Frontier Airlines passengers are expressing outrage at the airline for soliciting tips for flight attendants onboard.
As one customer explains, flying from Denver to Seattle, they ordered a beer and snacks – Frontier charges for both – and they’re “presented with tipping options on [the payment] screen with min tip option 18%.” As one commenter put it,
Frontier is the only airline that solicits tips and considering they are in charge of your safety in case of an emergency, it’s extremely inappropriate.
Another offered,
I’ve flown frontier enough to say that instituted tipping shouldn’t exist onboard. It just creates animosity and resentment for the cheap people who don’t tip. From my experience with some of the “bad” FA from frontier, I’m not wholly confident they wouldn’t let that resentment get in the way of safety and their job.
Yet one Frontier passenger says they tip for good service,
I rarely fly frontier for the obvious reasons. When I do, I tip if the flight attendant is friendly. I don’t if they’re not. They make almost nothing, unreliable schedules (much more often than the passengers) and have to deal with an extremely frustrated public.
Six years ago Frontier’s flight attendant tipping policy became big news. They allowed cabin crew to supplement their (low) wages with passenger tips, and had recently shifted from pooling all the tips from a flight and splitting them evenly across the crew to allowing each individual flight attendant to keep the tips they generate.
Flight attendants themselves are split on whether tipping should be allowed. The simple response is to want the money! But two arguments against it are:
- They don’t want the expectation of service that would come along with tipping. They’re there primarily for your safety!
- There’s no free money. More tipping means lower wages. That’s how it works in restaurants and indeed that’s how it works at Frontier and their flight attendant’s union opposes tipping as a result.
- People are willing to take a job at a given wage
- Tipping is just one source for funding that wage – the employer pays less precisely because the difference gets made up by the customer directly
- Over time, more tipping means less pay (since pay is determined by the amount it takes to attract sufficient talent for a job)
- People are willing to take a job at a given wage
Some people like to give out chocolates to their flight crew, or to agents in the airline lounge. Others prefer to hand out small Starbucks gift cards. This isn’t expected.
Most airlines don’t permit flight attendants to accept tips, and flight attendants themselves have mixed feelings on the subject – some are in favor because they want more money (although a tipping norm may ultimately lead to lower salaries), while others worry the emphasis would then shift from safety to service.
At American Airlines, airport customer service employees are allowed to accept “promotional items, complimentary tickets or perishable gifts (candy, fruit, etc)” that’s worth no more than $100. American tells employees to “share[..] with colleagues when practical.” However gifts worth over $100 must be returned. Employees are not allowed to accept “cash, gift cards, and gift certificates” regardless of amount. So no Starbucks gift cards.
At several airlines, customer tips, credit card signups, and duty free or meal purchases affect cabin crew compensation.
- On many airlines flight attendants earn a commission on credit cards passengers sign up for. If you want to ‘tip’ cabin crew, maybe the best way to do it is apply for a credit card using their referral code.
- At Ryanair they have an inflight sales quota, the opposite of a tip or commission, they’re disciplined if they’re not closing sales. On Ryanair, buy stuff from your crew.
Your airline also may give you employee recognition certificates, if you have status with them, and those can entitle them to entries in a drawing for big prizes or other benefits.
Of course I find the best way to get ‘special treatment’ is to just be nice, and if you don’t get what you want or need to just ask someone else (“hang up, call back“).
(HT: JohnnyJet)
That’s a very odd picture – In what airplane do the seats face the windows?
“Frontier Airlines passengers are expressing outrage at the airline.” Could’ve stopped there and called it a day.
On the ’employee recognition certificates’ I’ve gotten them from Delta and AA over the years, and I don’t let them go to waste. Why does United not do this? Never got any as a 1K to give away… hmm.
@Nelson — Only on the coolest airplanes ever! AI slop…
Yeah, I strongly disagree with tipping, it cheapens the flight attendant profession…..it’s like tipping your dentist or physician.
Sure, I flew to Vegas non-stop on Frontier for $15 each way to see U2 on opening night at The Sphere but tipping the flight attendant $5 for a couple of drinks is too much to ask?
Generally, flight attendants get very angry when they’re referred to as “flying waitresses.” Presumably that means no tipping as that is what you’d do for a waitress.
As far as Frontier. It’s no secret the pay sucks and you’re going to be flying for one of the biggest bottom feeders in the aviation industry. But you could apply at American, Delta, Southwest, United. Maybe they have higher hiring standards?
“Mr. Pink was unavailable for comment.”
“[Frontier flight attendants] make almost nothing, unreliable schedules (much more often than the passengers) and have to deal with an extremely frustrated public.” It’s not as if they couldn’t have foreseen any of these issues before they applied and accepted a job with Frontier. I can’t feel too sorry for them as they made these choices of their own accord.
Gary, you’ll be pleased to know that, based on your recommendation, I pre-selected the ‘Classic American Slider & Fries’ as my ‘Inflight meal’ for an upcoming AA flight. Who could resist those ‘beef sliders with caramelized onions and swiss cheese. Served with a side of fries.’ Soon, bud. Soon.
*Oprah meme* You get a tip! And you get a tip!
@1990 – Yum, enjoy! VFTW stamp of approval. Just don’t stuff yourself too much beforehand at the lounge, gah!
@L737 — It’s gonna be tough. LGA Terminal B, like JFK T4, is the ‘land of plenty,’ between the Chase Sapphire, Admirals Club, and soon-to-be-opened Capital One Landing… I might have to ‘fast’ for a couple days before and after. Either that, or they should open a Roman-style vomitorium for those inclined. As Hedonismbot said: “…ever so gently while I humiliate a pheasant.”
Epic reference! Can’t wait to explore LGA when the Cap 1 Landing opens. And I hear you: when I visited Cap 1 LAS I wanted to try as much as possible since I didn’t know when I’d be back and then had a meal on my United flight shortly afterwards and have never felt so full (“Nothing sorid [happened], I assure you”). There’s always room for the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding though, yum.
@L737 — Apologize for nothing!
Abolish tipping
Yes, the US3 have MUCH higher requirements to become flight attendants than Frontier or Spirit. Much higher. One of the US3 I know for a fact has an unspoken rule not to hire anyone but pilots from Spirit.
And the US3 overall customer base has much higher standards. Frontier and Spirit are the cancer of the US airline industry. The sooner they are put out of business the sooner IMO the industry will right size and balance itself. There’s a reason that Greyhound bus line exists.
I don’t fly Frontier but be a cold day in hell when I have any of them a tip. What a joke of a airline.