A great deal of people who experience bad service bring it upon themselves. It tends to be a certain type of person who happens to be the unlucky one (again!) who receives bad service and is affronted by it. These people should take a good look in the mirror to see what it is they are doing wrong before pointing the finger at hard working service personnel.
I always receive good service on board a flight. Sure, I have been more or less ignored on one or two flights and on others given the bare minimum of service but I have never received overtly bad service. Here are some tips on receiving great service on flights.
Smile!
Smiling is so simple and costs nothing… plus, just about everyone looks hotter when smiling! Cabin crew enjoy serving someone who is smiling at them rather than someone who has that serial killer grimace on their face.
Travel can be stressful but remember to smile – it not only inspires people to be friendlier to you but it also makes you feel happier by association. Who knows, you also might pick up a date!
Remember Your Manners, Please! Thank You!
Cabin Crew have commented more than once about how they find me to be very polite. My parents taught me always to say please and thank you and it is amazing how many people forget this.
Are you the kind of person who watches a movie during dinner on a long haul flight? You’re probably that person who has accepted their meal or drinks without acknowledging the crew. It is common courtesy to remove your headphones when the crew arrive to deliver your meal and to thank them for doing so with a smile. I have had two hour movies take three hours due to this but it’s worth it.
Your crew appreciate a little common courtesy.
Attitude Is Key To Good Service
Everything you do makes people form an impression of what kind of person you are. The way you dress, your attitude, the way you interact – people subconsciously tally this up and judge you. Are the crew making a small joke or wanting a little banter? Join in, laugh at the joke – at least smile appreciatively – it won’t kill you. The aim is to make someone else’s day a bit lighter – and for a person who has to serve lots of people, anything to lighten the mood is welcome.
A great attitude is infectious and your fellow passengers will appreciate this too. Everyone benefits when people are in a good mood, so be the one who helps cultivate this.
Overall Thoughts
You might be reading this and think, “I’m always nice on flights – that doesn’t get me anywhere!” – but are you really? Take a good long hard look at the way you act on board a flight – really analyse it. If you are someone who constantly receives bad service, it’s probably not the airline, it’s probably you.
Not only does great attitude, politeness and smiling result in good service, you sometimes might get goodies too! I have received gifts from the crew more than once so you never know what you might end up with at the end of a flight – all for doing things that cost you nothing. Thanks for reading and if you have any comments please leave them below.
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You make a good point that the person has to be receptive. I have been on one or two flights where I’ve smiled and been polite and it’s taken the entire flight for the crew member to smile back. People do have a bad day! I fly with oneworld carriers mainly and even when flying with American Airlines and the crew who were US Airways I have often found them to be just as pleasant as their Asian counterparts. That being said, the specific incident of waiting for someone to smile back was on American Eagle. I think slipping someone a fifty would result in a smile – it would if it was me! 🙂 haha
I completely see your point with the bad service you experienced from the crew on the short flight. There really is no excuse for that kind of thing. Despite that, I have a lot of empathy for the job the crew have to do and their treatment from the passengers – being blamed for delays, missed connections and everything in between that isn’t in their control. Thanks for your comment – I really appreciate the time you took to write back!
i have had FA’s comment to me and my hubby..You are easy to deal with..esp when people are torturing them about all snacks and drinks to be repeated etc,and otherwise demanding….We usually just ask for water with a smile and Ice
It’s amazing to be complimented for being nice and easy to deal with when you’re not really doing anything unusual, isn’t it? It made me think about how some people must act to make my normal behaviour an exception. Thanks for the comment!
very true
Flight attendants have a really intense, difficult job. True, they chose it but we passengers also chose to fly. A flight attendant is responsible, primarily, for safety of passengers. Comfort and service, hopefully, come next. But we must realize that our flight attendants are often/usually working with a new crew each flight, they’re probably sleep-deprived, who knows how long it’s been since they slept in THEIR own bed, they get delayed by weather/ATC/whatever and their pay period doesn’t start until the flight leaves the gate. Putting up with screaming babies, misbehaving children, obnoxious and often drunk adults, as well as all the “normal, nice” passengers who complain about the preceding must surely stretch one’s attitude and smile to a breaking point. So, be EXTRA nice and courteous and helpful and pleasant. It does not cost you a thing (whether on a plane or anywhere, for that matter.)
Completely agree with you there! People seem to have a sense of entitlement that is unbelievable. It may be your first flight of the year for your holiday and yes, you paid money for that, but that doesn’t mean you should be waited on hand and foot and have all your demands met and you’re permitted to be rude at the same time. I think airlines should give out a manual outlining passengers expected behaviour when they fly. It would be interesting to see if passenger expectations were set that people would become less demanding. Thanks very much for the comment!
Agree wholeheartedly with this. Though it’s often just the luck of the draw when it comes to getting reciprocated with exceptional service. Of course some airlines are more reliably good service-orientated than others…
It is true – a lot of factors are at play. A lot of the culture does come from the top and so many factors can result in bad morale and therefore bad service. Thanks for the comment!
Great post! Service works both ways and we as passengers have to do our half. I also like to dress well, to show the crew that I am making an effort to be presentable. Also like your featured image with the trolley. I would love that as the visual impact is tremendous, as well as showing us what the main course choices look like. Unfortunately don’t see that much these days.
I agree, it certainly does work both ways. I think it’s easier for crew to be nice to you if you are nice to them. They’re paid to be nice but passengers aren’t so I daresay they’re the main culprits of putting crew in a bad mood. It is nice when people dress nicely when flying as opposed to being in some terrible casual wear. I’ve seen some hideous outfits on board! Thanks for the comment!
Coming from a Flight Attendant’s perspective, I think you really hit the nail on the head here! When you really think about your cabin crew’s job, you realize that you are one out of hundreds of passengers on board. We don’t need you to bend over backwards, but a little kindness makes our day so much better! Loved this read!!
I confess, I am friends with a few people who are crew so I’ve heard many stories about the way they have been treated by passengers. Some of the stories make my head spin that people can be so inconsiderate to another human. I completely agree with your comments there! Thanks for the reply!
Your points pretty much add up to basic social graces, and I agree wholeheartedly. Treating people as human beings avoids a lot of really bad service. I have to admit, though, that when I saw your headline, my first thought was to fly Asian airlines.
A lot of people think the Asian carrier have good service, but to be fair I’ve found the same on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines when I have flown them. I know it is luck of the draw though! Thanks for the comment!