There’s all kinds of (mostly bad) advice out there about how to score an upgrade on a flight. One of those tips is to bring gifts for the crew. Well, here’s a rather interesting example of that — I respect the hustle and find the whole thing to be sort of endearing, though the result is what you’d expect.
In this post:
Man spends hundreds on gifts for crew, doesn’t get upgraded
Instagram user parker.seidel has shared a rather amusing saga over the past several months, of trying to score an upgrade by buying gifts for the crew. As he describes it, he’s trying to “bribe” his way into “first class seats” (okay, in fairness, he’s exclusively flying low cost carriers that don’t actually have first class, but they do have premium cabins).
What I respect about him is that he’s doing it with a good attitude and isn’t entitled, but the whole thing is still sort of funny, especially since he tries to up his game each time.
He first tried this several weeks back, on a French Bee flight to Paris. He spent a total of $99.96, buying $75 worth of Starbucks gift cards, a card, candy, chocolate, and a nice gift bag. When he boarded the aircraft, he told the flight attendant at the door “I just want to say, I really appreciate you, this is for you, this for all the flight attendants as well.”
The flight attendant asked him where he was seated, and after takeoff, they ended up bringing him champagne, snacks, other drinks, and even an amenity kit.
Then several weeks later, he flew ZIPAIR to Tokyo. I guess he thought he wasn’t spending enough on gifts, so in this case, he spent a total of $192.34, buying everything from Starbucks gift cards, to chocolate, to candy. He even wrote a long letter to the crew (using ChatGPT), about how he’s grateful for what they do.
Nine hours into the flight, the crew brought him a cup of green tea as a gift (which is quite something on ZIPAIR, since nothing is included, hah). However, he doesn’t drink green tea, so he poured it out. They also gave him a bag of candy and a thank you note.
For the third flight of this saga, he flew Norse Atlantic to Rome. This time around he spent $183.60 on gifts, and he tried to up his game. He created individual gift bags for each flight attendant, and wrote each flight attendant a handwritten note. He even prepared a gift for the gate agents, and tried to dress the part, by wearing something nicer.
As he boarded the aircraft, the flight attendant at the door said “are you with us?” (in other words, do you work for the airline, or perhaps another airline?). This time around he didn’t seem to get anything special.
But he’s determined not to give up, and plans on trying this a fourth time!
Is getting gifts for the crew a good upgrade strategy?
When it comes to questionable advice for scoring an upgrade on a flight, bringing gifts for the crew is probably one of the less-bad ideas. That’s not to say that it’s going to score you an upgrade, but it gives you better odds than some of the other bad advice out there.
With that in mind, a few thoughts on this specific situation:
- In order to be upgraded, there need to actually be empty seats to upgrade someone to, and that’s far from a sure bet
- If you want someone to bend the rules and upgrade you, spending nearly $200 on gifts on a Japanese airline probably isn’t the best investment 😉
- With the amount of money this guy spent on crew gifts, he could’ve probably just outright purchased an upgrade on one of these flights
- Typically when someone brings gifts for the crew, it’s a fellow airline employee, and they tend to look out for one another
- Since the first reel the guy did about this went viral, I assume he spent more on gifts than he would’ve otherwise, and that this is about video content rather than just necessarily doing something nice; for that matter, I suspect him having a mic and his friend filming made the crews a bit more suspicious of his motives
My general take is that bringing gifts for crews is a nice gesture, if you’re doing it out of the kindness of your heart, and if you don’t expect anything in return. If you’re doing it because you’re hoping for an upgrade, that’s just a bribe, and it’s unlikely to be successful.
To be clear, there are certainly situations where passengers identify themselves as airline employees, bring gifts for the crew, and get moved to better seats when the door closes. But it’s far from a sure bet, and it’s usually the combination of gifts and being an airline employee that does the trick.
Bottom line
An Instagram user is on a mission to get a “first class” upgrade by bringing gifts for the crew. Ultimately getting gifts for airline crews is a nice gesture to show appreciation, but if you’re doing it as a bribe to get an upgrade, it’s unlikely to be successful. Regardless, I respect the hustle, so let’s see how the fourth time goes.
What do you make of this upgrade “hack?”
I’m rooting for the guy!
Not sure why people are sh!tting on this guy. Seems obvious he’s doing it for social media purposes and not actually expecting to get upgraded, and there are way more obnoxious things an influencer can do.
If anything, he’s countering all the idiotic influencers giving “1 trick to get free upgrades” advice, and showing how it’s basically a waste of effort and money to dress up and try to bribe people.
LOL! LOL! A sucker is Born .......
This is a *great* strategy to go viral on social media!
Bringing gifts for flight attendants seems like it's getting out of hand.
How many lift balms or Emergen C packets can they use? Or Starbucks gift cards?
Are you trying to get an upgrade? Or free drinks? Or just want attention?
I got upgraded from biz to FC on a BA 747 DFW-LHR for a mere 2 boxes of Texas Turtles bought at the shops at DFW.
I thought French Bee was all Biz Class?
No, FrenchBee is a low cost. They have super squeezed Economy and Premium Economy (slightly better).
You are probably confusing with La Compagnie which is indeed all-Business Class cabin.
Does 3-4-3 on a A350 sound like business class to you ?
I think you're thinking of La Compagnie, another French airline.
