Do you give gifts to the crew when flying?

[rapmarks]

A friend told me she always gives gifts to the crew when flying. I asked what she gives, and she said gift cards such as Starbucks, pastries, or socks. I figure there at least five crew members on the plane, and double that if you have a connection. I never knew this was a thing!

 

[Passepartout]

Not me. They have a job to do, and will receive my thanks.

 

[clifffaith]

Not a thing. A personal quirk.

 

[VacationForever]

Not a thing. They are paid well to do their job plus they have nice pension when they retire. They have more than enough food and certainly don't need more pastries. Neither do they need socks. The flight attendants usually wear special kind of compression socks as they are on their feet all day. When off work, they probably wear some designer brand socks. Ask your friend to give socks and money to the needy instead. Airline pilots make more than $200K a year, while flight attendants make about $100K a year. They get a ton of allowances on top of their pay.

 

[joestein]

Absolutely not. Many of them are not even pleasant this days. A couple of years ago, their drink cart was blocking an elderly lady from sitting down after coming back from the bathroom. I politely asked them to move their cart for the elderly lady and the stewardess started to yell at me. The male steward behind her had to calm her down and get her to move the cart.

 

[moonstone]

We have a friend who is a pilot with WestJet and our daughter-in-law's sister is a senior flight attendant (she has a different title) for Porter Air in Toronto. Both have said that they occasionally receive gifts from flyers. Often it is a coffee from Starbucks or other fancy shop that the flyer thinks will be better than the coffee served on the plane. Both say they never drink it because they dont know what is in it and, although the chances are remote, they cant take a chance on a foreign substance being in it. Our pilot buddy has received a few lapel pins from other countries that he has flown into or out of which he takes home to his boys. They each have received gift cards for Tim Hortons (a Canadian coffee chain) or other business which they do use but as previously mentioned it isn't needed as they make a good salary and are often embarrassed at accepting gifts.

I think a smile and a thanks when exiting the plane is good enough.


~Diane

 

[HedonisticEpicurean]

I have seen on a couple of occasions NRSA (airline employees traveling for free) give gifts such as a box of candies to the crew or the gate agent. Humm, perhaps slight bribery to get upgraded? I'm sure it was only people being nice.

My first thought on seeing candies or chocolates is that someone could easily put something bad in the candies with evil intent. Second thought is why didn't they bring enough to share with all of us.

I'm not sure how long it will take to get the image of bringing on board socks to give to the crew. Perhaps flying to Duluth an extra pair of socks would come in handy.

Just saw the comment above after posting. I would think the airline would tell them to never drink or eat anything given to them by a passenger.

 

[Cornell]

My gift to the crew is boarding & getting settled quickly. Following the rules. Being polite.

 

[Cornell]

Many of them are not even pleasant this days

Could not agree more with this.

 

[DaveNV]

I wouldn't think of doing anything extra for a flight attendant I didn't know personally, beyond being friendly and cooperative. And I think it'd be weird for the flight attendant to accept gifts from strange passengers. I tend to agree with Joe Stein's comment.

Indifference and insolence in a service-related job deserves no reward.

Dave

 

[HedonisticEpicurean]

Dave - Indifference and insolence in a service-related job deserves no reward.
Joe - Many of them are not even pleasant this days.

Dave and Joe are right on. It is sad to agree with the comments but they are correct. It is even sadder that so many of us customers feel this way.

If I'm flying first class, business class, or coach on any domestic airline I feel lucky if they smile and don't act annoyed and angry.

On long flights they begrudgingly do one service and then rush to sit down and play their online game or read. Those that don't do either join in gossiping and bashing of the airline they are working for while in the galley exposed to the nearby rows of customers.

I'm a firm believer that the attitude starts at the CEO level and filters down to the front line employee. Look at American's CEO. Perfect example of a boss who is neither a leader nor customer focused.

For the very rare few that give good customer service I go out of my way to thank them and acknowledge their customer focus.

 

[Timeshare Von]

WOW . . . who started this "entitlement" thinking? I would NEVER gift a flight crew for doing their job.

 

[easyrider]

Nope. It's never crossed my mind to tip the flight crew. I thought it was just us that noticed an uptight demeanor regarding some flight attendants. Maybe over worked, idk.

