It’s always nice to be treated nice. But with many airlines (especially US domestic ones) fighting a penny-pinching race to the bottom even before the pandemic hit, many customers are now likely to continue to be shocked by the scoldings they receive and terse exchanges they are going to continue to have with underpaid and underappreciated flight attendants as monetary issues persist into 2021 and beyond.
There is, however, a way to ensure you get special treatment from these angels of the sky. And it starts with not thinking of them as angels of the sky (see: ‘No Coddle Zone’: Flight Attendant Rant Every Man Needs To Hear). Beyond that, there is another genius tactic that flight attendant Kat Kamalani recently shared on TikTok, which she claims will get you special treatment from the whole crew.
“If you do this one simple thing on an aircraft, I promise you [that] you will get royal treatment from the flight attendants,” Kamalani says. [Watch below]
“Being a flight attendant is exhausting. You’re always in different time zones, waking up crazy hours, dealing with angry customers, so I promise you next time you fly [if] you want special treatment from the flight attendants this is all you have to do…”
“$5 Starbucks gift cards. It means the world to us when a customer gives us this and if you don’t have gift cards you can just pick up some candy bars, lip balm, anything and give them to your flight attendants.”
“We will know where you’re sitting, we’ll know what you look like and the whole crew will make sure you are taken care of.”
This tip sparked quite a debate among Kamalani’s followers. Some thought it was genius, writing comments like, “I always give them donuts!!! They treat me so nice lol” and “I’ve gotten free drinks for being polite… it’s so rare these days that they appreciate it. Has happened to me on Delta and Jet Blue.”
Many others, however, took issue with it, writing comments like the following:
“Bribe the attendants if you want to be treated like a human.”
“I said that to my roommate upon boarding and the flight attendant was SO RUDE. She’s like we don’t want candy and gifts.”
“But they’re supposed to take care of EVERYONE equally. That’s their job.”
“Just do your job seriously,” wrote another.
Further users got into a discussion that sounds remarkably similar to the one we’ve heard a million times about the tipping system (in restaurants) in the United States.
“Too bad it’s not included in the price of the already expensive ticket.”
“So America.”
Finally, another contingent of the audience asked why, exactly, people want special treatment from flight attendants.
“What is it that you need so much during a flight that you need to go out of your way to bring gifts?” one wrote. “All I do is read a book, drink water and sleep.”
One user reposted to this, writing: “more refills, free food, /alcohol check on me more often.”
Our response to this is that you should be able to expect a decent baseline of treatment from flight attendants – that goes without saying – but Kamalani’s tip is for if you want to be lavished with that little bit extra attention – refills and so forth.
Kamalani has also, on previous occasions, shared how not to annoy flight attendants, explaining that hitting the call button during takeoff and landing is infuriating (unless it’s an emergency) and will have you marked out as a pain in the behind ASAP.
To learn more about flight etiquette and the latest industry news, check out our Travel vertical.