A traveler has revealed details about how she scored a free upgrade on a flight after using a little-known chocolate box trick.
Anna Lee read about a trick where you give a box of chocolates to the airline employee at the check-in counter in the hope of receiving a free upgrade.
She explained that she had known about the trick for years, but had always been “too scared, uncomfortable and weird” to ask for a free upgrade.
However, her cousin, who works as a flight attendant for a major airline, told her that many passengers ask for a free upgrade “all the time,” so “it’s nice to do it with a gift.”
So Anna decided to put the theory to the test when she took a six-hour flight from Las Vegas to New York City after Christmas.
Before boarding her flight, Anna bought a box of chocolates and then headed to the check-in counter, where she surprised the Delta employee with the gift.
Moments later, he asked the worker: ‘How much would it cost to upgrade my seat?’
To his surprise, the employee kindly offered him a free upgrade from coach to Comfort Plus, which includes some perks like priority boarding, more legroom, extra recline, dedicated overhead bin space, and more.
Traveler Anna Lee has revealed details of how she scored a free upgrade on a flight after discovering a little-known chocolate box trick.
“I was trying the chocolate box trick I read about online years ago, and it’s something that stuck with me,” Anna told FEMAIL.
“I was always curious about it, but never acted on it until I recently asked my cousin, who works at an airline, and she said it was totally fine.
‘I just thought, I’ll try… I wasn’t expecting an update. I was grateful that the worker ended up promoting me… I can’t believe that actually worked.’
The lone traveler filmed herself handing the chocolates to the employee while saying, “I just wanted to say happy holidays and thank you for all your hard work.”
He then proceeded to tell the employee that he was looking to upgrade his seat but wanted to know how much it would cost.
“I wasn’t expecting anything, but she just promoted me,” Anna said.
She couldn’t believe her luck when the worker happily upgraded her, free of charge, leaving her stunned to see that the chocolates were actually working in her favor.
“I got the update,” she said excitedly in the video.
“I wasn’t expecting anything… I just wanted to try it to see if it worked and it did.”
Anna said she has heard that airlines sometimes need to rearrange seats to “balance the plane.”
‘So if there are too many people in the back, they will promote some people to the front for free. Knowing that information, I just wanted to make it clear that they should choose me,’ he said.
“Sometimes it never hurts to try.”
Before boarding her flight, Anna bought a box of chocolates and then headed to the check-in counter, where she surprised the Delta employee with the gift.
Their video has been viewed more than 770,000 times, with many confirming that passengers receive benefits such as free upgrades or on-board snacks if they surprise workers with a small gift.
“My dad is a pilot and he always taught me to grab donuts or any small gift to give to the flight attendants and gate agents… It’s always worth the effort, they love it,” said one.
“My mom is a flight attendant and yes this is safe,” another shared.
‘My boyfriend is a flight attendant and he taught me to bring Starbucks gift cards as a ‘tip’ on every flight and give them to him before takeoff. They always give you extra snacks and drinks,” one revealed.
Many airline workers confirmed that a little goes a long way when dealing with staff.
“We airline employees do this a lot for our co-workers (obviously without expecting anything in return), but they always give us A+ treatment,” one shared.
‘As a flight attendant, I can say with certainty that gate agents are greatly underrated and have much more power than people realize. They are in charge of updates and also kicking people out, so be nice to them,” added another, laughing.
Meanwhile, one woman said she was lucky to get free upgrades without having to give gifts to anyone.
‘I usually just order the upgrade and usually get it without chocolates. “I think as long as you’re nice and they have space, they’ll make you better if they can,” he said.