Should You Tip Your Flight Attendant?
The first few times I flew commercially, it was exciting. That was a long time ago. Air travel has become, at best, tedious, at worst, a nightmare. Now, the question arises, do we tip flight attendants? Bloomberg reports, Frontier airlines has authorized its flight attendants to accept individual tips. Tips among their 2,200 flight attendants were previously pooled, and they didn't have authorization to activate the tip option on credit card scanners. Since 9/11, the industry has tried to promote the image of flight attendants as safety professionals, rather than service personnel. Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt says, “I think it’s just like in a restaurant and, frankly, not an image the airlines want to have.” I remember when food & drinks, other than alcohol, were included in the ticket price. On top of that, we now have to pay for our luggage to fly. The average flight attendant makes about $51,000 a year, and flies free.