Celebrating a birthday

[titfilou]

I will be flying F on EY with my partner next month.

As it is his birthday on the day of the flight I thought I would contact EY and organise something such as a small cake.

I received a response stating that they no longer do anything for birthday. I was surprise to get such a response after spending $22k on a flight.

This is not a big deal but I just think if restaurants can do this on a $20 dessert, surely airlines can do this for their first class guests.

Am I expecting too much? Any ideas why they have stopped doing it?

 

[lukenet]

Wow, I too would have thought they would have been more than happy to assist you with this relatively small gesture as you are flying first.

Who did you ask about this? Maybe there is another channel to pursue this through?

 

[knasty]

Mate was in this situation on SQ. Captain presented a birthday card signed by all the crew, and a cake was provided too.

 

[titfilou]

I first contacted the airline directly by email and I thought perhaps they didn't look into the booking and just replied a generic no. I then contacted my travel agent and he was also told they would not do anything.

When he called me back he appeared to be very surprised and even apologetic.

I might just have to bring my own candles....

 

[titfilou]

Mate was in this situation on SQ. Captain presented a birthday card signed by all the crew, and a cake was provided too.

Wow, that's nice. Even though I'm not all too upset by this, getting a "no" before taking the flight certainly doesn't set a good tone. I just really hope the service on board will be excellent.

 

[cove]

It is Bundy Bear's birthday on 11th March. Let him know you are watching out for him.

 

[TomVexille]

I'm also a little surprised that they can't do anything. I get that the logistics would be a little more difficult than for a restaurant, but you're spending a decent chunk of change on this flight.

Maybe have a quiet word to the cabin manager once onboard and see if they can help you out.

 

[phily]

Maybe have a quiet word to the cabin manager once onboard and see if they can help you out.

Yes, you're far more likely to get some assistance from cabin crew, even if it's just several of them singing "Happy Birthday". And bring your own cake if you must, but I expect that either F or J cabins will have some sort of cake on the menu. But don't count on being able to bring your own candles and matches/lighter on board, let alone being able to use them.

 

[erkpod]

I remember starting a thread last year about flying on your birthday & what recognition people got. It ranged from nothing to better service & PA announcements.

I agree with others earlier in relation to having a quiet word with the CSM onboard or whatever they are calling themselves this week.

 

[vetrade]

What the heck, no offense intended but here is what I think.....
No one, apart from you and maybe also your partner (you might be surprised of the answer if you asked him), care if it's his birthday. Why do you expect complete strangers to help you celebrate his birthday? After all he's presumably not a 10 YO.
Given the fact that you are traveling in F isn't it enough to just indulge in the top shelf champers and bask in the knowledge that you are privileged compared to the vast majority of people will never even see the inside of an F cabin, much less travel in it?

 

[Cynicor]

What the heck, no offense intended but here is what I think.....
No one, apart from you and maybe also your partner (you might be surprised of the answer if you asked him), care if it's his birthday. Why do you expect complete strangers to help you celebrate his birthday? After all he's presumably not a 10 YO.
Given the fact that you are traveling in F isn't it enough to just indulge in the top shelf champers and bask in the knowledge that you are privileged compared to the vast majority of people will never even see the inside of an F cabin, much less travel in it?

Wow. While I agree that they may not care, I disagree with pretty much everything else you've typed.

This is not about whether all the Y passengers should be made to bow down while singing happy birthday. If you have a chip about being able to afford first that is your own problem.

This is about someone who has a paid F fare who was looking to see if the airline could help make the flight even more special, but was told "no" and is discussing it here.

 

[titfilou]

What the heck, no offense intended but here is what I think.....
No one, apart from you and maybe also your partner (you might be surprised of the answer if you asked him), care if it's his birthday. Why do you expect complete strangers to help you celebrate his birthday? After all he's presumably not a 10 YO.
Given the fact that you are traveling in F isn't it enough to just indulge in the top shelf champers and bask in the knowledge that you are privileged compared to the vast majority of people will never even see the inside of an F cabin, much less travel in it?

I didn't realise you could only celebrate your Birthday up until 10yrs old!!

I have been in the hospitality industry for a while and have opened and operated several restaurants. Let me tell you something, if we ever forget someone's birthday you can be certain that we would cope a negative review on tripadvisor the day after and receive a 2 page email complaint and on top of that would have to compensate the guest with a voucher. On top of that people expect a table with a view because it's for a birthday and if this isn't done again we get complaints.

I have come up with creative ideas in order to never forget a birthday in the restaurant I run. And yes I understand it's an airline and it may be a little more difficult however if you can carry 300 amenities kit surely you can also carry birthday cards.


As per my original post, I'm not upset by it and this will not ruin my trip... I was just bringing the point to see what other think of this.

 

[drewbles]

I have come up with creative ideas in order to never forget a birthday in the restaurant I run. And yes I understand it's an airline and it may be a little more difficult however if you can carry 300 amenities kit surely you can also carry birthday cards.

