Is tipping a flight attendant acceptable?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 25 Jul, 2023
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I have flown many dozens of times, I’m guessing 75 percent domestic, 25 percent international. I’ve tipped maybe 8 to 12 times, so not “usually”. OTOH, I tip when I see a FA working hard and enjoying their job. I have never seen an FA even hesitate about accepting a tip. They have all accepted graciously which tells me it should happen more often.
It wasn’t exactly tipping, but I did this on one trip. It was the holidays (I think Christmas eve and New Years eve), on 4 RJ flights in the US. I handed the FA Starbucks cards on my way off the plane, enough for the entire flight crew. It seemed to be well received. Its not something I do regularly, and not something I’ve seen anyone else do. Employees at the Regional’s are not (in my understanding) well paid.
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Please don’t do this in India. Unlike in most advanced countries where the glamor of air travel has completely worn out, in India air travel is very glamorous and flight crew are treated like celebrities. So much so many of the cabin crew are from well-to-do families and would take serious offense if you were to tip them (out of goodness of your heart, of course).
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I often have some goodies in the carry-on. If the crew is really nice I leave a bag in the rear galley. Factory-sealed, individually wrapped yummies go over quite well (fresh donuts are not too practical). More than once I’ve had an FA come by my seat and say something, the best comment being “We’re going back on Wednesday” – implying they want me to join them.
Another way to get on the crew’s good side is tell other passengers what they can’t. My neighbors were demanding a free meal on short-haul, the FA wasn’t getting anywhere, I jumped in with some rather pointed comments which made seats J and K stop their whining and got me free coffee + snacks with a smile.
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As a flight attendant for years, NO, no one tips flight attendants. Flight attendants are usually paid very well, and in some cases, very very well. They are usually paid per hour in addition to a basic salary and many bonuses for having layovers out of town and other stuff. Tipping them would be considered offensive and an insult in most airlines anyway. Knowing many other flight attendants from many airlines around the world I can assure you that the tipping topic is always a source of amusement when we share stories about that.
If you want an alternative for tipping them, then a commendation letter or if the airline sends a survey after the flight to your email then give some good comments and mention the flight attendant’s name.
Another way of tipping them, is using the magic words and asking less 🙂 This is how flight attendants are tipped.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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