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Giving gifts to flight attendants

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Tetchytyke

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It seems to be yet another aspect of the absolutely insane US tipping culture that is making its way across the pond.

I think it's because many of the most notable aviation forums and blogs are American, including the likes of FlyerTalk. So the Americans talk about doing it and therefore everyone else starts to think they should be doing it too.

It's a small sample, but the cabin crew I've previously asked about it have said that they assume anyone doing it is a) trying to get a free upgrade, b) trying to pull, or c) both.
 
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Harpo

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With a total of 5 hours delay arriving back in the UK on my last 3 flights, I’d be tempted to give the next crew a piece of paper with the time I’m expecting to land written on it. :lol:
 

Sealink

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I used to do this and if flying in Y usually got a few treats (but that's not the reason to do it.)

My brother did on a transatlantic flight in economy, and half way through the flight him and his wife were invited to sit in business class for the duration where they enjoyed a meal. He has had free drinks on easyJet, BA etc. Nothing on Ryanair (understandable!), but as I say, don't do it because you'll get something, do it if you think it's a nice thing to do.
I work in a public facing office and people bring us in biscuits and chocolates etc. so I view it as similar.
 

Towers

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I used to do this and if flying in Y usually got a few treats (but that's not the reason to do it.)

My brother did on a transatlantic flight in economy, and half way through the flight him and his wife were invited to sit in business class for the duration where they enjoyed a meal. He has had free drinks on easyJet, BA etc. Nothing on Ryanair (understandable!), but as I say, don't do it because you'll get something, do it if you think it's a nice thing to do.
I work in a public facing office and people bring us in biscuits and chocolates etc. so I view it as similar.
Do people you’ve never met before just randomly hand you gifts as an opening gambit, though? If so, where do I apply for a job?! :D
 

The exile

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I think it's known as "the oldest profession in the world" ;)
Ah - you mean the urban planner , whose response to the civil engineer’s claim that the creation of the world out of chaos was surely the job of a civil engineer was “But who put the chaos there in the first place” Makes it even older than the one you’re presumably suggesting.
 

Sealink

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Do people you’ve never met before just randomly hand you gifts as an opening gambit, though? If so, where do I apply for a job?! :D

Well, I was just handed some free tickets for an attraction in Devon, so, yes.
I do get your point though, but I think by it's nature, the chances of meeting the same cabin crew are slim. I just thought it was a nice thing to do to brighten someone's day.
I don't give gifts to on-train staff though :D
 

Cloud Strife

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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.

Tegel used to be like that too. I liked it a lot, because you didn't have to suffer the inevitable hordes of annoying passengers airside! I know why this arrangement isn't more commonly used these days, because of the money to be made from a captive audience, but I've always thought that airports would be far more civilised places if border and security checks were only carried out at the gate.

I flew to Valencia in March, and there was one woman on the plane who was already quite drunk at 6am. She wasn't a pain, but again, it was still remarkable that no-one picked up on the fact that she was blind drunk at 6am in the morning. She ended up getting threatened with being tied down to the seat if she didn't behave after deciding in her drunken state to try and sleep over two other passengers!
 

zero

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Tegel used to be like that too. I liked it a lot, because you didn't have to suffer the inevitable hordes of annoying passengers airside! I know why this arrangement isn't more commonly used these days, because of the money to be made from a captive audience, but I've always thought that airports would be far more civilised places if border and security checks were only carried out at the gate.

It also means everyone has to do security again even when they have arrived from a "secure" origin. And makes staffing harder to manage as they have to move between gates and/or do nothing for a while between flights that are close together.

Singapore (except for T4) also has security at gate and they are able to make money from a captive audience.

Tegel (A and B gates. C gates had centralised security) was ok when it worked, but a big problem was that they should only have let passengers go through security when their flight was next. One time I saw a long queue to enter the gate so I went to the toilet and came back, but it turned out everyone in the queue was for the subsequent flight; they had been wanting to close my flight for 10 minutes (though I wasn't late so they still waited).

Another time my flight was delayed but they continued letting passengers for the next flight in even when no space remained in the holding pen. When my flight was called it was complete chaos as pax on both flights attempted to board and everyone had to crawl over each other.
 

Egg Centric

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It also means everyone has to do security again even when they have arrived from a "secure" origin. And makes staffing harder to manage as they have to move between gates and/or do nothing for a while between flights that are close together.

