A Spirit Airlines flight attendant came to the rescue of a passenger’s wallet after he asked for water onboard his flight.
Popular TikToker Dalton Smiley (@dalton.smiley) says a flight attendant helpfully prevented him from spending $5 on water by sharing with him a “secret money saving hack.”
“So on my Spirit Airlines flight today I asked for a water. To my mistake, it was $5. My flight attendant was so kind. He gave me a little tip that you can ask for ice and just wait for it to melt. And that’s free. That is free,” Smiley says in the viral TikTok.
“Like, how kind was that man to tell me that? Like what?” he exclaims.
In turn, Smiley, who has over 842,000 followers, says he wanted to share the hack “with the world.” His video has over 80,000 views.
Does Spirit really charge $5 for water?
According to its in-flight menu, Spirit Airlines does charge $4.49 for a bottle of Dasani water. The airline offers complimentary food and beverages to passengers who choose to upgrade their seats at booking.
Since most major airlines offer complimentary water on flights to all passengers, viewers are shocked to learn that Spirit charges for it.
“I get paying for every other beverage but water is bizarre,” one said.
“I don’t get how legally amusement parks have to provide free water but airlines don’t while you’re literally captive,” another said.
The “ice-to-water” hack has been shared by other Spirit Airlines customers in the past. Viewers argued that paying for water is just a hidden cost of flying with a budget airline.
Ice concerns
Viewers who commented on Smiley’s video expressed concerns over this hack, questioning the cleanliness of ice on planes. “But also doesn’t the ice on airplanes have more bacteria than toilets? So…that’s fun,” one said.
“I don’t trust the ice though,” another wrote.
Flight attendants, weighing in on the debate in the past, have also disagreed about whether ice on planes is safe to consume.
One flight attendant said in 2023 that she would never consume ice on a flight. “Not everyone wears gloves even though, you know, you’re supposed to,” she said at the time. “Sometimes, people take the ice bags…[and] they’ll throw it on the floor to break the ice.”
But another flight attendant in 2024 aimed to set “the airplane ice rumors straight.” She argued that the ice is “one of the cleaning things on the plane” since it comes “fresh in bags and clean.”
A 2017 study found that airplane ice contains quite a bit of bacteria. And the complimentary water most airlines offer isn’t any better, a separate, highly cited 2019 study—it’s been cited by the likes of Food Republic, Allrecipes, and Travel & Leisure—found.
So maybe that $5 bottle of water is worth its high price point.
How else can you get ‘complimentary’ water on a plane?
Some viewers claimed that if a traveler has medication they need to take on a flight, airlines are “legally required” to provide them with water. This isn’t exactly true. While an airline would likely not turn down a traveler water in the event of a medical emergency, those with medical conditions are expected to bring their own medically necessary liquids, like water, with them.
According to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rules, if water is deemed “medically necessary” for a flier, they can bring it through the TSA checkpoint. To do this, the amount has to be “reasonable,” and the flier has to inform the TSA officers of any medically necessary liquids, gels, and aerosols at the checkpoint.
There is one instance in which U.S. airlines “must” give food and water to passengers, though, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s when there is a tarmac delay of two hours.
Bring your own cup?
Others think the hassle of securing water on flights isn’t worth it and encouraged fliers to travel with an empty water bottle instead, which is allowed by the TSA.
“Bring your own empty cup through tsa, stop and get ice and water from a bar,” one said.
“It’s free to bring water on. I need people to stop complaining about my spirit. I need them to stay cheap. … Bring an empty water bottle to the airport fill it up at the water bottle stations and bring it onto the plane. It’s worth it for $25 tickets to see my grandmother,” another wrote in defense of Spirit Airlines.
The Daily Dot reached out to both Spirit Airlines and Smiley via email.
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