Giving gifts to flight attendants

[Egg Centric]

I have often seen online an idea along the lines of giving chocolate to your flight attendants before take off.

Being awkward and British I've never actually done this. But I have a concentration of about 12 flights to make in the next month so I'm tempted to give it a go experimentally. Especially since they're almost all with the same airline. Before doing so though I'd like to hear from others how it's gone doing this sort of thing.

There's no intent to score upgrades or anything since I'll be in business anyway and the airline doesn't have first. It's more about having a nice time for all and also getting leeway for my daughter who'll be 20 months old at that point and possibly getting up to things. But also just about everyone having a good time.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Different companies have differing policies regarding gift-acceptance. One of my employing organisations had an absolute zero tolerance; and disciplinary action taken on anyone accepting any type or size of gift.
Chocolate might be awkward for those who are diabetic, or dieting. Also, if not an item sold on that particular airline's aircraft. So I think perhaps enquire via the airline first?

 

[stadler]

Never understood this weird thing of giving gifts to flight attendants when boarding. You do not even know them and have not even had any service or interaction from them but are just giving them a gift straight away. Nobody would do this to staff on a bus or a train. I think giving gifts to flight attendants is mostly an American thing. They are absolutely obsessed with tipping in America so i suppose it is not that surprising over there.

 

[Egg Centric]

Never understood this weird thing of giving gifts to flight attendants when boarding. You do not even know them and have not even had any service or interaction from them but are just giving them a gift straight away. Nobody would do this to staff on a bus or a train. I think giving gifts to flight attendants is mostly an American thing. They are absolutely obsessed with tipping in America so i suppose it is not that surprising over there.

I also don't really understand it intuitively (and don't actually think I've seen it in real life yet) but I've been seeing it suggested online so much it must be becoming a thing. The reason for giving them in advance is admittedly a bit cynical - get better treatment (of whatever kind)! I don't see how that could work if given afterwards.

 

[AlterEgo]

Unless it’s Christmas, it’s at best “very Seventies” and at worst just tacky.

You don’t need to bribe flight attendants into tolerating a passenger who is a toddler; it is their job.

 

[Gloster]

Just give them a genuine ’Thank you’ when you disembark.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Unless it’s Christmas, it’s at best “very Seventies” and at worst just tacky.

You don’t need to bribe flight attendants into tolerating a passenger who is a toddler; it is their job.

100% agree. I've already paid for their in flight service, in the form of the ticket(s).
A passenger offering gifts might even be inferred by a cabin crew member, as flirting or trying it on for the Mile High Club. Although perhaps that's more on Club Med and 18-30....

 

[WestCoast]

I don’t understand the chocolates thing earlier. A lot of suppliers bring donuts and sweets into my work and while it’s a nice gesture, I don’t much care for it since I am trying to avoid eating that stuff during the work week

Being polite and respectful (sounds easy but many don’t bother!) and a heartfelt thank you to the crew on arrival seems far more sincere. You can also give good feedback after to the airline which does tend to get put on record on many airlines.

 

[Egg Centric]

You don’t need to bribe flight attendants into tolerating a passenger who is a toddler; it is their job.

It's more about them as allies against other passengers objecting. I have visions of her either screaming if "detained" (most likely option) or wandering through the entire plane getting in the way (I do intend to try to walk with her to begin with but I think it's going to be very quickly turn out to be impractical). This is the long haul components; the short haul ones are probably going to be better.

I may well be massively overthinking this. I am a pretty frequent flyer (I mean not by your standards - but by 99% of the world) but haven't taken my daughter on a plane before. I've been putting it off until it was absolutely essential due to the pressure differential thing.

Still I do hear the unanimous "wtf are you thinking" from everyone else in this thread. It is basically my own instinctive view. So I do try to square this with all the online suggestions about sweeties for cabin crew and can't. IDK.

 

[zero]

I've been seeing it suggested online so much it must be becoming a thing.

Well nobody is going to suggest not attempting to bribe the flight attendants, since that is the default situation.

And you are probably seeing it where you didn't before because you are looking out for info on flying with a toddler?


I was on a flight where the parents gave out stuff to the passengers. It was a long haul in business. 2 parents and 3 very young kids boarded and I saw the faces on some of the other passengers drop.

After the doors closed the parents went round the business cabin and gave everyone a few chocolates plus a small printed card. The card had a cartoon drawing of the family and said something like "hi, we are X, Y and Z, we will try our best to be quiet but sorry if we can't keep it up the whole flight".

I admired the planning that went into producing those cards given all the extra tasks you have to do when having kids in the first place, much less going on a long flight with them.

