A PASSENGER was delighted when he put a viral trick to the test and it ended up saving him thousands on an upgrade on a flight.
Loads of people online claim to know how to get cheap or even free upgrades when flying, but the truth is, if you want to be more comfortable when flying, you'll probably have to pay for it.
However, Tiktoker Xtravles (@x_travels) revealed how he paid a fraction of the price for an upgrade, but was still moved to a better seat and was given plenty of freebies by the flight attendants.
He did it by listening to the advice of flight attendant Tiktoker @mr_selling915, who told passengers to bring their cabin crew Starbucks gift cards to ensure better treatment when flying.
In a video, he said: "Do yourself a favour. Go to Starbucks, grab a couple of gift cards worth about $5 each. Or if you don't want to spend that much, grab a couple of bags of candy.
"Now, when you go into the plane, there's usually about three to four flight attendants on each flight.
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"The first flight attendant you see, give those gift cards to or give that candy to and say, 'Hey, this is for you guys. I appreciate you being here'. And watch what happens."
X travels put the method to the test and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
In a video of his own, he said: "I tried that travel hack whereyou give your flight attendants some Starbucks gift cards and see what happens.
"I had a twelve and a half hour flight from New York to Abu Dhabi and I looked up online, and there was still a business class seat available on this flight, and it was $12,000 (£9,800).
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"I didn't want to pay that, so I went and I got eight $15 (£12) Starbucks gift cards. Like $120 (£98).
"I got on the plane. There were two flight attendants.
"I was like, 'Yeah, I got some Starbucks gift cards for you guys, I just thought I'd show the love, spread the appreciation. It's a long flight, and I appreciate you guys'.
"And then I went and I found my seat in the very back of the plane.
"A minute later, I see the manager or the supervisor walk down the aisle with one of my gift cards in her hand.
"She's like, 'Do you want to take the exit row? It's not a lay flat seat, but you get some extra legroom'."
The extra legroom wasn't the only thing he was given either, with the flight attendants making sure he had everything he needed.
He continued: "They were so nice to me the whole flight. I took a nap for a bit, and when I woke up, there was a bag with a packed lunch on the seat next to me with a water bottle, a sandwich and some snacks.
"They kept asking if I wanted anything to drink, if I wanted anything. They were super nice to me. I think it was worth it.
"But this is just a life lesson. Be kind to people. Show appreciation. Show respect to people that you don't normally. Just be nice to people. It goes a long way."
The video has been seen 2.6million times, with some other people confirming the trick works in the comments.
One cabin crew member wrote: "I’m a flight attendant and I’ll definitely give you whatever I can when you bring us kind gifts."
Another said: "Flight attendant here- I would appreciate it so much."
A third person added: "I did this and got upgraded to first class from Heathrow to Canada 10/10 would recommend."
Sun Online Travel's resident flight attendant also recommends gift vouchers for passengers hoping to get better treatment when flying.
They wrote: "The best gifts to get for your flight crew are vouchers.
"Cash feels a little too on the nose and we're not that comfortable about accepting it, so vouchers feels like a happy medium.
"We can divide them between us, we can use them in a way we want to and it shows that you've thought about it before arriving at the terminal.
"The best passenger we've ever had gave us a load of Nandos gift vouchers and it went down a storm.
"That person definitely ended up in first class that day.
"It may seem excessive to have to do that, but check out the price difference between an economy seat and first class. It's much more than a few restaurant vouchers, so it is worth it."
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Meanwhile this frequent flyer revealed their method for getting upgrades on planes.
And this flight attendant explained how to improve your chances of sitting in first class.
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