upworthy

air travel

Community

Airline is giving all of its employees a huge bonus equal to 8 months of salary

This is how successful companies do good business.

Image credit: N509FZ

Singapore Airlines employees are getting an enormous profit-sharing bonus.

What makes an airline the "best in the world"? Stellar service, on-time departures, plentiful routes, comfortable seating, reasonable ticket prices, solid safety ratings, good loyalty benefits, etc., right? Those are all things customers look for in an airline, and many of them have given Singapore Airlines the title of "most awarded airline." In 2023, it was named the World's Best Airline by Skytrax World Airline Awards for the fifth time, more than any other airline in the 24-year history of the awards.

Now there's another reason Singapore Airlines is being praised by both flyers and non-flyers alike. After the company announced a record net profit for 2023/2024, a source told CNN in May that the airline was giving all of its employees a bonus equivalent to almost 8 months of salary. Though details of the bonus have not been shared by the company, a similar bonus was awarded to Singapore Airlines employees last year, which was also a record-breaking year for the airline. According to an airline spokesperson who spoke to Business Insider, the bonus is due to "a long-standing annual profit-sharing bonus formula that has been agreed with our staff unions."

Profit-sharing plans provide an added incentive for employees to boost performance, which benefits both employees and employers—as long as those at the top are not determined to hoard all of a company's profits. Singapore Airlines' profit-sharing bonus may be part of its overall compensation package as opposed to a discretionary bonus, but even so, it's a largely unprecedented amount for any company to pay as a bonus, and people have weighed in with their thoughts.

worker pay, economy, paid time off, airlines, air safetyHappy airline employees on the jobImage via Canva

"Smart, this is what keeps employees happy and willing to continue going the extra mile. They are about to have even better coming year now."

"It's not just that it's a bonus....it's the percentage. 8 months of salary is amazing leadership. Wish corporate America would not be so greed with their record profits."

"Paying the staff a bonus, not just the executives, that’s good leadership."

"Congrats to Singapore Airlines! Setting a great example of rewarding employees for their dedication and hard work."

As part of the explanation for its profit of 2.68 billion Singapore dollars ($1.99 billion USD), the airline shared, "The demand for air travel remained buoyant throughout FY2023/24" with a boost by several major Asian countries fully reopening their borders after the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline shared that it carried 36.4 million passengers, a whopping 37.6% increase over the prior year.

Clearly, a lot of people choose Singapore Airlines, but why? What actually makes it the best (or for 2024, second best after Qatar Airways) in the world?

For one, they dominate the awards for First Class travel, which is nice but doesn't really affect the average traveler who flies economy. However, even Singapore's economy experience also miles above most other airlines. Singapore Airlines cabins are known for being well designed, impeccably clean and comparatively comfortable and the crew has a reputation for being friendly, attentive and helpful. (In fact, Singapore Airlines was honored with the World's Best Cabin Crew award by Skytrax in 2024.) People who fly Singapore Airlines frequently tout the experience as feeling like it's in an entirely different class than domestic airlines in the U.S., even when flying economy. The seats, the food, the service both on the ground and in the air—all of it adds up to excellence.

When you provide customers the things they value, keep your employees satisfied and happy with fair profit-sharing incentives, and also operate in a cost-efficient way, it's not surprising when you rank highly for awards across the board. That recognition then leads to more customers seeking you out, further increasing your revenue and ultimately leading you to record profits, which then get shared with employees who work that much harder to ensure that this positive cycle continues.

Amazing how when you put customers and employees first, everyone wins.

This article originally appeared last year.

From Your Site Articles
business
Pop Culture

Former airline employee shares her top hack to make your flight day so much simpler

This is also a game-changer for the people coming to pick you up.

Gustavo Fring/Pexels

One text can make your flight day much easier.

There's no question that booking and tracking flights has gotten so much easier with the advent of the internet and smartphones, but there's a little-known travel hack that makes navigating your actual flight day even simpler.

