, followed by frequent flyers with gold status and so on down the list.

I wouldn't rely on that order for upgrades, certainly not with the airline the OP is flying with...

It wouldn't be a good look to move employees up and then leave Gold card holders crammed in economy....

I have as well. Amusingly, once at boarding where I scanned in just in front of my boss and got a "ping" to tell me I had been upgraded. I started to wonder if I should offer the upgrade to him (it was only a couple of hours - from Germany to Egypt), but, luckily, as he scanned his boarding pass, he got the same "ping".

In terms of clothing, I fly business for anything long haul and, depending on the airline, they give you PJs (or "lounge wear") that they encourage you to wear.

If the Gold card owners have booked economy seats then that probably where they should be.

Your friends sound very innocent. Have you been in business class? Tech bros who look homeless is more the look.

@paulinespecial - The kind of flight you could get upgraded on is not asking anyone to check in bags at the gate.

Not true. I've been on many flights with 2+ classes where, since the flight was full and many people had carry-on, they asked/forced some people to gate check their roll-on cases.

They won’t have room to upgrade a big group anyway. Wear what you want.

It's not completely OTT..

You look at how some folks dress and wonder what state their backsides/legs are going to end up in in the ( highly unlikely etc) event they have to use the slides......

They think the nicer you’re dressed the less likely you are to be asked to check your bag at the gate etc.

These people are delulu. Have they flown much recently?!

Staff who have bought upgrade eligible tickets would certainly be upgraded before frequent flyers who haven't paid for the privilege.

Not really. It happens.

I think people can wear what they feel comfortable in.

Personally, I dress nicely for travel. I mean it wouldn’t be silk trousers. 😂 But I do dress work casual, not like I’m off to Ibiza. That’s a personal choice.

Just saw you are on a BA flight to Mykonos. Yeah you aren’t going to get an upgrade. It’s a fairly small short haul Airbus. They move the curtain according to how many business seats they sell. There are none to be upgraded to. Even if they were you would be last on their upgrade list I’m afraid.

Wear what you’re comfortable travelling in, you won’t be upgraded, and it won’t make a difference to bags checked, wear what you want to travel in

I’m past short wearing age now but travelled long haul frequently in the past.

I would never wear shorts on a plane from a hygiene point of view! Anything and everything has been spilled on those seats and cleaning turn around time is fast. Also they use chemicals to clean.

And personally, I would only wear shoes that were easy and practical to wear and could easily take me down an escape chute.

Always take a light thin wool wrap with me to use as a pillow or a blanket.

I always try and dress smart casual when travelling. Comfort is key. Pack as light as possible!

If you’re flying economy BA from T5 Heathrow, you’ll be using the self service bag drop, so won’t see anyone anyway. If one of your group has BA Executive Club Bronze or higher, they can bag drop at the Business Class desks, but you’ll probably still have to do the self service. So it still won’t matter what you are wearing.

BA do offer paid upgrades on flights, but that’s usually either cash or Club points.

Fair enough. I’m pretty high tier in all the airlines I fly so never been asked!

This^

I've flown from/to Paris CDG this week and there were a lot of bum cheeks on show. Normal shorts and sandals will be absolutely fine.

So am I (and usually in business where they'd never ask) - but I can still see/hear others being asked.

I got upgraded once on a long haul flight from Auckland to Santiago. I was three months in to a year long backpacking trip, and dressed like one. Harem pants, flip flops, you get the picture. I still to this day have no idea why I was upgraded (maybe they needed a solo traveller) but it certainly wasn't because of the way I was dressed!