Mar 7, 2015, 10:20 am
Last edit by: Prospero
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the 
(lower right wiki corner)
Admirals Clubs offer free soft and "lower shelf" alcoholic beverages to all present.
Drinks chits / coupons (date-stamped) for premium level drinks or bottles of water have been given to AAdvantage Platinum and Executive Platinum members departing on international flights. These guests might be given one or two, and more may be forthcoming if requested later. Some drinks might require two chits.
As well, non-AA oneworld Sapphire and Emerald flyers with Club access are also eligible for premium drinks coupons. In response to a communication from a oneworld member denied a drinks coupon (see atramos below):
Admirals Club members, and AAdvantage Platinum or Executive Platinum on purely domestic itineraries (even 321T three class transcont) are ineligible for premium drinks coupons (but those in domestic three class F transcons are Flagship Lounge eligible at LAX and JFK, where premium drinks are included).
(lower right wiki corner)Admirals Clubs offer free soft and "lower shelf" alcoholic beverages to all present.
NOTE: It appears Admirals Clubs will scan boarding passes upon.Club entry and electronic “drink coupons” will be attached to the boarding pass, requiring scanning by the bartender. This appears to be rolling out at Clubs as of August 2019. See Admirals Club Drink Coupons / Chits moving to Boarding Pass scans 2019
As well, non-AA oneworld Sapphire and Emerald flyers with Club access are also eligible for premium drinks coupons. In response to a communication from a oneworld member denied a drinks coupon (see atramos below):
- International First class passengers are allowed 2 drink chits (AA International itineraries include travel to/from Asia, Europe, Mexico city, Central & South America)
- oneworld customers receive one drink chit plus one for a guest
- Transcontinental passengers do not receive drink chits, nor do those on wholly domestic itineraries
- Admirals Club members, US Airways Club members and Citi Executive Admirals Club members do not receive drink chits unless they qualify for club access based on their itinerary or oneworld status.
- Guests may exchange a premium drink chit for any drink – this includes a Naked Juice Smoothie or bottled water.
Admirals Club Drink Chit / Chits / Coupons 2014-2019, Drink Chit Nostalgia
Apr 22, 2017, 7:33 pm
#121
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
Apr 22, 2017, 9:28 pm
#122
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Mar 2, 2019, 10:41 pm
#123
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,670
SFO lounge agent just said that only F and not J gets drink chits SFO-JFK. Was she right? I got chits at DCA on the way out (flying DCA-JFK-SFO, Flagship J)... was I just lucky? (Haven't had the issue come up before I guess... have definitely gotten them here when in F, and FL makes chits unnecessary at LAX/JFK.)
Mar 3, 2019, 7:44 am
#124
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: UA 1K and PP, AA PPro (3MM, former CK), Marriott Ambassador and LTT, Uber One
Posts: 1,348
SFO lounge agent just said that only F and not J gets drink chits SFO-JFK. Was she right? I got chits at DCA on the way out (flying DCA-JFK-SFO, Flagship J)... was I just lucky? (Haven't had the issue come up before I guess... have definitely gotten them here when in F, and FL makes chits unnecessary at LAX/JFK.)
Last edited by ikwia; Mar 3, 2019 at 8:45 am
Mar 4, 2019, 3:14 pm
#125
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 47
I don't drink alcohol so never use my drink chits unless I get a bottled water which seems such a waste. I often wonder what to do with them so I usually find someone that is obviously drinking and give them away. It feels a little awkward though and wonder is it better to just leave them on a table? I don't want the cleaning staff to nab them. Too many posts here to read all of them to see if this has been asked before.. thanks!
Mar 4, 2019, 8:10 pm
#126
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
I don't drink alcohol so never use my drink chits unless I get a bottled water which seems such a waste. I often wonder what to do with them so I usually find someone that is obviously drinking and give them away. It feels a little awkward though and wonder is it better to just leave them on a table? I don't want the cleaning staff to nab them. Too many posts here to read all of them to see if this has been asked before.. thanks!
In some lounges, there are bottles of juice or Pellegrino as options.
Giving them away will probably alway make people happy!
You can also hide them and post in this Treasure Hunt thread: Admirals Club Treasure Hunt (drink chit / chits / coupons, etc.) master thread 2017+
Mar 4, 2019, 10:32 pm
#127
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,670
I don't drink alcohol so never use my drink chits unless I get a bottled water which seems such a waste. I often wonder what to do with them so I usually find someone that is obviously drinking and give them away. It feels a little awkward though and wonder is it better to just leave them on a table? I don't want the cleaning staff to nab them. Too many posts here to read all of them to see if this has been asked before.. thanks!