TikTok creator Darby (@durbinmalonster) shared the No. 1 flight hack she learned when she worked for the airline industry in a video that's been viewed nearly 10 million times in one day. In the caption, she wrote that she learned this trick seven years ago, so it's remarkable that more people aren't aware of it, but that often seems to be the case with iPhone features in particular.

If you have an iPhone (don't worry, Android users, we'll get to your workaround in a moment), and you want to be able to access to your specific flight updates and all of your flight information—including gate and baggage claim numbers—in one click, all you have to do is text yourself your flight number.

The flight number in the text becomes a link. When you click on it, all your real-time flight info comes up. You can also send it to someone who is coming to pick you up so they have easy access to your updated flight info without having to look it up or download an app or anything.

The only two caveats are: 1) It has to include the airline code, so if your flight was American Airlines flight 387, you'd type "AA387" or if it was Alaska flight 294, you'd type "AS294." And 2) Only use this hack the day of your flight, since airlines will often reuse the same flight numbers. If you do it the day before, you might get updates for the wrong flight.

Watch Darby demonstrate how it works:

@durbinmalonster

S/O @Brooke Webster for teaching me this in my bag loading days 7 years ago

Some people were blown away simply by the fact that you can text yourself. Apparently, this is also not common knowledge. As one person wrote, "I’ve learned more on TikTok than 8 years in college."

Some people shared that they text their flight number every time they fly and love it.

"I’ve always done this and made family share with me when they’re flying. My partner didn’t have time between flights once to send his connecting flight in a rush and I was able to find his new flight," shared one person.

"I do this all the time and it’s even better than having the airlines App," offered another. (A lot of people said, "You can just use the airline's app!" but people don't always fly the same airline and there's a good chance you're going to be using your texting app already at the airport, so it's more seamless this way. Plus the benefit of being able to easily text it to someone else.)

"Omg this is so much easier than flight tracker," wrote another.

"Ty but I prefer printing my boarding pass at the kiosk and spending the rest of the time frantically trying to relocate my boarding pass and rechecking the info on it and asking ppl where my gate is," another person joked.

If you're an Android phone user, there's a similar hack that's just one extra step. You can type your flight number into Google, grab the link that comes up, and text that to yourself. Any time you want to check your flight status, just click the link in your texts. And if someone is coming to pick you up, you can text them that same link so they can track your flight in real time.

Technology can make our lives so much better when we actually know how to use it. Thank you, Darby, for the valuable lesson.

From Your Site Articles
travel
Education

Student flies 400 miles to college twice a week because it's cheaper than renting

We're living in strange economic times.

Photo by Bambi Corro on Unsplash

Can flying to college twice a week really be cheaper than renting?

Some students choose to live at home while they go to college to save money on living expenses, but that's generally only an option for families who live in college towns or cities with large universities where a student can easily commute.

For University of British Columbia student Tim Chen, that "easy commute" is more than 400 miles each way.

Twice a week, Chen hops on a flight from his home city of Calgary, flies a little more than an hour to Vancouver to attend his classes, then flies back home the same night. And though it's hard to believe, this routine actually saves him approximately $1,000 a month.

How does that math work? Well, each round trip flight costs around $150, so twice a week puts him at $1,200 a month for flights. Meanwhile, according to CTV, rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is around $2,100 (though according to reporting in the Vancouver Sun, the average 1-bedroom apartment has actually hit a whopping $3,000 a month). Chen had actually been living in Vancouver previously, but gave up his rental when he went on vacation. When he returned, the price on the place he'd been renting had gone up to $2,500.

"I thought, why don't I just stay at Calgary and then just fly here, it’s like a one-hour flight, that’s like the same as taking a bus,” he told CTV.

Chen lives with his parents in Calgary and only pays a small amount for utilities, so despite the cost of flights, commuting by plane is ultimately far cheaper than living in Vancouver.

