He was on the no-buy list.
An ambitious California passenger is going viral after trying to bribe his way into first-class with hundreds of dollars worth of crew gifts — only to get rejected each time.
Videos of his botched wheel-greasing attempts — which thankfully skewed more fun social media experiment than outright skullduggery — are currently taking off on Instagram.
“I’ve always wanted to sit first-class on an airplane, but it’s way too expensive,” lamented influencer Parker Seidel, who is based in Laguna Beach, in the initial clip for his over 40,000 followers. “So today I’m going to bribe my way into the first-class seats.”
The Californian’s stunt comes amid armchair air experts spreading the oft-disputed advice that giving flight attendants gifts is a surefire way to score free upgrades. YouTuber Zac Allsop notably filmed himself trading Starbucks gift cards in exchange for a bump from coach to first class.
During his initial attempt aboard a French Bee flight from Los Angeles to Paris, France, Seidel decided to follow suit by dropping $99.96 on Starbucks gift cards, a card, candy, chocolate, and a gift bag, per the clip.
Upon boarding, the content creator told the flight attendant at the door, “I just want to say, I really appreciate you, this is for you, this is for all the flight attendants as well.”
Alas, this mile-high payoff didn’t land him a seat up front, but the cabin crew did reportedly treat Seidel like a coach “king,” lavishing him with complimentary champagne, snacks, and an amenity kit. They even brought free drinks for his friend.
Seidel decided to up the ante during his second freebie attempt several weeks later on a ZIPAIR flight to Tokyo, Japan.
This time, the first-class hopeful shelled out $192.34 on even more Starbucks gift cards, chocolate and candy, and even used ChatGPT to compose a letter saying how grateful he was to the crewmembers for their hard work.
“This time it’s going to work, I’m 99% sure,” the undaunted influencer declared.
Unfortunately, despite a glowing reaction from the female crewmember at the door, he was again refused an upgrade. However, nine hours into the trip, air staffers brought Seidel candy, a thank-you note and green tea — which he poured out in the lavatory as he doesn’t like the beverage.
For his third try, on a Norse Atlantic flight to Rome, Italy, the fly-roller went all in, dropping $183 on “a lot more candy and a lot more gift cards.” The life hacker then placed the presents in individual gift bags for every flight attendant, each of whom also received a separate hand-written note.
The third time was not the charm. Not only did Seidel fail to secure a first-class spot, but he seemingly didn’t receive any complimentary goodies either.
Although the crew member at the door was so surprised at the present offensive that he initially mistook Seidel for an off-duty crewmember, presumably due to airline employees’ reputation for exchanging gifts.
Many commenters ripped Seidel over his botched bribe attempts. “You gave them Starbucks gift cards, candy, and spent $100, and they give you socks and a toothbrush,” scoffed one critic.
Another wrote, “Flight attendants don’t give upgrades, gate agents do.”
Some industry insiders even pointed out that handing out free seat promotions is a sackable offense. “We can get FIRED for that!” exclaimed one crew member. “The problem with ‘influencers’ when they post things like this is you create more problems for us because you’re leading your ‘followers’ to believe something that isn’t true.”
They added, “Want to do something nice? Do it for the right reason, not because you’re expecting something.”
However, flight expert Ben Shlappig at One Mile At A Time wrote that he respected the “hustle” and found his strategy “endearing,” but noted that “the result is what you’d expect.”
“When it comes to questionable advice for scoring an upgrade on a flight, bringing gifts for the crew is probably one of the less-bad ideas,” he wrote.
That being said, he pointed out that there were a few holes in his game plan, ranging from the fact that there aren’t always first-class seats available and that Japanese airlines like ZIPAIR are generally extra-stringent when it comes to the rules.
Shlappig argued that for the amount of money Seidel spent, he could’ve purchased an upgrade on one of these flights — which, as a side note, he pointed out were budget airlines and therefore technically had premium rather than first-class seats.
Although he acknowledged that, given the initial video’s virality, Seidel likely prioritized eyeballs over actual upgrades.
“My general take is that bringing gifts for crews is a nice gesture, if you’re doing it out of the kindness of your heart, and if you don’t expect anything in return,” Shlappig concluded. “If you’re doing it because you’re hoping for an upgrade, that’s just a bribe, and it’s unlikely to be successful.”
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