A flight attendant has shared some important tips and tricks on how you can save money while booking your trips – and she even revealed a way in which you can land a free first-class upgrade.
Cierra Mistt, an American Airlines employee from Salt Lake City, Utah, has gone viral on TikTok for sharing secrets that she has learned from working as a flight attendant – including various hacks that passengers can use to score cheap tickets.
According to the TikToker, airlines release deals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays – and she even suggested using an app to change the location of your IP address to lower prices.
‘If you want a cheap flight, look for flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays,’ she suggested in a viral video that has now been viewed more than one million times. ‘That’s when flights are the cheapest.
A flight attendant has shared some important tips and tricks on how you can save money while booking your trips – and revealed a way in which you can land a free first-class upgrade
Cierra Mistt, an American Airlines employee from Salt Lake City, Utah, has gone viral on TikTok for sharing a bunch of secrets that she has learned from working as a flight attendant
According to the TikToker, airlines release deals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – and she even suggested using an app to change the location of your IP address to lower prices
‘I highly suggest you use a VPN so they don’t know what country you’re searching from because normally, if you’re looking in the United States, they’re going to jack those prices way up.’
When it comes to free upgrades, she recommended picking a seat near the back of the plane for a chance to be moved to first-class free of charge.
‘Another thing airlines don’t want you to know is that on a majority of flights, we have to move people for weight and balance issues,’ she dished.
‘That being said, if you want to fly first class and not have to pay for it, I highly suggest sitting in the last row because if we do have to move people for weight and balance purposes, that’s where the flight attendant is gonna go.’
In addition to her money-saving advice, Cierra also often answers her followers’ burning questions about the ins and outs of running a plane.
When someone asked her why flight attendants always turn off the cabin lights during take off and landing, she explained, ‘That’s most likely when we’re going to get an emergency crash.
‘[When we turn off the lights], our eyes are already going to be adjusted to the outside settings.’
As for why it’s important to stow your tray tables and keep your seats in the upright position when you depart and arrive, she said it’s to protect your fellow passengers – since the person sitting next to you might not be able to get out as quickly if there’s an emergency.
‘I highly suggest you use a VPN so they don’t know what country you’re searching from. Normally, if you’re looking in the US, they’re going to jack those prices up,’ the TikToker said
When it comes to free upgrades, she suggested you pick a seat near the back because flight attendants often have to move people from the back to front for ‘balance purposes’
In addition to her money-saving advice, Cierra also often answers her followers’ burning questions about the ins and outs of running a plane
Wondering why airline employees stand near the front of the plane while you’re boarding? Well, Cierra explained that there’s actually a serious reason for it that many people don’t know about.
‘While you may think we’re just saying hello or being friendly, what we’re actually doing is judging you hardcore – but not in the way you might think,’ she shared.
‘While greeting you is a way of providing customer service, we’re more importantly looking you up and down to determine if you’d make a good “abled body passenger.”
‘A few good examples of ABP’s might be nurses, military, police, basically passengers who might be able to assist us flight attendants in case we have an emergency in flight.’
In another video, the American Airlines staffer explained why it’s important to always turn your phone on airplane mode while flying.
‘The reason may actually shock you and make you think twice about trying to sneak and keep your phone on normal mode,’ she said.
‘Believe it or not, pilots aren’t in charge of flying. They’re the ones operating the plane, but from the moment the boarding door closes to the moment we’re landing, the pilots are following specific instructions given to them by a group of people on the ground called air traffic control.
As for why it’s important to stow tray tables when you depart and arrive, she said it’s to protect your fellow passengers – since they might not be able to get out quick if there’s a problem
Wondering why airline employees stand near the front of the plane during boarding? Cierra explained that they are on the hunt for ‘passengers who can assist during an emergency’
Cierra shared some surprising things that many people may not know about – which included flight attendants always wearing sunscreen and never drinking refreshments on board
‘Their job is basically to make sure that planes take off and land safely without running in to one another.
‘In order for the pilot to communicate with ATC they use frequencies – which is what we use on our phones.
‘But sometimes frequencies can collide and cause a loss of signal completely. Picture how bad it would be for a pilot who is taking directions from an ATC on the ground and all of a sudden he loses signal and starts flying blindly all because of the frequency of a passengers phone that intercepted it.’
‘The water that we use in the coffee and tea come from the same spot and guess what, it never gets cleaned,’ she dished
In other TikToks, Cierra shared some more surprising things about the job that many people may not know about – which included flight attendants always wearing sunscreen and never drinking the refreshments on board.
‘We’re always wearing sunscreen when we work. We do this because we fly around in a metal tube around 35,000 feet every day and that’s really close to the O-zone layer,’ she told her followers.
‘In fact, we’re so exposed to radiation that health insurance will label us the same as an astronaut or radiologist.
‘Unless we’re super desperate, we will never drink the tea of coffee provided on the plane.
‘The water that we use in the coffee and tea come from the same spot and guess what, it never gets cleaned.’
Finally, Cierra explained that they hate when people ask for help with lifting their bags into the carry-on bins.
‘None of the crew is getting paid while you guys are boarding,’ she revealed. ‘We actually don’t get paid until the moment the airplane door shuts. If you’re having trouble lifting it, you can get it checked at the gate for free.’
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