A woman experienced the life of an A-lister for free when her flight was cancelled and she was accidentally rebooked onto a plane reserved for transporting airline crew. 
 
 Identified only as Beth, the woman posted a selfie of the empty aircraft and uploaded it to Reddit on Tuesday 2 January with the caption: “I got a whole plane to myself when I was accidentally booked on a flight just meant for moving crew.” 
 
 Beth was due to fly from Rochester, New York to Ronald Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C., at around 5pm when the flight was cancelled. 
 
 She said: “When my flight was cancelled about eight hours earlier a confused agent gave me and half the passengers a seat for the plane in the pic before another agent realized everyone could go on an earlier flight. 
 
 “They made an announcement on the speaker but I’d already left to go back to my parent’s house nearby to wait for the next few hours. I was never contacted about the flight change.” 
 
 She didn’t realise she’d be getting the private jet experience until she arrived back at the airport for the 1am flight. 
 
 “I realized something was wrong when I was the only one in the waiting area 45 minutes before take off,” Beth wrote on Reddit. 
 
 “One of the airport agents came over while I was waiting and asked if that was the flight I was waiting for then said, ‘I knew this would happen.’” 
 
 There were just three other people on board – two in the cockpit and one member of cabin crew. 
 
 Pilot films A380 take-off from Heathrow 
 
 As the flight was only an hour long, Beth said she mainly used the time to sleep and didn’t ask for any food or drink. 
 
 “It was a short flight so I didn’t ask for anything,” she said. “Maybe I would’ve gotten special treatment if I tried.” 
 
 The plane was too small for first-class, with just a row of two seats down one side and a row of single seats down the other. 
 
 The crew weren’t too happy about the situation according to Beth: “It seems the airline forced them to take me because of a mistake made by their ticketing agent. They didn’t seem thrilled about it. 
 
 “Both captains and the flight attendant said they’ve never seen this happen before.” 
 
 According to Beth the flight attendant still did the safety demonstration, albeit at “double the speed of the sound recording giving instructions,” and did offer refreshments. ||||| Originally published August 25, 2014 at 2:04 PM | Page modified August 27, 2014 at 5:25 PM 
 
 Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today's packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches. When one passenger was denied that bit of personal space Sunday, it led to a heated argument and the unscheduled landing of their plane, just halfway to its destination. 
 
 NEW YORK — 
 
 Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today's packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches. When one passenger was denied that bit of personal space Sunday, it led to a heated argument and the unscheduled landing of their plane, just halfway to its destination. 
 
 The fight started on a United Airlines flight because one passenger was using the Knee Defender, a $21.95 gadget that attaches to a passenger's tray table and prevents the person in front of them from reclining. 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration leaves it up to individual airlines to set rules about the device. United Airlines said it prohibits use of the device, like all major U.S. airlines. Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air take the reclining mechanisms out of their seats, leaving them permanently upright. 
 
 The dispute on United Flight 1462 from Newark, New Jersey to Denver escalated to the point where the airline decided to divert to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein. 
 
 Chicago Police and TSA officers met the flight, spoke to the passengers -- a man and a woman, both 48 -- and "deemed it a customer service issue," Feinstein said. The TSA would not name the passengers. 
 
 The plane then continued to Denver without them, arriving 1 hour and 38 minutes late, according to the airline's website. 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration can impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 for passengers who are unruly. In this case, no arrest was made, according to airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham. 
 
 The fight started when the male passenger, seated in a middle seat of row 12, used the Knee Defender to stop the woman in front of him from reclining while he was on his laptop, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. 
 
 A flight attendant asked him to remove the device and he refused. The woman then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him, the official says. That's when United decided to land in Chicago. The two passengers were not allowed to continue to Denver. 
 
 Both passengers were sitting in United's Economy Plus section, the part of the plane that has four more inches of legroom than the rest of coach. 
 
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 Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott. 
 
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– Though the number of complaints on Twitter might lead you to believe otherwise, "Flying has never been better." At least according to the industry experts the Outline spoke with, who pointed out that taking to the friendly skies has gotten safer and more on time (arrivals are now punctual about 80% of the time). And while it may not feel like it, it's cheaper, too, at least compared to the early '70s, when price fixing meant a flight from New York to LA was not allowed to cost less than about $1,600 in today's dollars. The Outline's full story works to bust some misconceptions, and Business Insider does something similar. It talks to 80 airline workers—the ones who staff the gates, the planes, the customer service lines—to share the secrets they wish they could share. Here are 5 standouts: Know I'm not being rude when I don't give you a free upgrade: One customer service agent explains "the airline computer system tracks everything, and big brother can be watching us"—and doling out a free upgrade improperly can be a fireable offense. Don't take off your shoes: It might be tempting to wiggle those toes under the seat, but this isn't your house, and that "water" you're stepping on in the bathroom isn't actually water. Don't let those hands wander: If you're tempted to tug at your flight attendant's clothes to get his or her attention as they walk by, just don't. Ever. Keep the number 50 in mind: That's how many passengers are generally served by a single flight attendant. We're not forgetting about you, explains one. We're just dealing with minimal staffing. Know I have to do what the FAA says: That includes saying specific things. Not following the FAA's rules and regulations could cause a flight attendant to be fined. Read the full list, which includes a couple of booze-related insights, here. Or see a viral photo of a "nightmare" passenger who didn't follow one of the tips above.