The kids were slightly disruptive and did walk/crawl up and down the aisles quite a lot during the flight. However given that they had 'introduced themselves', several of the other pax chose to interact with the kids and parents, rather than just seething quietly.

 

[Egg Centric]

Well nobody is going to suggest not attempting to bribe the flight attendants, since that is the default situation.

And you are probably seeing it where you didn't before because you are looking out for info on flying with a toddler?


I was on a flight where the parents gave out stuff to the passengers. It was a long haul in business. 2 parents and 3 very young kids boarded and I saw the faces on some of the other passengers drop.

After the doors closed the parents went round the business cabin and gave everyone a few chocolates plus a small printed card. The card had a cartoon drawing of the family and said something like "hi, we are X, Y and Z, we will try our best to be quiet but sorry if we can't keep it up the whole flight".

I admired the planning that went into producing those cards given all the extra tasks you have to do when having kids in the first place, much less going on a long flight with them.

The kids were slightly disruptive and did walk/crawl up and down the aisles quite a lot during the flight. However given that they had 'introduced themselves', several of the other pax chose to interact with the kids and parents, rather than just seething quietly.

This is an absolutely fantastic idea, thank you. We will do that.

 

[westv]

I have never heard of giving gifts. Is this a new thing? Please don't tell me it's something they do in the US!

 

[stadler]

I have never heard of giving gifts. Is this a new thing? Please don't tell me it's something they do in the US!

Yes it is mostly a US thing. Just like their ridiculous over the top tipping obsession. Giving gifts to flight attendants has been going on in the US for years.

 

[Segedunum]

Just be a pleasant human being and they'll appreciate that more than anything. I was on a very rowdy Ryanair flight from Dublin to Newcastle a couple of years back when one of the cabin crew ended up slamming herself into a seat in my aisle, having had to intervene with a drunk person as we were barrelling down the runway to take off, so not enough time to get back to her jumpseat.

She looked like she'd just about had enough of everything - I asked if she was okay and we spent a couple of minutes talking, then she went off and continued once it was safe to get up. She returned about 10 minutes later with a kitkat and a "thanks for earlier".

So, in this instance, it was me getting the gift

 

[The exile]

Never understood this weird thing of giving gifts to flight attendants when boarding. You do not even know them and have not even had any service or interaction from them but are just giving them a gift straight away. Nobody would do this to staff on a bus or a train. I think giving gifts to flight attendants is mostly an American thing. They are absolutely obsessed with tipping in America so i suppose it is not that surprising over there.

Looks like blatant bribery / corruption to me. Even at the end of a flight, however well they’ve treated you it’s only been for a matter of hours and it’s their job. OK, if they’ve performed emergency tracheotomy to save your life a small token of appreciation might be in order.

 

[Ediswan]

Just be a pleasant human being and they'll appreciate that more than anything.

That is my plan, after always paying attention to the safety demonstration.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Just be a pleasant human being and they'll appreciate that more than anything.

I remember one flight where a flight attendant had to deal with an obnoxiously drunk passenger who knew his rights and that he wasn't going to get up and out of the exit row seat for anyone, although he hadn't paid for it and it wasn't assigned to him. The flight was due to depart, he wouldn't budge, and you could see that she was torn between delaying the flight or just letting it go. Fortunately, the problem resolved itself by a rather burly bloke getting up and saying "oi, that's my seat", but it really underlined how difficult a job they have with such passengers. The drunk realised that he was in a losing position and went to his proper seat, but it was a shame that she had to deal with such an idiot in the first place.

I spoke to her later in the flight, and she cursed the ground crew for letting such obviously drunk passengers on the plane. The guy was stinking of booze and shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the flight, and I've always thought that airports should be doing random breath tests at the gates to prevent drunk passengers from getting anywhere near the plane.

 

[The exile]

I remember one flight where a flight attendant had to deal with an obnoxiously drunk passenger who knew his rights and that he wasn't going to get up and out of the exit row seat for anyone, although he hadn't paid for it and it wasn't assigned to him. The flight was due to depart, he wouldn't budge, and you could see that she was torn between delaying the flight or just letting it go. Fortunately, the problem resolved itself by a rather burly bloke getting up and saying "oi, that's my seat", but it really underlined how difficult a job they have with such passengers. The drunk realised that he was in a losing position and went to his proper seat, but it was a shame that she had to deal with such an idiot in the first place.

I spoke to her later in the flight, and she cursed the ground crew for letting such obviously drunk passengers on the plane. The guy was stinking of booze and shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the flight, and I've always thought that airports should be doing random breath tests at the gates to prevent drunk passengers from getting anywhere near the plane.

