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Passenger allegedly funds first class upgrade by selling feet pics mid-flight

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Passenger allegedly funds first class upgrade by selling feet pics mid-flight
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A recent incident on an American Airlines flight has sparked curiosity and debate regarding the lengths to which some passengers might go to fund their travel experiences. Reports suggest that a first-class passenger might have paid for their upgrade by selling pictures of their feet during the flight.

Bare feet in the cabin have previously caused discomfort among passengers, sometimes leading to extreme reactions. "A passenger with smelly feet once drove another so nuts that he got stabbed on arrival in the parking lot," one account recalls.

However, the phenomenon extends beyond mere annoyance. Some individuals are photographing their own feet mid-flight, possibly catering to an online market for such images. With high-speed inflight Wi-Fi, these photos can be uploaded and monetized before landing.

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During the pandemic in 2020, as American Airlines faced furloughs, one flight attendant devised a creative solution. She created a course for her colleagues on how to sell feet pictures online for $10. "Apparently not just any feet pictures make money, even on the internet," she noted. "There are well-known poses in the foot fetish community that one must perfect and opportunistic scammers to watch out for."

The economic viability of this niche market remains puzzling to some. "The thing I don’t understand – that I guess is the advice to pay money for – is how do you get people to pay for something that’s probably already everywhere online for free?" questioned one observer.

If true, this passenger appears adept at leveraging this unconventional revenue stream, enough to afford first-class travel on an American Airlines Airbus A320, albeit with seats described as low-end even after more than a decade since the merger with US Airways. Given that American sells upgrades for as little as $40, only a modest audience might be necessary to support such expenditures.

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