Free Drink from the Captain!
 

Travelling back to Anchorage on Flight 89 last night, but not sitting up front. The FA wanders back with a handful of small cards about the size of gift tags. She asks for me and hands me a card that is printed that it is from the Captain and upon opening a handwritten note that says "good for one free drink on Flight 89" and a thank you signed by the Captain.:)

What a great gesture. Since the cards were nicely printed, this was not some ad hoc thing. Anyone else experience a nice gesture like this?

Glenn

Glenn,

That's pretty cool! Next time we all get together, I'll buy you a beer courtesy of the Anchorage Ramp. :D

I've flown in a certain commercial airline, when in a 12-seater airplane, the captain would bring a small cooler full of sodas, beers, etc. I was a bit surprised, but he said "The beers are for you" - pointing at the passengers :D

JP

Better recognition
 

It certainly was nice of that captain to write those notes and have them distributed to MVPG pax, as the OP has posted. I have noticed that the F/A's in coach have become more mindful of offering MVPG's a free drink on the last five or so flights I have taken this month. One even comped me a picnic pack and I wrote her an Expression of Thanks.

Just as long as it was not a free drink with the Captain on Flight 89. :eek:

:p

I'm not familiar with Flight-89... but I can assure you that I would have made sure that the pilot didn't have a beer with me... At least not until he was on the ground at the gate! :D:D:D

JP

While I can appreciate that you would appreciate this, it bugs me to no end. The company has been very adamant that we are not to comp anything other than one free drink. It's an expression of thanks and is supposed to be offered in conjunction with a "Thank you for flying with us, Mr/s ....." --- We wanted to find a way to recognize our most frequent flyers on board and let them know that, although we couldn't get them into the First Class cabin, we knew they were back there and appreciated them coming with us. Just a way of recognizing these folks when they flew in Coach. Certain FA's took it one step further and started comping anything and everything they could find to give away. Those of us that understand the reason behind this idea and do what the company asks end up looking bad when we tell someone that we aren't allowed to comp the picnic packs, or dig e players.

My initial reaction was that the Captain's "gesture" was the same comp drink Golds are entitled to anyway, a concurrent rather than consecutive offer.

So is this a new benefit that will be done all the time? Is it just for the holidays? Or just when the Captain is feeling happy and joyful?^

Glenn

That's a great point ASFlyer. I've hesitated to send in notes sometimes, since I'm not sure whether the FA might have crossed the line. Recently flying LAS-PDX, I found myself a bit famished after the snack, crackers and that dip stuff. To make matters worse, those dang machines in the waiting area took all my small bills. I quitely asked the FA if she thought they might be able to break a $100 for a picnic pack once they got through coach. She told me she'd take care of it, and then came back with 10 picnic packs and offered them to all the FC passengers. It was a great gesture, but was she supposed to do that? Honestly, it should be SOP. But, I also didn't want to cause the FA any grief, so I kept the story to myself.

On a side note, I was VERY impressed with the picnic pack. I very good amount and variety of food for $5. Just be careful of the sunflower butter, the oil seperates and can be messy when you open it!

By the book is the best policy! If I landed back in C - I don't think even a P Pack would cheer me up! :D

Lets face it - in this world there are the folks who have the F Seat and then there's the ones who don't. The rules allow a little pat on the back / better luck next time to the looser (vis-avis a free alcoholic beverage). If done with a bit of flair by the FA, the MVPG passenger gets a bit of ego stroking - making him the headmaster to rule his immediate underworld!

I'd immagine that the FA's need to be careful of being too nice - a well intentioned 'Appreciation Of Thanks' note with details, could land one out on the wing! ;)

These "Expressions of Thanks" can have unintended consequences -- at least they sometimes did at AA. When an airline employee "bends" the rules for you, please send an "Expression of Thanks" but BE VAGUE in exactly what happened.

Rather than say that the FA gave out free snack boxes, say "xxx, the FC FA on this flight, was very friendly and provided an outstanding level of service. xxx is an example of the reason why I am so loyal to Alaska Airlines. I just wanted to let you know of the excellent service provided by xxx. Thank you very much."

Don't MVPGs get a free drink in Y anyway? So was the captain really bending the rules, assuming he sent a card back to MVPGs only?

I'd guess that it's probably just a marketing tool that pilots are encouraged to do (or this pilot is one who really cares about AS and its passengers, akin to the revered Captain Goodfellow mentioned over on the UA board) to remind MVPGs that they do get a free drink but with a personal touch to inspire loyalty.

Edit: I missed that there were bunches of posts between the last one I read yesterday and formeraa's, so this was already addressed. I'll leave it, though.

I asked for a picnic pack on a recent flight in F and it was delivered without hesitation. My understanding is they are allowed to provide them to F free of charge upon request. Only exception I could see would be if they sold out in Y. But, that doesn't seem to be happening.

I've seen some flights where the picnic packs have gotten real close to selling out but I've not seen an actual sell out. FWIW, my understanding on the picnic packs in FC is that they are available upon request but only after the service has been completed in the MC, and are not to be offered to the group in FC as a 'service'.

With the packs being an item for sale there is, of course, a profit margin involved and on the picnic packs that margin is razor thin. I was informed recently that for every one given away in FC that another 16 have to be sold to make up for it. Read that again please... 16 sales to make up for every single comped picnic pack. It makes sense when you look at the contents of the picnic packs and see the quantity and quality of the items for the price.

This policy has, unfortunately, put the FA group in a very awkward position, especially for those of us who follow the policy as laid out by the company. There are many well meaning FAs who give away the store but it results in me looking like the bad guy... and I'm the one following the procedure! I do know that some sort of offering for FC will be coming soon but for the time being, we're left with the current situation.