A lot of my long haul is in Africa and tbh this happens almost everywhere there anyway so I'm used to it.

In the end I have not made the cards for other passengers. It was going to be unreasonably expensive if done consistently enough to test the impact. And I also won't try the original plan of giving flight attendants stuff - I'm glad that enough forum members have reminded me (indirectly) I'm a cynical northerner who doesn't do that sort of thing.

I may however do a mini trip report here as I am still very trepedatious about it. It's surprising how limited toddler trip reports are (not here specifically but the web in general) perhaps cause of how much they change week in week out, and baby centric is at an awkward age (19/20 months, walking/running/climbing/counting, can verbalise stuff a bit idk maybe 100 words vocabulary but at same time you're not going to carry out a reasoned 1 on 1 conversation with her). So it may help others out.
 

zero

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A lot of my long haul is in Africa and tbh this happens almost everywhere there anyway so I'm used to it.

In the end I have not made the cards for other passengers. It was going to be unreasonably expensive if done consistently enough to test the impact. And I also won't try the original plan of giving flight attendants stuff - I'm glad that enough forum members have reminded me (indirectly) I'm a cynical northerner who doesn't do that sort of thing.

I may however do a mini trip report here as I am still very trepedatious about it. It's surprising how limited toddler trip reports are (not here specifically but the web in general) perhaps cause of how much they change week in week out, and baby centric is at an awkward age (19/20 months, walking/running/climbing/counting, can verbalise stuff a bit idk maybe 100 words vocabulary but at same time you're not going to carry out a reasoned 1 on 1 conversation with her). So it may help others out.
Security with a toddler is harder! Though in Europe you can usually use the family lane (but not if there's a single scanner at individual gates).

My son was 20 months during covid so we avoided that awkward age. We flew when he was 5 months old (relatively easy) and the next time was 3y3m. We borrowed a library book which showed the process of going through the airport and did some role play which helped. Watching youtube videos of airports did not help.
 

Tetchytyke

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I may however do a mini trip report here as I am still very trepedatious about it. It's surprising how limited toddler trip reports are (not here specifically but the web in general) perhaps cause of how much they change week in week out, and baby centric is at an awkward age (19/20 months, walking/running/climbing/counting, can verbalise stuff a bit idk maybe 100 words vocabulary but at same time you're not going to carry out a reasoned 1 on 1 conversation with her). So it may help others out.
I'll definitely be interested to hear how you get on!

My experience is very much that airport security and cabin crew are delighted to engage with toddlers. My eldest is 15 now but I remember Lufthansa crew in particular fussing over her. I still have the stuffed Boeing 747 toy they gave her somewhere.

My youngest is 7 and so we missed the height of toddlerdom with her; she was still a baby before Covid and was 3 before we started flying again. But even at 3 she was engaged with by cabin crew (Loganair crew basically shovelling Tunnocks wafers into her) and airport security were fine with us, always getting funnelled into the fast lane without even having to ask. Even at passport control they lifted the tensa-barriers so we could cut the queue and we were cheerfully waved at by the border guards at Ibiza.

Long haul, I wasn't travelling with my eldest but I remember how much the stewardesses on Emirates fussed over the littlies. Letting them try on their hats, taking photos using Polaroids, that sort of thing.
 

61653 HTAFC

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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!
That's just yet another example of those rebellious colonials abusing the English language. It should be "ensure" not "insure"!

I'd put people who bring gifts to cabin crew in the same category as those who applaud when the plane lands.
 

Chester1

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I flew to Valencia in March, and there was one woman on the plane who was already quite drunk at 6am. She wasn't a pain, but again, it was still remarkable that no-one picked up on the fact that she was blind drunk at 6am in the morning. She ended up getting threatened with being tied down to the seat if she didn't behave after deciding in her drunken state to try and sleep over two other passengers!

Flight phobia is ussually the reason stated for getting drunk before a flight but its no excuse. Most GPs will give prescriptions for tranquilisers to people scared of flying. I know people who do this and they are pleasantly tired on flights rather than blind drunk. Flight attendants have a harder job than most people give them credit for.
 

