Getting special treatment on a plane is easy with this travel hack.
Travelling by plane is exhausting no matter how long or short your flight is. Once you’ve battled through airport security and made your way to your gate, you’re already desperate to just be at your destination already.
One thing that can make the tiring journey worthwhile, however, is the feeling you get when the flight attendant tells you that you’re the lucky customer who has been picked out for a seat upgrade.
We can’t all fly first class, and getting a free seat upgrade isn’t always possible, but there are some other things you can do to make your uncomfortable flight more enjoyable.
According to a flight attendant, there’s a secret that could guarantee you get free drinks and extra snacks on your next flight – and all it takes is a little bit of planning and a lot of kindness.
Liz Darbe, a flight attendant from the US, said that making “goodie bags” for the flight crew can go a long way toward ensuring that you’ll get special treatment on your next trip.
She filmed a video on TikTok that showed her putting together one of these bags, as she’ll be travelling herself soon and wants to give the crew on her flight some of the items she wishes people would give her.
In the caption, she wrote: “This is the REAL secret to getting free drinks and extra snacks on your flight – make goodie bags for the crew!”
Liz started her goodie bags by adding a small “thank you” sticker to the front of a zip-lock bag. She then threw in what she called “flight attendant staples”, including a Vitamin C sachet that can be dissolved in water and a liquid IV to ensure the crew are able to stay healthy on their shift.
She also added in small packets of chewing gum that contain just one piece per packet, which she said is perfect for flight attendants to have in the pocket of their uniform to use whenever they need it.
Next, she added a hand sanitising wipe and an eye mask. Liz finished her goodie bag with a “sweet treat”, which this time took the form of a small chocolate biscuit.
In the comments, Liz explained that she usually hands her goodie bags to the flight attendants greeting at the door when she boards the plane, and then allows them to distribute the bags between the rest of the flight crew.
Commenters thanked the expert for her helpful tip. Some even said they had tried it out themselves on a flight and had seen great results from thankful flight attendants.
One person said: “Oh my god, thank you! I’m definitely doing this.”
Another added: “I just did this for an international flight with just some candy and under eye patches. Every single one of them came up to me during my flight and said thank you!”
It turns out, a little bit of kindness can get you a long way!