The lovely Nicole

While we were in Denver this summer, we met up with our cousin Nicole for our Denver Urban Adventure Quest. Nicole works as a flight attendant for a major airline, and we thought it would be fun to get the inside scoop about being a flight attendant. Her first tip: don’t annoy your flight attendants! 🙂 Common courtesy and friendliness go a long way — a good thing to remember! After talking to Nicole, we were reminded that common sense isn’t always common! Here are a few insights she shared with us.

Some Airline “Do”s From a Flight Attendant

• Take your earbuds out and make eye contact when ordering and being served to ensure accuracy and to speed up the process for your fellow passengers. (Ed. note: not to mention, it’s polite!)
• If you’re asking the flight attendant for a cup of coffee, ask for cream and sugar at the same time to increase efficiency.
• Make sure your animals are either in a crate or on a leash. Crawling through a plane, army-style, on a red-eye flight in search of an escaped cat is not exactly Nicole’s favorite flight attendant memory!
• As you deplane, offer a simple “thank you” to the flight crew — it means a lot.

Avoid making your flight attendant make this face!

And a Few “Don’t”s…

• Don’t try to go to the bathroom during taxiing or turbulence. Even better: use the bathroom in the terminal before you get on board! Bonus tip – When you do go into the bathroom, wear your shoes (think turbulence), and leave your drink at your seat. Eew.
• Don’t try to sneak extra bags on board. When you pack, pack light. Extra bags may frustrate you, everyone around you, and the flight attendants (remember her first tip?).

We asked her to name a city that had been a pleasant surprise, and, without hesitation, she mentioned Omaha, Nebraska. She told us she spent a few days on a layover there and enjoyed it quite a bit — very walkable with a nice old town. She was able to watch baseball games for cheap at the College World Series stadium, and they have a fantastic zoo.

Her favorite flight attendant experience stemmed from a compliment she received from a passenger.  In her words: there was a blind passenger who came on the plane. She was upset with the gate agent and the way she was treated. My job when a blind person comes is to brief them to make sure they know where the nearest exit is. I introduced myself and went through the entire safety briefing. By then end, she told me she really appreciated the fact that I took the time to talk to her. I asked if I could do anything more to help, and I ended up getting the gate agent’s name for her so she could report the incident. By the end of the flight she was smiling and having a really good time, all because I took the time to sit and talk to her.

Free first class travel for you and your family – a pretty good perk!

Nicole told us that being a flight attendant can be a challenging job that doesn’t pay a high salary, but has some great perks. Not every job gives you the chance to see the Northern Lights from the cockpit or to fly first class for free! Thinking of a new career? Maybe being a flight attendant is for you!

Enjoy your next flight adventure, whether it’s for a week or a weekend, and be sure to thank your flight attendants! Maybe you’ll even run into Nicole. If you do, tell her that we said hello!

P.S. We did ask, on behalf of our readers, if the “mile high club” really exists. Nicole neither confirmed nor denied its existence…