Tetchytyke

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Surely you mean that she still has the stuffed Boeing 747 toy…. ;)
I said what I said :E

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Flight phobia is ussually the reason stated for getting drunk before a flight but its no excuse.
I'm not sure it is. I think it's that people going on holiday get the party started early and, because it's 6am and they're still half asleep and they've not eaten, they get paralytic in a very short space of time.

The bar staff in the airport should be refusing service and the gate staff in the airport should be refusing boarding. But both of those roles are usually paid little more than minimum wage and so they, understandably, take the path of least resistance and do nothing.
 

Cloud Strife

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The bar staff in the airport should be refusing service and the gate staff in the airport should be refusing boarding. But both of those roles are usually paid little more than minimum wage and so they, understandably, take the path of least resistance and do nothing.

I wouldn't blame the bar staff in airports, because it's nothing uncommon to see people buying and drinking booze directly from duty free too. But the gate staff should be empowered to breathalyse passengers and deny them boarding if they're clearly far too drunk to be flying. I did see it once, but only because the idiot drew attention to himself by making a rather sexist and chauvinistic comment to the lady at the gate, who turned round and told him to sit down and he would be called last. He obviously started ranting, and that was enough to deny him boarding.

Flight attendants have a harder job than most people give them credit for.

I think it's a surprisingly difficult job, especially on flights known to attract drinkers.

My experience is very much that airport security and cabin crew are delighted to engage with toddlers.

Oh they definitely are. One member of the gate staff in Podgorica took my 3 year old for a walk around the airport when the flight was delayed, even taking him outside to the apron to look to ese if the flight was coming or not. Even now, as he's got a flight log, he's quite routinely invited to come up to the cockpit after landing to have a chat with the pilots. Last time in Edinburgh, the plane was at the end of the day and the captain stayed chatting with him for ages and explaining all sorts of things.

Airport security are almost always fantastic as well. Last month in Valencia, he had some strange looking things in his backpack (shells, stones, wires (!)) and it must have looked incredibly suspicious on the scanner. The bloke at security took him gently aside to inspect his backpack, but the whole thing was done in such a professional and polite way. I didn't even need to be there with him, they had a chat about what he'd stashed in his backpack and left with a high five.

It's the same with flight attendants: they will always have a chat with him about anything and everything. I remember last time we were on the Ryanair Max-8, he went off to the toilets at the rear, and when he didn't come back after 20 minutes, we found him chatting away to the flight attendants. Not a clue what he was doing there, but I can't say I've seen a single negative reaction towards him from flight attendants. On the other hand, I cannot understand people who fly with kids without having things to entertain them. When my son was a toddler, we always had a bag full of stuff to entertain him with, because planes are quite boring for the average 2 year old!

and baby centric is at an awkward age (19/20 months, walking/running/climbing/counting, can verbalise stuff a bit idk maybe 100 words vocabulary but at same time you're not going to carry out a reasoned 1 on 1 conversation with her)

My son's first words were variations on the word "bam". You can imagine the fun it was when flying with him at 18 months and he somehow got it in his head to say "plane bam" a lot :D
 

Egg Centric

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Apart from a couple of tantrums at the airport, going surprisingly well so far a couple of hours into first flight, although she's been asleep since 2 minutes before takeoff so we're on easy mode at present.

(Image shows Baby Centric with bed to herself, due to very quiet flight)
 

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Cloud Strife

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Apart from a couple of tantrums at the airport, going surprisingly well so far a couple of hours into first flight, although she's been asleep since 2 minutes before takeoff so we're on easy mode at present.

Glad to hear it! Keep us updated on how your journey goes with her, it's always nice to read about how airlines treat their youngest passengers!
 

styles

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This isn't really a thing.

I too have seen some people online suggest it, often with the expectation of increasing their chances of an upgrade, but also just for social media views and revenue.

I've lost count of how many flights I've been on and whether it's economy, economy plus, business, or first, I have not once seen somebody gift a flight attendant.

That's not to say it doesn't happen as it absolutely does, but I would posit that it is not as remotely common as some TikTokers would make out.
 

Egg Centric

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A wee update (before me writing things up in some weeks) to say all's going well. Fantastically for us as parents, but annoyingly for me as a future reviewer, she is the star of the show wherever she goes. Not just in business either. She's been in a couple of economy flights too so far and has shamelessly taken advantage of her cuteness to be the queen of them too...
 
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