Buy Someone a Drink on the Plane: 7 Benefit You Get

In the era of passenger shaming and air rage, we want to bring civility back to our once friendly skies. There is one tool at our disposal that will help do just that — alcohol. Alcohol can and should be used as social lubrication and an excellent bargaining tool. Don’t be mad. Be generous.

I fly at least 50 hours a month, and I can tell you that purchasing mini bottles of vodka has helped me maintain my sanity on many a flight — and I don’t even drink! Here are a few times when buying someone a drink on a plane will work to your benefit.

1. When you don’t want them to recline. This trick works nine times out of 10. I work on planes, and when someone reclines I can hardly get my laptop open. I used to just politely ask the person in front of me if they would mind not reclining their seat. That only worked about two out of 10 times. Now I politely offer to buy them a drink or two at the outset of a flight. The $14 is worth the productivity I get from being able to keep my computer open, and frankly most people would rather have free booze than an extra 3 inches.

2. When your baby cries. Our executive editor, Laura Begley Bloom, swears by this. If you have a fussy baby, the people in your row are much more likely to be understanding if you get them a little bit tipsy.

3. When you want to strike up a conversation. So what if you aren’t at a bar. You are spending the next five hours next to this person. Offering to buy them a drink is a nice way to break the ice.

4. When you don’t want to talk to someone. I always sit next to the talkers. These are the people who won’t stop chatting away even after I put my noise-canceling headphones on. It’s rude to ask someone to stop talking to you. It is less rude if you say it with a drink. Just tell them you want to sleep or work or listen to music, but that you want to make sure they enjoy their flight. So offer them a drink. They will likely be quiet yet not resentful for the rest of the flight.

5. When someone is snoring. It’s worth a shot. Try waking them up and handing them a beer. In my personal experience it works half the time you try it.

6. When you want to switch seats. Sometimes one drink isn’t enough to get this done. Sometimes you have to offer to pay for someone’s cocktails for the entire flight. Still, if the window is worth it to you, why not give it a shot … or six.

7. When you have the window seat and you have to go to the bathroom a lot. Just buy a round for your seatmates. It will make them much more amenable to getting up once an hour.