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Six habits of first class “business elites”, according to one cabin attendant

ロケットニュース24 Oct 8, 2014
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If you’re like us here at RocketNews24, you probably don’t spend a lot of time sitting in first class on airplanes. The cabin attendants always seem so grumpy when they have to come around with brooms and shoo us to the back of the plane where our seats are.

Aside from the legroom and complimentary champagne (or whatever first class fliers get), there is one other big difference between sitting at the front and in the back in economy: Your fellow passengers. Now, don’t get us wrong, everyone cramped in the back with us is great…but have you ever wondered what those fancy-shmancy passengers are like? Well, wonder no more! A Japanese cabin attendant has dished on the top six things she’s noticed about the wealthier passengers. And none of them are what you might be expecting.

Wikipedia (Altiar78)

Appearing in President Online, the digital version of a magazine for Japanese businesspeople, the article is written by a cabin attendant who goes by the name Akiko Mitsuki. She listed six things that she’s noticed about the “business elite” who fly first class. It’s not quite the seven habits of highly effective people, but it might give you a glimpse into how the super wealthy do things. Emulation probably won’t help you get rich over night, but who knows?? (If it works, we’ll happily accept a 10 percent life coach fee.)

Their shoes are always sparklingly clean.

They never hang their jackets over the backs of their seats.

Their white button shirts always look super clean.

They have good posture.

They usually carry simple folding wallets.

They rarely (or never) wear anything with visible name brands.

Hmm…well, we don’t wear name brand clothes too often either, so we’re at least one sixth of the way to becoming rich!

▼And as you’re about to learn, an empty wallet is the best wallet! Kind of…

Gadgetsin

Aside from her list, Akiko also shared her thoughts on the wallets, shoes, and jackets of the business elite she serves in first class. Starting with wallets, the cabin attendant notes that you’ll almost never see someone in first class pull out a large, ostentatious wallet emblazoned with a name of a famous designer. You’ll also probably find that most of the VIP passengers have ultra-slim wallets–they aren’t stuffed with cash, business cards, or point cards. While paying for everything with a credit card isn’t the greatest idea if you have a problem with making your monthly payments, we suppose they’re the way to go if you own the credit card company.

Akiko also mentions a few of her observations regarding business and economy classes. While we’re all familiar with economy class, it seems that business class is closer to what we might imagine first class passengers are like. That’s where you’ll find the gorgeous, extravagant wallets and name brands plastered over every inch. According to the cabin attendant, the difference seems to be that people flying in business class are overly concerned with looking important and successful–and the people riding in first class are just concerned with what’s effective.

▼And if you can’t see their wallet, you can always judge someone by their shoes…

Wikipedia (Sobebunny)

That said, Akiko makes special mention of the shoes she sees in first class. Not only are they all shined to the point that they glimmer, but she points out that they’re generally well taken care of and not just in terms of looks. After changing into the complimentary slippers (wait, they have those on airplanes??), most first class fliers will neatly tuck their shoes out of the way. Akiko adds that, while many might think this is simply customary for Japanese folks, that’s not the case if you head towards the back of the plane. We might argue that it’s a matter of room–where are you supposed to put your shoes but in the aisle in economy class? However, the cabin attendant also points out that you can find a party of businesspeople out for a nomikai just by looking at the mess of shoes in a restaurant’s entrance.

▼Or how neatly they fold their jacket.

Wikipedia (Paul Goyette)

The final point that Akiko emphasizes is the way the business elite in first class handle their jackets. Instead of throwing them over the seat, she says that such passengers will carefully fold and then hand them to the cabin attendants to be hung up. Obviously, this is something that those of us in economy class can’t do–but for Akiko, this does underline a certain regard for ones belongings that she doesn’t see in people riding in business class or economy class.

So, what does all this mean? Well, we’re not sure you can draw any real conclusions here, but based on Akiko’s description, it seems that the “business elite” aren’t particularly concerned with how they look to other people. However, they do take care of their belongings and make an effort to look “nice,” as our grandmothers would put it.

Another way of saying this might be that having lots of bling isn’t a sign of success–having poise is. Whether or not Akiko is right–or even real (after all this could all be the invention of a bored writer at President Online)–we have to admit that there’s a certain appeal to the understated simplicity that she’s describing.

We can’t help thinking that it might do a certain Donald Trump some good to read her comments…

Sources: President Online
All images by Wikipedia (Yamaguchi Yoshiaki) unless otherwise noted.