With all due respect, I would not expect any airline to carry birthday cards. Think about the number of people flying daily, and how many of them have birthdays on that day. It's simply not viable to have them (at least not with any kind of personalisation).

Then, if it's a religious holiday, do you expect them to carry cards for that? Engagements? Anniversaries? etc etc.

Fine if you want some kind of special recognition, but I don't think it's fair to expect them to go out of their way just because you purchased a scheduled fare. Perhaps as others have mentioned, as the CSM upon boarding. Perhaps take your own card, and ask if it may be possible for the crew to sign it? That might be a nice compromise.

(and for what it's worth, I go out of my way to make sure people *don't* know when my birthday is, I feel zero need to celebrate it but that's mainly as I dislike being the centre of attention, and if people remember my birthday, I feel obliged to remember theirs; at least this way I don't get a gift, and I don't need to remember others ).

 

[vetrade]

Let me tell you something, if we ever forget someone's birthday you can be certain that we would cope a negative review on tripadvisor the day after and receive a 2 page email complaint and on top of that would have to compensate the guest with a voucher. On top of that people expect a table with a view because it's for a birthday and if this isn't done again we get complaints.

Perhaps you didn't realise it, titfilou, but I do hope the irony of your comments has not been lost on you. As you have experienced in your restaurant some people have expectations above and beyond what the service provided usually entails and feel hard done by if they don't get special consideration, even from strangers. So you are forced to "jump through hoops" to accommodate them. From the tone of your reply you seem to realise that the expectations some of your customers put on you are unreasonable and you only agree to them primarily because you want to avoid the repercussions that might come if you don't. And yet you are behaving exactly the same way towards the airline when the shoe is on the other foot and you are the customer!

FWIW on one occasion I happened to be flying on my birthday and was pleasantly surprised when I was given a simple "I see it's your birthday, Dr Vetrade, happy birthday" soon after I took my seat - obviously it came up on the airline's database and they did it as a nice gesture - unsolicited, no fuss, no cake , no candles, no "Happy Birthday to you, happy b'day to you" .....and no card! It's easy for your expectations to be exceeded when you don't have any!

 

[flying_double]

Hopefully the crew can rustle up something special inflight.

I would have thought that a $20 cake (would it even cost that much??) could be a pretty good investment on the airline's part if it helps build loyalty from a very high yielding F passenger. Repeat business is good business, especially at the pointy end of the plane.

 

[tuapekastar]

I would have no expectations of any birthday wishes and it would not bother me if none were forthcoming.
That said, I appreciate that others including yourself have different expectations and I am quite comfortable with that. You have made a proactive attempt to make your partner's day and good on you for that. I presume (guess) that given they are F fares they are fully refundable? If so maybe you have the option to express your displeasure by cancelling and using another carrier instead? And letting EY know exactly why they just lost 22K of revenue (though they may well resell the seats, who knows?).
I understand there may be factors at play like FF schemes, required destination etc. which may make it counter-productive to do so but you do have a little muscle as a customer.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I will be flying F on EY with my partner next month.

As it is his birthday on the day of the flight I thought I would contact EY and organise something such as a small cake.

I received a response stating that they no longer do anything for birthday. I was surprise to get such a response after spending $22k on a flight.

This is not a big deal but I just think if restaurants can do this on a $20 dessert, surely airlines can do this for their first class guests.

Am I expecting too much? Any ideas why they have stopped doing it?

I guess it's a bit petty on their behalf, but since you have paid full fare why not vote with your feet and take another airline? SQ F for example and get a cake

 

[Flying Fox]

With all due respect, I would not expect any airline to carry birthday cards. Think about the number of people flying daily, and how many of them have birthdays on that day. It's simply not viable to have them (at least not with any kind of personalisation).

Then, if it's a religious holiday, do you expect them to carry cards for that? Engagements? Anniversaries? etc etc.

I've had an entire SQ crew sign an F Menu and present that to me. No extra stationery required to be carried.

 

[titfilou]

I would have no expectations of any birthday wishes and it would not bother me if none were forthcoming.
That said, I appreciate that others including yourself have different expectations and I am quite comfortable with that. You have made a proactive attempt to make your partner's day and good on you for that. I presume (guess) that given they are F fares they are fully refundable? If so maybe you have the option to express your displeasure by cancelling and using another carrier instead? And letting EY know exactly why they just lost 22K of revenue (though they may well resell the seats, who knows?).
I understand there may be factors at play like FF schemes, required destination etc. which may make it counter-productive to do so but you do have a little muscle as a customer.

Yes I could do that but at the end of the day I don't think anyone would question why I had cancelled my flight. Plus I may be surprised by the level of service on board.

I will not base my judgement on this, however if I'm not satisfied with the service on board I will certainly change airline for my next trip.