A passenger was excited to get a free upgrade, then he learned the reason why

Nothing starts a flight off right like a free upgrade to first class, so it’s easy to imagine the excitement of a Southwest Airlines passenger when flight attendants saved him a “VIP seat” on a recent flight.

According to his Reddit post, he was standing in line on the jet bridge when he noticed a pair of flight attendants surveying the waiting passengers. They made eye contact with him, exchanged a quiet word with each other, and then returned to the plane.

When the passenger stepped aboard, a flight attendant greeted him with a smile.

“We’ve saved you the VIP seat in the emergency row,” whispered the flight attendant.

The upgrade came with conditions

The passenger was thrilled. He was 6’6” and 250 lbs, and the extra legroom was greatly appreciated. He made his way back to find a flight attendant blocking his fellow passengers from claiming the seat. When he sat down, he learned there was a catch to the upgrade.

“You’re going to be my ABA for this flight,” said the flight attendant.

The passenger was confused since he was unfamiliar with the term. The flight attendant explained that a large, drunk man and his equally inebriated wife were seated two rows in front of the exit row. They’d been on the previous flight and were disruptive enough to make them nervous, but not disruptive enough to get kicked off the plane.

The rest of the story

It turns out ABA stands for Able-Bodied Assistant. The passenger was hand-selected for the upgrade because the flight attendants wanted him to step in and assist them if the drunk passengers caused trouble.

Thankfully, the flight went smoothly, and intervention wasn’t necessary. The passenger even walked away feeling it was a cool experience. But the next time you’re offered a free upgrade, you may want to ask if there are strings attached.