Occasionally, I had passengers who recognized I had performed beyond company standards to assist them. Dedicated Penn State fans, a family in particular was caught between a rock and a hard place, so to speak, when they checked in for flights from PA to TX to attend a bowl game in 2008. Their plan hit a snag at the connection city where they were advised their flight was cancelled. Unable to obtain a timely rebook with their initial carrier, they searched out another airline for accomodation but there was no ticketing agreement in place for transfer, so they bought new tickets.

When they arrived at the destination city, they checked with the original carrier where services were provided by a contracted staffing company. Having formerly worked for the carrier directly, I knew what their rights were but the staff in place referred them back to their arriving carrier who also refused to assist because they never had the bags in transit at any point.

Their bags eventually showed up on another carrier by courtesy of baggage agreements in place but they would not deliver the bags because the passengers did not travel with them, either.

I retrieved the bags from the carrier two days later and personally delivered them to their hotel which became a challenge due to the bowl game visitation, traffic and parking were awful. However, through perseverence and ingenuity, I delivered their bags.

I came to work one day and a fellow employee presented me an envelope and told me it was from a passenger but she didn't have any details why. I opened the envie to find a Palm Restaurant GC and a thank you note.

I have kept the card for 3 years and finally have a reason myself to express thanks to someone for a kindness offered, as well. The value of the card is $100 and I expect to host a party of three for dinner.

Question: can I expect to cover the tab for three reasonably well and expect to cover the gratuity aside with cash?

Any helpful information is appreciated. Thank you.