Your Flight Attendant Is Now Accepting Tips

Use your credit card to buy a taco, a beer or a taxi ride, and it’s very likely the receipt screen will solicit a tip. A few years ago, that same option arrived on airlines, to the chagrin of passengers who remember when most food and drink up there was free.

Frontier Airlines, a pioneer in the tip-your-attendant department, used to split their tips on each flight. As of Jan. 1, however, Frontier’s 2,200 flight attendants no longer pool their gratuities. Now it’s every man and woman for themselves, and perhaps one beneficiary will be the harried airline passenger.