I’m a flight attendant — here’s how to get free booze, extra legroom onboard

A flight attendant is revealing the secrets to getting freebies and special treatment onboard.

According to Craig Featherby, president of the Flight Attendants’ Association of New Zealand, there are two reasons passengers will be able to get freebies.

If a passenger is celebrating a special occasion — like a birthday — the in-flight crew might do something to make their flight more memorable, he told Stuff.

“Just last week, I went to Brisbane and back and we had somebody celebrate 50 years, so we took two glasses of Champagne from business (class) into economy,” he shared.

Another reason passengers will get better treatment is if they help out during a medical situation while onboard.

For example, Featherby remembered having a woman who lost her baby mid-flight, and when a doctor assisted during the sad moment, Featherby offered him an upgrade.

“I had the seats available, so I moved him into business class, and I told all the other customers in business premier why I was doing that so they knew what was going on,” he shared.

Many airlines actually provide their cabin staff with the tools and authority to make some passengers’ trips extra special.

While it may seem out of the ordinary, Featherby also suggested bribing your crew members if you want to be treated as an important flyer.

Many airlines don’t allow their staff to accept cash or larger gifts, according to Stuff, but Featherby said that passengers who bring their flight attendants small “gestures of kindness” such as chocolate and cards will often be met with a free glass of wine.

And Featherby isn’t the only one who says giving your cabin crew a little something will end up in your favor.

“Bring them chocolate. Bring them candy. It’s a few bucks just to say thanks. I guarantee you’ll get free drinks with that. One hundred percent,” Shawn Kathleen, a retired flight attendant, told SFGate.

Cabin crew are always grateful for cards and small gifts, but they don’t expect any gifts at all — especially in the era of COVID-19, where they’re grateful simply to be back to work.

“They work incredibly hard to get customers to where they need to be, so the best gift customers can give to our crew is to give them a friendly greeting, a big smile and a thank you,” Viv Vincent, Air New Zealand general manager of cabin crew, told Stuff.

Kathleen echoed that, saying that all you have to do to gain the respect of the cabin crew is to be nice.

“One thing I like to tell people, it’s so rudimentary, is just saying, ‘Hello, are you having a good day?’ If you’re acknowledging our existence, I swear to God, you’ll be like George Clooney. That’s the state of affairs up there,” she said.