Recently while disembarking a lady passenger with a small child held my hand and smiled and said "have you ever heard of random acts of kindness?" and disappeared down the steps. I was left holding a £20 note. I split this with my fellow crew, it certainly does not happen every day (month or year). :)

I thought that this was a nice gesture, although she paid the company for her ticket she seemed to want to reward and thank us personally for her time with us!

If in the US tips are given without a second thought then maybe they would not mean as much to the tipper or the recipient? It may be seen as rude to decline something small if someone does something unexpected out of genuine kindness and appreciation?

It bought me a drink on my days off and I suppose I'll always remember the passengers smile and appreciation, that's gotta be a good thing in this day and age. Although I wouldn't want every pax tipping me as a genuine "Thank you" does enough for me!!! ;)

I think I may work at the same airline as Vodkaholic and yes we can't accept tips just as was stated, If offered one i will normally ask if it is OK for it to go into the Charity collection as we can't accept it.

Me on the other hand when I fly, if I have had a wonderful flight Out bound then I normally ask if the crew are night stopping, if they are I ask if I can purchase a bottle for them to have a drink while down route and have done so a few times, if it's on the inbound I normally buy something from on board and give it to them normally chocolate, well they may have to drive!!!!! If I have had a gond flight I always ask for a comment card, or how I can commend them to the airline and follow it up, But I would suggest that you never offer the crew a tip, it makes us feel really appreciated but unfortunately most of us can't accept it

When I was working for TCX, we had an asian family heading off for a week in the sun.

The father of the family asked for some hot water. Being crew, I was obliged to bring him it. It was for one of the cheap, fake Pot Noodles you get in ethnic supermarkets.

Not kidding, but his hand luggage (which was larger than it should have been) was PACKED with these noodles. He offered us all one when we had a chit-chat about the volume of noodles he had to take with him.

Sure enough, 3 of the 6 crew accepted the offer, and chowed down on what were better than expected noodles.

Thankfully we were still concious in the following hours, but the rewards outweighed those risks for sure.. such a pleasant change to the "beef cobbler"

I always try and give the cabin crew a tip or two before leaving. Usually along the lines....Don't plant your Strawberries just before Christmas, or, Time to review your make up...:)
Seriously though I always thank the CC on leaving the aircraft. You guys and gals are Terriffic. Many thanks to you all.:ok: