Apparently Delta Has Been Doling Out Secret Trading Cards
The airline's been doing this for a while, but the cards now have the attention of TikTok.
Maybe you've known about it for a long time, or maybe—if you're like me—you just recently found out about this. Apparently, you can collect really cool-looking trading cards on Delta flights, which depict different planes. And how did I find out about this, you ask? The answer is simple: TikTok.
In a video that recently went viral on the platform, a passenger addresses the plane's captain and inquires about the Delta Air Lines trading cards. "Hello captain, may I please get a trading card?" he asks in the video. "You know what, I think my first officer has one," says the captain without batting an eye. "I've run out on this trip, but I think he has them right here, so let's go ask him." In the next video scene, the passenger proudly shows his first Delta trading card, featuring a 747 plane. "Oh my God, thank you so much," he says, excitedly.
Apparently, this has been going on for years, but not many travelers know about it. As one user points out in the comments, Delta has been doing this since the early 2000s. If you're wondering if other airlines jumped on the same collectibles train, it looks like they haven't—and that this is a Delta special. "Southwest just gave me a post-it note and wrote 'trading card,'" jokes one user in the comments.
The next time you're on a Delta flight, make sure you ask the crew. But be ready for disappointment—more and more people know about this hack now, and the crew might run out of cards by the time you ask. As a Delta flight attendant notes, "[I] had 2 grown men ask for trading cards yesterday and literally said 'This must've gone viral somewhere.'" Sure enough, the above TikTok video has over 17 million views as of this writing.
If all else fails and the pilot on your next Delta flight is out of the cards, you can always head to eBay where various Delta trading cards are being listed for sale for as low as $5.