Travel hack: TikTok tactic for getting special treatment on a flight

It turns out flight attendants appreciate a nice gesture. Photo / 123rf

An American traveller believes he has found a way to get special treatment when flying.

Jeremy Maclellan, 26, recently tried out a “hack” he had seen on TikTok which involved buying Starbucks gift cards and giving them to the flight attendants in the hope of getting perks in return. In his own video posted on the platform, Maclellan said he bought US$130 ($208) of Starbucks gift cards and handed them to the crew on board his long-haul flight from New York to Abu Dhabi.

“They said ‘are you a flight attendant from another airline?’ and I said, ‘No I just thought I’d show the love, spread the appreciation, you know, it’s a long flight and I appreciate you guys’,” he explained.

“Then I went and found my seat in the very back of the plane.”

Maclellan said there was already another passenger in the window seat he had booked ahead of time and she was sitting there comfortably with her shoes and socks off.

While the passenger moved out of his seat, he claims not long after he was pulled aside by a senior member of the crew and offered a seat in an empty emergency exit row, which also meant more legroom.

“I think it was worth the $130. It wasn’t business class, didn’t get a full lay down flat seat but I think it was worth the gift cards to get a whole row to myself,” he said.

“And they were so nice to me the whole flight. I took a nap for a bit and when I woke up there was a little goodie bag [with] a like mum-packed lunch on the seat next to me with a water bottle, sandwich and some snacks.”

Maclellan said it was a life lesson to be kind, show appreciation and respect to others. He told Insider that he was also given a bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, hand lotion and an upgraded pair of headphones.

And while he was hoping for a free upgrade to business class, he said if he got nothing out of gifting the gift cards he still would have been happy to make the flight attendants’ day.

His video has been viewed 2.8 million times within six days and has gained almost 300,000 likes. Some TikTok users suggested the “hack” was a fail because booking the same seat with extra legroom would have worked out cheaper than spending US$130 on gift cards. But others praised the idea saying it was a kind gesture either way.

“I’m a flight attendant and I’ll definitely give you whatever I can when you bring us kind gifts,” one woman wrote.

“Flight attendant here … if you just say, ‘Hi’ back to me when I greet you (you wouldn’t believe how often we are ignored) I’ll give all the things,” added another.

“As a FA if you bring SB gift cards most will do ANYTHING to make your flight great. We need the $5 coffee more than you know. I promise,” said a third.

One TikTok user joked the trend was “definitely started by flight attendants” with the comment gaining more than 17,000 likes.