JohnnyJet reminds that some airlines will provide you with special treats just for letting them know that it’s your birthday.
For instance SkyTeam and Delta partner Korean Air will give you a complimentary cake on board to commemorate special occasions. This is available only on flights departing from South Korea and they will only give you cake on one segment of a trip, don’t expect to book a roundtrip connecting through Seoul and have cake both ways!
Cakes for birthdays or honeymoons are offered to flights departing from Korea and will be provided during only one segment of an entire trip.
Korean Air isn’t the only airline that will do this. For instance,
- Cathay Pacific offers birthday cake for HKD300 (~ US$38).
- Emirates will let you special order a birthday cake as long as you do it at least 48 hours prior to flight. This used to be free but as of a couple of years ago I believe they charge $30.
- Singapore Airlines offers inflight birthday cake if requested in advance, though this isn’t a published perk.
I’m not sure I’d spend money to order a birthday cake for myself. However it’s a really nice treat to surprise someone else with that’s not expecting it. After all, though you do give an airline your date of birth, who expects them to pay attention to it?
Indeed I’ve never done this for myself, I’ve never been delivered a birthday cake by a hotel on my birthday either. However I was oddly recognized at the W Doha and at the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, the latter even involved (quite delicious) cake.
Since you can order a cake, I wonder when airlines will begin offering dog food to help feed the airborne emotional support animals.
Thanks for the love!
Remember when PanAm gifted a small 2 tier with cake topper wedding cake for Honeymooners.
A cupcake might be nice for other airlines to get into the act
I flew on Qatar from Sofia to Doha a few years ago and the lady next to me was having her birthday, she had been upgraded next to me in business class by the airline at check-in for her birthday, while her family remained in coach haha.
I did this for my sister when she flew Emirates several years ago (2011?) when it was free. You just need the confirmation/reservation number to do it. She loved the gesture but did tell me that the cake was dry so she didn’t finish it. lol. Nonetheless it’s an awesome gesture of feeling loved while up in the air. I’m glad they are still offering this service but sucks that you have to pay $30 for it (cake was round and small… probably can feed at most 2 people.)
My best friend flew on Air France in economy and I surprised her to the a la carte menu Jean Imbert for $25 and it was definitely worth the $ (again you do need the reservation number).
Hong Kong Airlines will do this as well — but it’s ~$38 for not-very-good cake.
Smiles were worth it though!
I’ve traveled a couple meaningful trips on my Birthday. in 2914 or so I spent my whole birthday flying on AA or at ORD – I was using a special 1st fare from LAX to Tokyo. I flew DCA-LAX then back on the red eye to Chicago to start my Birthday. After a few hours at ORD I flew to Tokyo towards the end of the day over Alaska I had a piece of the office Bday cake with china setup by the FA.
The other time I left Honk Kong at 00:30 on my Bday carrying a piece of the Bday cake from the Intercontinental, Flew to Frankfurt with a stop at the FCT then home to IAD that Birthday lasted 36 hours. 🙂
The other day, QR provided a cake in business class for a couple on their honeymoon.
Turkish offers this too, free for Miles & Smiles members: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-us/miles-and-smiles/features/celebration-cake/index.html
You can also order one on Turkish Airlines, and as Miles and Smiles Elite Plus member it is for free. Did that last year and was delicious.
Such a cool surprise for someone you love. That’s a really credible attempt at your logo on the cake. Kudos to the hotel for that effort!
Mandarin Oriental Taiwan and KL have the best birthday cakes.