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Lounge access for minor with status

Lounge access for minor with status

Old Sep 21, 2011, 10:17 am
  #16  
 
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Air Canada's position does not seem to be consistent with the law in Ontario. My son (before he turned 19) regularly went with his friends to St Louis or other sports bar/resto chains and just didn't drink.

I saw a 16 year old travelling in J turned away and he explained to the person at the desk that the reason his parents had bought the ticket was so he could wait in the lounge during a layover.
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 10:25 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by MQS007
Air Canada's position does not seem to be consistent with the law in Ontario. My son (before he turned 19) regularly went with his friends to St Louis or other sports bar/resto chains and just didn't drink.

I saw a 16 year old travelling in J turned away and he explained to the person at the desk that the reason his parents had bought the ticket was so he could wait in the lounge during a layover.
At a bar/resto you have bartenders and waiters (staff) that control access to liquor. At the MLL you don't have staff to mend the bar (so to speak). Thats why minors accompanied by adults are allowed in (the liability at that point rests with the guardian to make sure the minors don't indulge in consumption of alcohol). If you don't have a guardian with you then the liability rests with Air Canada. This is probably the reason why AC wouldn't let unaccompanied minors into the lounge.
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 11:09 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by becreative
At a bar/resto you have bartenders and waiters (staff) that control access to liquor. At the MLL you don't have staff to mend the bar (so to speak). Thats why minors accompanied by adults are allowed in (the liability at that point rests with the guardian to make sure the minors don't indulge in consumption of alcohol). If you don't have a guardian with you then the liability rests with Air Canada. This is probably the reason why AC wouldn't let unaccompanied minors into the lounge.
seems to be a good explanation, but still, AC should go out of their way to accomodate the OP with some of the suggestions previously mentioned. good luck!
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 12:13 pm
  #19  
 
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technically they can escort OP to the kids room @ selected MLL

*joking joking*
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 12:52 pm
  #20  
 
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Notwithstanding the silliness of this, I would echo other comments upthread suggesting this.

I would think that you (the OP) should be able to find some adults sitting around by themselves or even milling outside the lounge, and ask them to be your guest into the lounge. You are then accompanied into the lounge by an adult. Unfortunately some adults may decline (we live in an unfortunately suspicious world) but you'll likely find someone. It's a little embarrassing but you perform in front of I'm sure hundreds and thousands at a time, so hopefully you're not too shy
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 12:57 pm
  #21  
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Thanks for your support guys.

Yes, I have tried finding someone, my success rate is 1/3. I think that's pretty low considering how embarrassing it is to mill about. People are, by nature, suspicious of a young guy asking something of them at an airport.
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 1:17 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by jlisi984
Thanks for your support guys.

Yes, I have tried finding someone, my success rate is 1/3. I think that's pretty low considering how embarrassing it is to mill about. People are, by nature, suspicious of a young guy asking something of them at an airport.
your young, your good looking.....must be easy to find someone opposite or same side.....that is 19 or older......

others, i have to agree i would try to avoid too LOL
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 1:19 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by global_happy_traveller
your young, your good looking.....must be easy to find someone opposite or same side.....that is 19 or older......

others, i have to agree i would try to avoid too LOL
"I'm good with my hands. Can I buy you a drink?"
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 1:42 pm
  #24  
 
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i really hope they put effort in to coming up with a reasonable solution for you Jan....to bad your 2012 schedule does not seem to be updated...or you could link it for your upcoming flights.

if they allow slobbering business men to get stone drunk and substantial costs per drink etc. to AC that are not even E's or SE's, surely they can come up with some sort of accomodation for a pax that actually pays........[posted by a slobbering business men who usually gets stone drunk when i have flights that are not in the am out of YYZ and gets in to the lounge based on my charm...well, and some generous FT folks who have lots of lounge passes....]
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 1:44 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by jlisi984
Thanks for your support guys.

Yes, I have tried finding someone, my success rate is 1/3. I think that's pretty low considering how embarrassing it is to mill about. People are, by nature, suspicious of a young guy asking something of them at an airport.
it must really suck to have AC make so many assumptions about you.... i would get pretty PO'd
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 2:22 pm
  #26  
 
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As person who posted the OP is a SE, he/she has access to concierges at most of the airports with MLLs. From your post, I understand that you have spoken to the concierges about getting you into the lounge, with their assistance? What has been their response?
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 2:34 pm
  #27  
 
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What an unusual, and annoying problem. It will be interesting to see how AC resolves the issue.
Jan, if you are ever stuck and I am around, I will gladly help you out. I assume then you are flying more frequently on your own, as you used to be escorted, by a family member.
I am sure any of us here would help you, the difficulty for you is knowing who, when and where, without posting your full itineraries, which you probably would not want to do.
Let us know how it goes and what resolutions are reached.
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 2:40 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by FlyerGoldII
As person who posted the OP is a SE, he/she has access to concierges at most of the airports with MLLs. From your post, I understand that you have spoken to the concierges about getting you into the lounge, with their assistance? What has been their response?
The concierge's have said that they have no power to override that decision.
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 2:42 pm
  #29  
 
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Worse still is CO in DFW and EWR. They have a bar tender and still the lounge dragons wanted to see our photo ID to ensure we are age of majority.

Right we'll get drunk with water, coffee, tea and OJ from your self serve bar!
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Old Sep 21, 2011, 3:10 pm
  #30  
 
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I suspect AC's hands are tied by various liquor laws of the provinces. Out of curiosity I looked up the law in Alberta. It's the Gaming and Liquor Act, available online from the Queen's Printer. Relevant is section 74, Minors on Licensed premises. It implies that there are 2 types of liquor licence, those that allow minors in the premises where liquor is served, and those that do not, but doesn't say so explicitly. Some conditions are set out if the licence does not allow minors on the premises, but is silent if minors are allowed.

Sub-Section 5 for example says:
If a person makes a request for identification under subsection
(1) or (4) and the person who appears to be a minor fails to produce
identification that is satisfactory to the person making the request,
the liquor licensee must

(a) not serve liquor to that person, AND (my bolding and caps)
(b) refuse the person entry or ask the person to leave if the
licence prohibits a minor from entering and being in those
licensed premises.

What the Act does not say is what happens if a licence allows minors on the premises, and the minors do not request liquor. That is the case with the MLL, or say a licensed restaurant, where minors are allowed in, just not allowed to consume alcohol. The prohibitions against serving a minor would apply, but what’s the definition of serving? Is having liquor freely available considered serving? I have no idea. The key seems to be the conditions of the MLL’s liquor licence, which we don’t know.

Maybe the OP could sign an affidavit promising not to consume alcohol in the MLL; would that satisfy the relevant authorities? Again, I have no idea.
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