ryan182

Outside meal time or if I'm sleeping on an overnight flight my laptop is on the tray and I'm getting some work done, so now I'm supposed to stop doing my work so someone I'm paying can continue being lazy? No thanks, its not high maintenance to expect the FAs to do their job and I've noticed that nearly every time I ring the bell the FA then does a pass through the cabin and many others take them up on refills/tray removal/whatever. But you think we should have the whole of F or J walking back and forth to the galley so as to not disrupt the FAs chit chat/kindle/people magazine time.

kmersh

While not AA, I was once told on a UNITED 767-200 from JFK-LAX also in F oddly enough, after pushing the Flight Attendant Call Bell that the Call Bell was not to be used for anything other than a major emergency, certainly not for a refill of water (or whatever I was drinking I honestly cannot remember anymore), with the Flight Attendant adding that she lost her best friend in 9/11.

While I certainly felt bad about 9/11 and anybodies loss due to that day or any day for that matter, I failed that day and to this very day to see the relevance to 9/11 and the Flight Attendant Call Bell.

However, with those two incidents in my past, I think twice now a days about pushing the Flight Attendant Call Button. Last AA flight, I did the bathroom and make a request routine only to have the Flight Attendant basically ignore me and say he would get to my refill when he had a chance, I am guessing reading People was more important as I did not see him performing any other duties at the time. In fact 20 minutes later I stopped another Flight Attendant walking forward from coach and she got me my refill.

Radiant Flyer

Agreed... I do notice after I ring the bell others jump in to be served or the FA makes a lap around the cabin. They have always been very pleasant when I ring and ask for a refill, never had someone snap at me.

elitetraveler

Last year JFK-LAS PMAA FAs --

About 45 minutes after breakfast cleared away in F - no refills, etc. -- I ring my call button - FA comes, "Is anything wrong?" with a smile.

Me "No, but can I have a cup of coffee, black please"

FA "I'll be doing another beverage in just a little while" smiles and walks away before I can say anything. My seatmate says, "I don't think you're getting a coffee." We laugh.

About 20 minutes later she comes into the cabin and starts taking drink refill orders.

Gets to our row - FA "What would you like?" with no reference to my previous order. Me - "I'd still would like the coffee I asked for 20 minutes ago." With not even a breath she asks, "How do you take it."

Seemed like a clear message she didn't see any obligation to fufilling requests via the call button.

carlosdca

Seems that this is the experience of several around here. Am I correct to assume this strictly refers to premium cabins?

The only times I have pushed the button has been by mistake (confused light with FA button) and when in economy.
The couple of times I did it, the FA came storming down the aisle, obviously aggravated, turned off the light as she meant it, and then asked "YES???!!!".
In an obviously unfriendly way. This probably happened in economy/ domestic flight.

Never tried in international J, but if I fly on it again and I get no service, I will definitely try this, as OP in post #1 says

HLCinCOU

This thread seems crazy to me, in a way that's kind of characteristic of FT discussions involving FAs. I guess it's probably just a long-tail thing (i.e. we only hear the stories that are wild anomalies, because who tells a story about things being normal) but it seems like folks here have a level of friction with FAs that I can't even imagine.

I press the call button if I would like anything from an FA and it's not convenient to get up and ask. So far 100% of the time that's worked out just fine. Of course I also smile at them and thank them for coming by, and ask politely for whatever it is while saying "you know, no hurry, just when you have a sec." I also try not to hassle them when they're involved in other things. But none of this is strategy (or frankly even tactics). It's just what I would do anyway because, as my grandmother said regularly: "it doesn't cost anything to be nice."

Tangentially related, I always seem to get excellent service from bartenders. This is not that complicated.

carlosdca

You don't say it, but are you implying that the anecdotal bad experiences from some around here are the result of them being rude and having an issue with FAs?

Typical flyertalk

Oh right, you are just saying that you are nice and polite and (probably "therefore") have never encountered appalling service from AA FAs...got that!

ESpen36

I would not use the call button for a drink or other service element. It is rude because it signals to the FAs that I need something urgently, and it interrupts whatever duties they might be carrying out at the time. Instead, I would just stand up (if the seat belt sign and conditions permit) and walk up to the galley to make my request politely.

I would never use the call button except in an urgent/emergency situation. For example: I once used it when a kid sitting next to me vomited explosively and we needed a bunch of paper towels to clean up. I was not able to stand up to get the towels myself because we were on final approach. The FA was happy to help.

My $0.02.

JonNYC

Certainly my reading of it.

!

Radiant Flyer

This has been my experience in premium cabin SFO/JFK, or international.
BUT... for the few times I have sat in coach the Flight Attendants have told me to ring the button if I needed something. They take care of EXPs sitting in coach.

I never have rang the button while I sit in coach, but when I'm in J or F I ring it when ever I please.

ESpen36

Also, ringing the call button can be disruptive to other pax. Whenever I hear it, I always stop what I'm doing and look up to see if it was the Captain turning the seat belt sign on/off. The two "ding" sounds are very similar.

HLCinCOU

Ruh roh, let me clarify a bit here.

I see how you guys (Carlos and Jon) can read my post that way. It's definitely not how I meant it. I don't intend to accuse anybody of being rude or provoking an FA. Certainly some of the behavior described in this thread is eyebrow-raising; an FA claiming the button is only for emergencies strikes me as pretty darn far out of line.

What I'm really trying to get across is simply that being as sweet as you can be to FAs (and all other service professionals!) tends to minimize if not eliminate that sort of problem. Should they be rude and/or unhelpful to people who are behaving neither rudely nor purposefully-sweet? No! Does it still help to be purposefully sweet? I think so.

Does that clear it up? I want to be really direct here that I absolutely don't accuse OP or any other posters in this thread of bad actions.

Hengilas

I use this all the time to request drinks, food, etc. Was even encouraged to do so in QR J, TG J and SK J.

rjw242

I see what you're getting at and in general agree. However, we've definitely seen anecdotes where the mere act of ringing the call button appears to deeply offend certain FAs, in which case it might not be possible to get back on their good side (not to mention needing to "get back on their good side" is uncalled for in the first place).

If your method works on bartenders, though, let me know if you're in SF sometime. We've got the world champs for grumpy "service" out here, so I'm curious how you'd do

HLCinCOU

Ha! Might take you up on that, I get out to the bay a couple/few times a year. Never noticed service was any worse than elsewhere...it's the east coast folks who really pride themselves on their meanness

Your other point is well-taken; if the call button puts an FA on tilt, there's something bad wrong with that FA. I think I'd have a decent chance of getting them past it, but you're certainly right that it's not a good place to start. I haven't ever personally seen that, but I also recognize that even a few hundred flights is still a small sample size.