Bill

 

[stmartinfan]

We have rarely encountered any surly flight attendants, but fly only for vacations these days. I certainly have read a lot about passengers becoming increasingly belligerent and entitled, some of which seems to be a carry over from the days when flight attendants had to enforce rules about mask wearing. Given the behaviors they have to deal with, I can see why some attendants aren't as warm and cheerful as they used to be!

 

[Luanne]

No, hadn't even thought of it.

 

[davidvel]

We have rarely encountered any surly flight attendants, but fly only for vacations these days. I certainly have read a lot about passengers becoming increasingly belligerent and entitled, some of which seems to be a carry over from the days when flight attendants had to enforce rules about mask wearing. Given the behaviors they have to deal with, I can see why some attendants aren't as warm and cheerful as they used to be!

I wholeheartedly agree. Any real or perceived sourness of crews can directly be shown to have occurred with the uptick in ahole passengers that feel rules don't apply to them, including their seat assignment. We see it everywhere, on the roads, in restaurants, not just air travel.

 

[Luvtoride]

A friend told me she always gives gifts to the crew when flying. I asked what she gives, and she said gift cards such as Starbucks, pastries, or socks. I figure there at least five crew members on the plane, and double that if you have a connection. I never knew this was a thing!

WHY??

 

[am1]

My parents did it for the first time coming and going last week. Air transat out of Pearson. Box of chocolates. Apparently treated quite well after. If be offered airplane food and headphones for free is considered being treated well. lol

 

[melissy123]

We had a 14 hour flight from LAX to Sydney. We were in economy, window and aisle seats, with an empty seat in between us. Seat would have stayed empty except for an earlier cancelled flight, so lots of stand-by passengers were added on. I asked the flight attendant if she could keep our middle seat empty because of DH's long legs. She was able to keep the middle seat empty. We had some packages of unopened chocolates with us. I was happy to gift one box to the flight attendant!

 

[WinniWoman]

A friend told me she always gives gifts to the crew when flying. I asked what she gives, and she said gift cards such as Starbucks, pastries, or socks. I figure there at least five crew members on the plane, and double that if you have a connection. I never knew this was a thing!

Nope. Gosh- the cost of flying these days is nuts as it is.

The only person I tip is the wheelchair person.

 

[Jan M.]

Nope. Gosh- the cost of flying these days is nuts as it is.

The only person I tip is the wheelchair person.

How much do you tip the wheelchair attendant if they just get you to the gate?

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I have not provided gifts or tips. I have verbally expressed thanks or other comments of appreciation. I would never provide a physical gift, like food or coffee. But If was going to provide a gift /bribe for better service it would be Starbucks gift card or similar.

 

[Luanne]

How much do you tip the wheelchair attendant if the just get you to the gate?

I would tip at least $5.00. But on the way out we've had them help with luggage, and wait by the curb until our driver came. In that case would tip more.

Found this:

I tip $5 at our local airport, where distances aren't great. For international connections, $5 to $10 depending on how long the lines are. Last April I gave the attendant $20--we were stuck in an Immigration line for over an hour, and then we had to travel two more terminals to get to our ongoing flight.

 

[WinniWoman]

How much do you tip the wheelchair attendant if they just get you to the gate?

It depends how far it is or if to the baggage claim, etc. and if they do exceptional service like helping with putting stuff through TSA, etc.

Yesterday the person wheeling me took me all the way to our car in the parking garage. Needless to say it was far!

But generally I go by what Collette recommended when I went on their tour last year and that was something like $2-$5.

But for extra assistance I’d go for $10+ even.

On the other hand I had one guy yesterday wheel me from the plane to the arrival gate - which I really could have walked that- and then tell me he has to go back to the plane and get more people. I have no clue what that meant. I mean- he could only wheel one person at a time.

Instead of waiting I decided to walk it because someone told me it was just a 10 minute walk. No tip for him.

 

[DeniseM]

I think it IS a thing - I have seen passengers give out chocolate bars to the airline staff as they board the plane on more than one occasion. The staff seemed to be quite pleased to receive the candy - I did not watch to see if they ate it or not.