A flight attendant has spilled the beans about a an insider tip to get preferential treatment on board your next plane journey.
Utah-based mom and influencer Cierra Mist, who has over three million TikTok followers, recently uploaded a video captioned “flight attendant travel hack that works every time,” where she explains the best way to charm the cabin crew.
Flight attendants, like everyone else, love to feel appreciated at work and they deserve a little treat, too. After all, they have an important role and show a great deal of patience – even towards difficult or even drunk passengers.
In Cierra Mist’s video, she says that the best way to get perks like upgrades or free unlimited drinks on a flight is to tip the cabin crew with a gift card as a present.
She goes on to explain in more detail that “if you want the special treatment, bring us a gift card. Doesn’t matter if its a five dollar, ten dollar, hundred dollar or even one dollar gift card, we’re not going to find out on that flight anyway. Just bring us a gift card.”
The reason for this, she says, is that flight attendants are underpaid.
“The things that we do for passengers who bring us the silliest little gifts and quirky s**t. Anything that gives us a sliver of joy in our lives, because we are peasants… scavenging peasants.
“I know there’s some little pesky employee who takes his job way too seriously that’s probably gonna send this to HR as an example of what people shouldn’t do.
“Don’t claim any of those tips,” she says, mimicking the imaginary, finger-wagging jobsworth employee, “Don’t listen to her!”
“Hey guess what, nobody likes you,” she continues. “Not even your own company likes you… I digress. Anyway, give your flight attendant a gift or a gift card and then watch the magic strings that she’ll pull for you.”
This isn’t the only piece of advice from Cierra that has gone viral lately.
She previously divulged “flight attendant secrets you need to know,” so you can sidestep blunders during your journey. In it, the first thing she strongly advises against is “using the toilet paper” when you visit the loo on an aircraft.
The gift card video has had thousands of views and nearly 300 comments so far, with many people suggesting the best gifts to offer your flight attendant.
One woman wrote: “I usually bring pastries from Boston’s North End.” Another regular flyer said, “I buy $10 Starbucks gift cards and hand them out on the way onboard. They love it!”
One particularly selfless passenger said: “I do this no upgrades required. I just know how hard it can be for them.”
However, others commented that they’ve never brought gifts for flight attendants as they thought it was against the rules.
Are passengers allowed to tip cabin crew?
It’s true that cabin crew aren’t encouraged to accept cash tips from passengers. The debate about whether to tip cabin crew has been rumbling on for some time now. There’s actually no rule against it, but many airlines prefer you not to.
“Tipping is not part of a flight attendant’s compensation for serving as aviation’s first responders,” Sara Nelson, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) international president, said in a statement in August.
She told Travel and Leisure Magazine that accepting cash tips could create an impression that good service means you have to pay extra, which could undermine a flight attendant’s job as a safety officer. By not accepting tips, flight attendants can stay impartial and ensure their focus remains on the safety and comfort of all passengers.
Instead of cash, Nelson suggests you give your flight attendants small gifts as a token of your appreciation, like candies (individually wrapped in their original packaging for safety) or even a Starbucks gift card in a small denomination.
Which, to be fair, sounds like a very small price to pay for a potential seat upgrade, or even a couple of free drinks.
It’s also a nice, easy way to actually show your appreciation for these hard working employees, too, even if they’re not in a position to give you a freebie in return.
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