It’s one of the advantages of the arrangement at Prague airport where a police / security / border check (can’t remember which) is only done when you enter the holding area at the departure gate (after which there is of course no further opportunity to get tanked up) Seen people in various states of inebriation not get past that.

 

[Bill57p9]

A colleague of mine regularly gives a small gift of treats to the cabin crew on long haul flights in the hope of getting good treatment - I have certainly witnessed it as setting a pleasant tone and opening them to a bit of conversation (the individual is a bit of an extravert!). The gesture was appreciated.

Personally I don't do this, but always go to the trouble of saying "good morning" (or whatever) with a smile and asking how they are or making some other small talk as I board - some basic good manners and basically being nice to the crew goes a long way to setting the tone and in my experience has always been reciprocated.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ve never seen, nor heard of, giving preflight gifts to cabin crew. Might try it on the Avanti service to Liverpool tomorrow.

What I have found works well for cabin crew is to be nice to them and don’t get in their way.

Also, if you can, bump into some random crew somewhere in the terminal pre flight, get chatting, find out they are on your flight, and then once onboard it’s double drinks all round! (This must be quite rare, but has happened to me twice in the last three years).

 

[Towers]

A colleague of mine regularly gives a small gift of treats to the cabin crew on long haul flights in the hope of getting good treatment - I have certainly witnessed it as setting a pleasant tone and opening them to a bit of conversation (the individual is a bit of an extravert!). The gesture was appreciated.

Personally I don't do this, but always go to the trouble of saying "good morning" (or whatever) with a smile and asking how they are or making some other small talk as I board - some basic good manners and basically being nice to the crew goes a long way to setting the tone and in my experience has always been reciprocated.

What an utterly bizarre thing to do! If anything, randomly handing out unwarranted gifts to staff surely just risks placing them in an awkward situation if they’re then supposed to feel somehow obliged to give you preferential treatment, over and above other customers who’ve paid the same.

It just sounds like feeding the rather grasping culture of the ‘Merican service industry!

 

[Wolfie]

I have never heard of giving gifts. Is this a new thing? Please don't tell me it's something they do in the US!

Often with the hope of a buckshee upgrade..

 

[nlogax]

I have often seen online an idea along the lines of giving chocolate to your flight attendants before take off.

Not something I've seen referenced online or witnessed in person. Tbh I don't understand the point of such a gesture. Surely the best gift cabin crew can receive is that of decently behaved, polite passengers. Makes everyone's lives a little easier

 

[DustyBin]

I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed this, and frankly it seems a little odd!

I do think something along the lines of what @zero mentioned above isn’t actually a bad idea though if you’re genuinely concerned about causing “disruption”.

 

[stuu]

Never heard of this, and asked a friend who used to work as a flight attendant, and she hasn't either, apart from occasionally men being sleazy. Weird idea

 

[ExRes]

Totally ridiculous idea but then why have people always tipped coach and taxi drivers? My opinion has nothing whatsoever to do with nobody ever tipping me when I pulled into the station, 50p per passenger on a packed commuter train and I might have a different outlook though (and a bigger bank balance)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have never heard of giving gifts. Is this a new thing? Please don't tell me it's something they do in the US!

There's this thing in the US that tips should be given in advance, using the backronym "To Insure Prompt Service".

In my book that's a bribe and is extremely unsavoury, and I wouldn't like staff in any company I worked in to be giving individuals better service because of such a thing being given.

Certainly wouldn't do it myself. Depending on the company's rules it could be quite awkward for them. Just be nice and reasonable to them (e.g. not ringing your call bell when they're obviously busy doing other stuff) and say thanks when you get off!

 

[66701GBRF]

Only once have I witnessed someone give gifts (chocolate) to the flight attendants. During the flight he turned out to be a bit of a dic, always bothering them and other passengers (me).

 

[Egg Centric]

Only once have I witnessed someone give gifts (chocolate) to the flight attendants. During the flight he turned out to be a bit of a dic, always bothering them and other passengers (me).

What was he doing?

 

[66701GBRF]

Wanting their attention every 5 minutes even when they were busy. Virgin Atlantic have their Upper Class seats angled towards the isle, he would constantly use my seat to pull himself up, or hang his hand over the back of my seat near my face if he was just sitting forward. When everyone was trying to sleep he lost his phone and was bumping my seat and just generally being disruptive when looking for it. After confirming it wasn't in the seat mechanism it took several cabin crew to tell him to stop and they would look for it when the quiet period was over.