I was flying from lax to las on Fri. 9/17/10 in fc. Shortly after takeoff the fa went around to ask for drink orders, addressing each pax by name (read from her flight manifest). When she went to distribute the orders she had memorized everyone's name[she did not use manifest, now]. On my return from las to lax on 9/19/10, she was also on my flight and recognized me. I asked her about her memory skills and she noted she uses mnemonics to associate pax with their names. She even pronounced names correctly.^

How do you know how the other passengers pronounce their names?

Reminds me of the time when my son, eight or nine at the time, informed me that I was mispronouncing his name.

and

You can call me anything you want just do not call me late for dinner.

I am very good at remembering faces but can not remember a name.

Now having said all the above it seems this topic is not airline specific so will be sending it to TravelBuzz for appreciation by all who fly and participate on FT.

~magic111

For some reason it reminds me of the scene in Planes, Trains and Automobiles in which Steve Martin and John Candy accidentally get on the highway traveling against traffic. When a passenger in another vehicle screams at them that they are going the wrong way, John Candy mocks them, exclaiming, "How do they know where we're going?"

On her first pass through the cabin, after reading the names from the list, she verified whether she pronounced them correctly. [I was seated in the middle of fc, so I could hear the conversations at both the front and back.]

You mean you don't walk around the cabin during the boarding process and introduce yourself to all your fell cabin mates? I find that it expedites the process if one needs to complain about cabin mates changing diapers on cabin trays or cutting toenails on aforementioned trays.

Oh, so you mean she cheated by asking.

Is your name Cholmondeley?

bit of unnecessary stick here lads

nice to see thread about service thats good, rather than the usual complaints!

I've encountered these fantastic name recognition skills a few times. It is clearly an impressive talent and it always impresses the hell out of me. Just last week on PR MNL-LAX the flight attendant upstairs in J went around WITHOUT the manifest in her current possession and greeted everyone by name and took drink orders as the passengers took their seats. At some point preboarding she had memorized everyones name and seat assignment.

EVA on and off has their FA's learn the names of Gold and Diamond card members, even in Y and they greet you by name on taking your seat.

Recall an elderly NW FA who was great at it. One Continental FA really awesome with names and of course Cathay Pacific First class FA's adressed me by name.

I am already feeling sorry for the guy who may marry/is married to her. Woman never forgets your mistakes, especially this particular woman.

I'm very much in the minority here but I cannot stand it when FAs call me by name unless they know me personally. We both know its a charade and I feel especially uncomfortable when they are referring to me by name but I am still calling them "ma'am" or "sir" whenever I need something.

I've only met a few people like that in my life, it's most certainly a skill I wish I had. Always impressed by them.

More often than not, people who don't know me/how I pronounce my family name will get it wrong.
It's not the end of the world, though of course I wish I didn't have to be exposed to the gaffe.
I can also sympathize with pax who do NOT wish to have their names announced to the rest of the cabin who may be listening. From what I hear, some pax requesting their real names not be used are conventionally identified by cabin crew as "Miss Jones" or "Mr. Smth," or some other, equally frequent chosen name.

While I am generally impressed with FAs who use the manifest and address passengers by name (and then memorizing them for later as a bonus), I also have to add a +1 to the quote I snipped above...sometimes passengers would be prefer to travel incognito/anonymously, whether because they're famous, or they're not and just prefer that strangers around them don't know their name. This is a privacy-aware world we're living in right now.