A guy who said he boards the plane whenever he wants, regardless of his boarding group, has kicked off a hot debate online

19.01.2024 - 15:47 / insider.com

A traveler advised passengers in a viral post to always board first, even if their flight ticket states otherwise — and some people say he's behaving like "gate lice."

Dickie Bush, a writer and online marketer, shared eight lessons he's learned as a frequent flyer in a post on LinkedIn last week. According to Bush's profile, he's based in Miami, has cofounded several writing-based companies, and worked for five years as a portfolio manager at BlackRock. Bush has over 85,000 followers on LinkedIn, regularly sharing career advice.

"I flew more last year than in my prior 10 years combined," Bush wrote in his post. A photo, which appears to have been taken from a business-class seat, accompanied the post. The in-flight entertainment screen in the photo shows a route map from Miami to Munich, and a Macbook screen — alongside a coffee and glass of water — that reads: "Journal on the way to Munich."

In the post, Bush shared several suggestions to travelers, including traveling with only carry-on bags, stretching before getting on board, listening to albums and podcasts on Spotify, and keeping an "airplane journal" on your phone.

"Board in Group 1, no matter your group. 99% of the time they don't say anything. Worst case they tell you to wait, then you're first when they call your actual group," Bush wrote.

Bush's LinkedIn post garnered 508 reactions and 229 comments at the time of writing. But Bush's advice gained more traction on Reddit, where a screenshot of his LinkedIn post was uploaded. The Reddit post garnered 4,200 upvotes and 674 comments at the time of writing.

"Saw this "advice" and comments on LinkedIn - these are the scumbags who ruin things for everyone," one user wrote.

Unlike on LinkedIn, where several people agreed with his suggestion, on Reddit, there was more criticism of Bush's suggestion.

Some noted that Bush fit the description of "gate lice" — the unflattering nickname flight attendants use for people who rush to board first so they can secure overhead space — or cut the line before their turn is called.

"There should be a wraparound lane you have to exit thru to the back of the line if you try this. I wish they would ask me to design the entry to the planes…I would set it up to make gate lice obsolete and punish these fraudulent entitled early boarder attempts," one person wrote.

Another person commented: "Anyone who does this is the worst type of person. If you do this it's similar to parking in a handicap spot it's that bad."

It's not the first time travelers have shared controversial opinions on flying online. In December, people online criticized a mom for being wasteful after sharing that she uses painter's tape to entertain her kids on flights on TikTok. In January, a former