Originally Posted by
leiserom
Somewhat unrelated but I was in the KrisFlyer lounge at SYD the other day. They have a self service bar(no bartender). I have never seen this in the USA. I guess laws in US don't allow this to prevent underage drinking.
This was first time I ever saw a self service bar with beer and hard liquor.
Once upon a time United had a business lounge in MIA, came along with their PAN AM routes to South and Central America. For whatever reason the bar was entirely self serve. The International First Class lounges (now closed) at JFK, LAX, ORD and SFO all had self serve liquor, wine and beer. I cannot remember the set up at SEA and EWR, it's been too long. My impression has been that the purpose of the bartender was to regulate and control the flow of drinks. As an example, I once witnessed a passenger in the ORD IFL pour a good half bottle of rose champagne into a child's thermos to take on board. He explained to those of us who witnessed the class operation that it took the FAs too long to get to serving drinks in the air and he did not want to lose his buzz.