Wonder why the welcome from airline employees are so intense during boarding? Photo / Cierra Mistt; Instagram
Wonder why the welcome from airline employees are so intense during boarding? Photo / Cierra Mistt; Instagram
Want to know how to up your chances for an upgrade, or why airline staff get through so much sunscreen? It's not because they're always visiting exotic places.
A flight attendant - turned social media influencer - has been sharing advice to her 3 million followers on when andwhere to try your luck in landing a seat upgrade.
American Airlines employee Cierra Mistt has become a social media sensation by dishing out tips via her TikTok account. Her latest video has advice on the best days to fly to increase the odds of being upgraded, and when is the best time to book the cheapest fares.
Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays are the days that airlines tend to update their flight inventory. Fares are often lower on these days, as they don't attract the same surge pricing of browsing flights at weekends.
She even suggests you can lower the price of your booking online, by using a VPN to change the location and time zone of your device.
"I highly suggest you use a VPN so they don't know what country you're searching from because normally, if you're looking in the United States, they're going to jack those prices way up."
Where you sit can up your chances of an upgrade
In her experience there's another way to up your chances of getting an upgraded fare. She advises passengers to book seats in the back row of the plane.
Book at the back of the plane is Mistt's top tip. Photo / Tiktok; CierraMistt
Flying on quieter services and at the back of the cabin can increase your chances of being bumped up to first class, for free.
"Another thing airlines don't want you to know is that on a majority of flights, we have to move people for weight and balance issues," she said.
This means moving passengers from the back of the plane to the front cabin classes to redistribute weight.
"I highly suggest sitting in the last row because if we do have to move people for weight and balance purposes, that's where the flight attendant is gonna go."
If there's a spare seat at the pointy end, you'll be the first to know.
Welcome aboard! Why are cabin crew so intense?
As well as tips for saving on fares, she also answers viewers questions on plane trivia and what it takes to run a $100 million passenger jet.
Her most surprising answer included an ulterior motive for why cabin crew greet passengers aboard their planes.
See you in the skies: Attendant Cierra Mistt has amassed 3million followers with her flight tips. Photo / TikTok; CierraMistt
While having your tickets checked with a cheery 'hello' , Cierra says there's another reason for the passenger welcome ritual.
"While you may think we're just saying hello or being friendly, what we're actually doing is judging you hardcore - but not in the way you might think," she explained.
"While greeting you is a way of providing customer service, we're more importantly looking you up and down to determine if you'd make a good 'ABP'."
The ABP or 'able bodied passenger' is an airline acronym for anyone who could help out, in a spot of trouble.
"A few good examples of ABP's might be nurses, military, police, basically passengers who might be able to assist us flight attendants in case we have an emergency in flight."
Another airline secret with extra shock factor is that air crew are always wearing high SPF sunblock.
"We're always wearing sunscreen when we work. We do this because we fly around in a metal tube around 35,000 feet every day and that's really close to the O-zone layer," she explains.
"We're so exposed to radiation that health insurance will label us the same as an astronaut or radiologist."