Fake video and fake commercial
Whenever I fly BA, I always give the crew a couple of bricks to say thank you.
He should have tried when flying Delta and says he's Tim Dunn.
I have a sure-fire trick to getting a first class seat and it works every time I fly: I purchase a first class ticket! Amazing!
I found this machine in Vegas last month that I put a dollar in and won a prize. So I kept doing it since I was stuck at the airport with nothing else to do. I kept putting $1 and winning over and over. It was amazing. The only problem I had when I was done is I didn’t know what to do with 27 cans of coke.
The world would be a much better place without influencers.
For long-haul I'll often bring a gift they can share, such as chocolate covered espresso beans in a nice package. I give it to them when they come around and introduce themselves. Never expect anything from it, other than a smile, but I've been on many flights where I have had my drinks and such comped.
I have an upcoming flight on Austrian, Vienna-NY. I went into my PNR and had an upgrade offer for just ~$250 (or something around that, can't remember exactly). I couldn't believe it though. All of these videos are extremely cringe worthy - the FA's obviously notice they're being filmed.
Well I would advise him to not try and bribe on low cost airlines LOL
Norse Atlantic, Zipair, and French Bee don't exactly have "First Class". Maybe try a Middle Eastern airline instead.
It's called BRIBERY. It's immoral and usually illegal.
Wow, poured out the green tea? Rude!
Poured it out where? Behind his seat?
My wife is an FA and while FA's appreciate the gifts, you likely won't get anything special other than some thank yous and maybe a free shot of booze if it's domestic or maybe a couple extra biscoff.
I flew LAX-SYD and bought the crew a bag of chocolates. The purser came to thank me, a couple crew did as well. I was already in J so it's not like I wanted an upgrade (and...
My wife is an FA and while FA's appreciate the gifts, you likely won't get anything special other than some thank yous and maybe a free shot of booze if it's domestic or maybe a couple extra biscoff.
I flew LAX-SYD and bought the crew a bag of chocolates. The purser came to thank me, a couple crew did as well. I was already in J so it's not like I wanted an upgrade (and F was full but that's fine) but did it because I was being nice.
FA's don't have the easiest job, but showing a thank you in the form of a small gift is always appreciated. Just don't expect anything special unless you want a lot of biscoff cookies.
I'm a retired management employee from a major U.S. carrier, and last July flew BA First ORD-LHR-DXB on a revenue ticket. At ORD I purchased a box a chocolates for the crew and gave it to the purser after boarding. I wasn't expecting anything in return, I was already in First, but I do this on occasion because I have a soft touch for cabin crews who I acknowledge don't have the easiest job these...
I'm a retired management employee from a major U.S. carrier, and last July flew BA First ORD-LHR-DXB on a revenue ticket. At ORD I purchased a box a chocolates for the crew and gave it to the purser after boarding. I wasn't expecting anything in return, I was already in First, but I do this on occasion because I have a soft touch for cabin crews who I acknowledge don't have the easiest job these days. The crews are always appreciative of the gesture, and once they learn I used to work in the industry we invariably end up talking shop in the galley after dinner. It's a nice diversion on an otherwise long and boring flight, and I glean information on what's currently going on at their airline, so it's a win-win for both of us.
All of you are expecting something. You are expecting great treatment irrespective of the cabin you purchased. Even if you are not, this is still the message being sent and most crew will now think they should treat you differently, because you have now made a connection with them. If you are going to give a gift, give it at the end of the flight.
I often bring small gifts for in-flight crews when flying biz/first, as well as front desk/concierge staffs at five star hotels. Nothing extravagant or “bribey”, usually high end chocolates or some other (sealed) edible treats to share. It’s always appreciated, I receive excellent service and I am always remembered. A little appreciation and grace goes a long way in the hard working, guest-facing travel industry.
It's the quid pro quo angle of this I find problematic. If you are going to give crew a gift, give them at the end of the flight, not at the start. Doing it at the start sends a message, explicit or otherwise, that you expect something in return - as was demonstrated by the different treatment he received as well as one poster mentioning they have been upgraded.
I like to give gifts during the holidays as a way of saying thank you for being with us without getting anything in return. I think about the fact that they can't be with their families for the holidays and I want them to know that I'm thinking about them. Giving gifts for the sole purpose of getting something in return is just tacky.
If you do this in Vegas, I hear you get a suite upgrade with a cocktail waitress of your choice.
lol. The "$20 trick"
What a moron. Most premium cabins are completely full. Where does this imbecile think he's going to sit? Does he actually think a crew member will send a premium passenger back to coach (assuming there are even any open coach seats) for a box of chocolates? These people should just stay out of airports and off airplanes.
Okay boomer! Seriously, if you didn't even get the joke. He's not really expecting to get upgraded, this is just an entertaining video series.
It's indeed a quite common thing to do when working within the industry flying on standby/non-rev. I've done it a few times and have been upgraded as well. This would also work better on American/European airlines compared to Asian/ME3. But doing this on a rev-ticket without any affiliation to the industry is indeed not a great way to try to score an upgrade.
I'm sure he knows that it'd be cheaper long term to just purchase the upgrade outright. But what's the fun in that??
Haha, good luck to him on his journey! Hope he gets the upgrade someday soon.
Since it's being recorded, I'm sure the flight crew didn't want to get in trouble for moving someone to a premium cabin for personal gain, regardless of how little the gift card and candy cost.