How To Get A Flight Attendant To Give You A Free Drink On Your Next Flight

Flying can be a hassle between finding a place to park, lugging your bags around, and sitting still for hours on end in cramped seats. It makes sense that you may want an adult beverage when the drink cart comes around. However, if you're not in first class, you usually have to pay for it. But there are some ways to get free drinks on planes. There are the obvious ones, like flying first class, flying internationally, or even having elite frequent flyer status, in some cases. However, if you don't fall into those categories, you still may be able to score some free alcoholic drinks, according to flight attendants. The first one involves something you should be doing anyway, which is simply being kind and courteous to the people working on the plane. 

On the r/flightattendants thread on Reddit, some flight attendants spoke up about what makes them choose not to charge you for a drink. Several of them said that being nice is the way to go, with one saying you may be the only person to be polite for a while. In fact, a retired flight attendant named Shawn Kathleen spoke to SFGate, saying, "One thing I like to tell people, it's so rudimentary, is just saying, 'Hello, are you having a good day?' If you're acknowledging our existence, I swear to God, you'll be like George Clooney." She said that lots of people don't even bother to say hello. 

It's a sad state of affairs, but if you've been on a flight recently, you've probably noticed how rude people can be, and often over things like delayed boarding (by the way, flight attendants don't get paid until the door closes), not finding space in an overhead bin, or simply because they're having a bad day. A little courtesy goes a long way (and not just when you'd like another mini bottle of wine). There are a few other things that flight attendants mentioned in the Reddit thread. One person said they may give you a free drink because you did something nice like helping another passenger with their bag. Another person said it could happen because you're wearing a shirt from their favorite sports team, while yet another said they'd do it because they thought you were cute. It may even be that their card reader isn't working. 

You may get drinks because you switched seats so a family could sit together, or because you let them know it's your birthday or anniversary, or because you just got engaged. Of course, you could try all of those things and not get one. It's not something you should expect. However, it's more likely to happen if you're kind and friendly. (If you do get a free drink from a flight attendant, you may not want to order a bloody Mary, which has lots of salt that can cause your ankles to swell.) There's a good reason that flight attendants often share tips on how to be the best passenger. It's because there are a lot of bad ones out there. Flight attendants have a hard job, and anything you can do to make it easier is wonderful, free drink or not.