So, why is this behavior taking place? Well, surely there is some onus on the part of the rude traveler – and believe me, I have seen many. Sometimes I can understand given the number of hoops we have to go through as travellers. But as Ellen Simonetti, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant who writes the Queen of the Sky blog, says it’s easy to understand why ticket agents resort to these tactics. There’s a sense of powerlessness in the ranks of ticket agents, and these tricks are often their only effective outlet for their frustrations. “It’s a really crummy job,” she says. “So I guess they have to get their revenge once in a while.”

Moral of the story…. be nice