Do you ever bring a small gift for the crew?
Nov 29, 2015, 12:07 am
#1
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Do you ever bring a small gift for the crew?
I have sometimes brought a box of chocolates for the cabin crew when I travel long haul for Christmas. It is a much appreciated gesture and I was wondering if anyone else have ever done something similar?
Nov 29, 2015, 1:29 am
#3
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No. I don't bring one for the check in staff, security staff, baggage handlers, cleaners, etc either - all of which I am sure do a splendid job over the holidays.
Nov 29, 2015, 1:36 am
#4
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Chocolates? In today's heightened security they could be poisoned for all the crew know. I'd be interested to hear if crew would eat chocolates given to them onboard by a complete stranger?
Nov 29, 2015, 1:54 am
#6
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In my experience they were perfectly happy to eat them during the journey. The chocolates were bought close in time to the flight and still in the sealed container.
Nov 29, 2015, 1:56 am
#7
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On many airlines, bringing a box of chocolates to the crew is well known code from airline staff and staff family on personal travel to thank the working crew for wild onboard upgrades. I personally would prefer to avoid such confusion.
Nov 29, 2015, 2:02 am
#8
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Anyway, my reasoning FWIW is that no one wants to work on Christmas or Boxing Day so a modest box of chocolates is my way of acknowledging that. Others may think differently and I respect that.
Nov 29, 2015, 2:14 am
#10
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There's a little more logic to this- it's at least rewarding good service rather than trying to buy it. You should not have to pre-emptively give a gift to try and buy service. Christmas I guess potentially the only exception, but generally I think this is weird...
Nov 29, 2015, 2:21 am
#11
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There's a little more logic to this- it's at least rewarding good service rather than trying to buy it. You should not have to pre-emptively give a gift to try and buy service. Christmas I guess potentially the only exception, but generally I think this is weird...
Nov 29, 2015, 2:21 am
#12
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I can't speak for other airlines, but this has not been my experience on BA - not that I am airline staff or staff family anyway. No upgrade was ever asked for or even hinted at, and the CSM/CSD never suggested that would be something that could happen. I wasn't after an upgrade. In some of the flights I was in the highest cabin already.
Anyway, my reasoning FWIW is that no one wants to work on Christmas or Boxing Day so a modest box of chocolates is my way of acknowledging that. Others may think differently and I respect that.
Anyway, my reasoning FWIW is that no one wants to work on Christmas or Boxing Day so a modest box of chocolates is my way of acknowledging that. Others may think differently and I respect that.
So on balance I probably wouldn't do it because it doesn't somehow seem fair to favour one employee over another, and 10 boxes of chocolates is starting to get heavy and expensive!
Nov 29, 2015, 2:32 am
#14
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I really like this idea at Christmas. irmster does make a good point though - why not other employees of BA you encounter such as lounge staff or gate agents or indeed cleaners?
So on balance I probably wouldn't do it because it doesn't somehow seem fair to favour one employee over another, and 10 boxes of chocolates is starting to get heavy and expensive!
So on balance I probably wouldn't do it because it doesn't somehow seem fair to favour one employee over another, and 10 boxes of chocolates is starting to get heavy and expensive!
Nov 29, 2015, 2:34 am
#15
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Anyway, my reasoning FWIW is that no one wants to work on Christmas or Boxing Day so a modest box of chocolates is my way of acknowledging that. Others may think differently and I respect that.
It was a Christmas Eve night flight. I brought a small box of mince pies for each of the crew on board, each individually wrapped, and handed the entire bag to the CSD at the beginning of the flight with instructions. I then slept for the whole of the flight (as it was so short), so didn't get any special treatment during the flight either. But a number of the cabin crew did stop by during the descent to say thank you - they seemed genuinely grateful for the gesture.
However, I wouldn't normally do it as a matter of routine; that would smack of bribery, as others have said/hinted.