Plus, imagine how many frequent flier miles he's racking up.

Chen is not the first student to commute to college by commercial airplane. An engineering student who was accepted to a one-year master's program at University of California, Berkeley, flew to school from Los Angeles, where he had an affordable place to live and where he planned to return when his program was finished. Once he crunched the numbers, he realized it would actually save him money to commute by plane to the Bay area and take the train from the airport to campus three times a week rather than live in Berkeley.

In all, that student spent $5592.66 over the 10 months it took him to complete his program, which was less than what he would have paid for just two months living in Berkeley.

We're living in some strange economic times, where people are having to get creative about where and how they live. Some people have discovered that unconventional lifestyles, such as living on a cruise ship, in vacation rentals or at an all-inclusive resort can be less expensive—or just as expensive—as traditional rent or mortgage payments (plus relevant living expenses). And now that more people are able to work remotely—one of the few positives to come out of the pandemic—such alternatives are more doable than ever.

Of course, the "time is money"consideration is real, and the hassle of going to the airport twice a week in the morning and evening like Tim Chen does might not be worth it for some people. But with rent prices nearly 30% higher than they were before the pandemic, more people are in need of creative solutions to cost-of-living conundrums.

Even if that means living at home and hopping a flight to school several hundred miles awaay.

From Your Site Articles
economy
Joy

Travel is changing. Experts say this is the new cheapest day to buy plane tickets.

The last few years have been turbulent. Here's how to get the best deal.

via Omar Prestwich/Unsplash

Passengers getting ready to take off.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the airline industry has been unpredictable, to say the least. From the glut of canceled flights over the past year to changing travel restrictions, travelers haven’t felt too confident flying the friendly skies.

Amidst the turbulence, there are some changes that travelers should consider when booking their flights. Experidia’s “2024 Air Hacks Report” shows that travelers should reconsider how far out in advance they buy their tickets, on which days to make the purchase and the days they travel.

Airline prices rose 22 percent from March 2022 to March 2023, so travelers have to be savvy to get the best deal. The good news is that Expedia says that ticket prices should be cheaper in 2024, although only by around 3 percent.

Cheapest day to fly

According to the report, the cheapest day to depart on your flight has changed recently. It used to be that the cheapest day to get a flight would be Tuesday or Wednesday, in the middle of the week. This is because it’s hard for many folks to get away mid-week because of work considerations. Also, companies that send their employees on trips often do so on weekends these days.

So these days, the cheapest day to fly out has been moved up to Thursday, which isn’t too bad for people looking for a weekend getaway. However, you won’t want to return on Sunday, because that is the most expensive day to fly. Travelers who book their flights on a Thursday save around 16 percent over booking on Sunday.

If you’re looking to take a quick trip to Vegas, it might be best to do a Thursday to Monday trip.

Cheapest day to buy your plane tickets

Sunday may be the most expensive day to depart on your dream vacation, but when buying your plane tickets, it is the least expensive day. The most expensive day to book a flight is on Friday. Travelers who book on a Sunday instead of a Friday can save around 8 percent on their flights.

When to book a flight for the best deal

According to Expedia, the best time to book a domestic flight is 28 days before departure. Travelers who booked 28 days before departure saved 24 percent on average compared to those who waited until the last minute.

The best time to book an international flight is farther out. Expedia says the best time to book international travel is 60 days before departure and no earlier than four months out. Travelers who booked 60 days out saved around 10 percent compared to those who booked further out, as average ticket prices peaked around four months from departure.

If you’re looking to book a big international vacation in 2024, Europe and North America are still hotspots. A recent poll published in The New York Post found that the top 5 places that people want to travel to are Mexico, Canada, and France, which are all tied for first place at 42 percent, followed by Spain (40%), Italy (32%) and Greece (21%).

According to Expedia, the most popular tourist destinations in the United States are New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

From Your Site Articles
air travel
Trending Stories