Recently I was at an AC and watched about 20 pax (probably all on the same flight, they all came in around the same time and all had a Brazilian Portuguese accent) each turn in their chits for a bottle of water. As I sat there drinking house swill. I wanted to say "hey let me buy you that water and I'll take that coupon off your hands and here's a couple bucks for your trouble" -- but social norms and all that. Classic market inefficiency working as an obstacle to Coasian bargaining.
Mar 5, 2019, 7:57 am
#128
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 47
In some lounges, there are bottles of juice or Pellegrino as options.
Giving them away will probably alway make people happy!
You can also hide them and post in this Treasure Hunt thread: Admirals Club Treasure Hunt (drink chit / chits / coupons, etc.) master thread 2017+
Giving them away will probably alway make people happy!
You can also hide them and post in this Treasure Hunt thread: Admirals Club Treasure Hunt (drink chit / chits / coupons, etc.) master thread 2017+
Mar 16, 2019, 4:24 am
#129
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Programs: AA-EXP, Marriott(T)
Posts: 208
I flew internationally out of Charlotte last week. They have introduced a new airport-wide Chit system (Bananas!)
Drink vouchers for elites/biz class, etc are tracked by your boarding pass and limited to "Two per airport". I arrived in B and headed in there quickly to check out the renovations, but the voucher system "works" across the two clubs at Charlotte. The rationale (explained to me) was based on greedy guests trying to get more free drinks or to prevent transferability. So they now have a new software system that tracks you.
On the practical end of it, it's a bit of a mess. You walk up to the bar, place and order, then they ask for your boarding pass to see if you have enough credits on your ticket.
Then they walk back, hand you your boarding pass and then begin to make the drink. Ok, so it adds about 15 -30 seconds to each order, but it does slow down the order even when working well.
Two hooks: The system is already buggy. At the larger club, the system didn't read my pass so the bartender had to type in my full name to pull up my credits. The system had also crashed a few times.
For mobile boarding passes, you have to hand over your phone for the bartender to walk over to the scanner behind the bar. I can imagine some people not wanting to do that, but I can also imagine phones being dropped.
I can understand why AA wants to track the comped drinks, but the system doesn't seem to be well implemented. How many other clubs have this system?
V
Drink vouchers for elites/biz class, etc are tracked by your boarding pass and limited to "Two per airport". I arrived in B and headed in there quickly to check out the renovations, but the voucher system "works" across the two clubs at Charlotte. The rationale (explained to me) was based on greedy guests trying to get more free drinks or to prevent transferability. So they now have a new software system that tracks you.
On the practical end of it, it's a bit of a mess. You walk up to the bar, place and order, then they ask for your boarding pass to see if you have enough credits on your ticket.
Then they walk back, hand you your boarding pass and then begin to make the drink. Ok, so it adds about 15 -30 seconds to each order, but it does slow down the order even when working well.
Two hooks: The system is already buggy. At the larger club, the system didn't read my pass so the bartender had to type in my full name to pull up my credits. The system had also crashed a few times.
For mobile boarding passes, you have to hand over your phone for the bartender to walk over to the scanner behind the bar. I can imagine some people not wanting to do that, but I can also imagine phones being dropped.
I can understand why AA wants to track the comped drinks, but the system doesn't seem to be well implemented. How many other clubs have this system?
V
Mar 17, 2019, 12:21 pm
#131
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum (3MM), QF Lifetime Gold, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, Ex-Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 7,541
I flew internationally out of Charlotte last week. They have introduced a new airport-wide Chit system (Bananas!)
Drink vouchers for elites/biz class, etc are tracked by your boarding pass and limited to "Two per airport". I arrived in B and headed in there quickly to check out the renovations, but the voucher system "works" across the two clubs at Charlotte. The rationale (explained to me) was based on greedy guests trying to get more free drinks or to prevent transferability. So they now have a new software system that tracks you.
On the practical end of it, it's a bit of a mess. You walk up to the bar, place and order, then they ask for your boarding pass to see if you have enough credits on your ticket.
Then they walk back, hand you your boarding pass and then begin to make the drink. Ok, so it adds about 15 -30 seconds to each order, but it does slow down the order even when working well.
Two hooks: The system is already buggy. At the larger club, the system didn't read my pass so the bartender had to type in my full name to pull up my credits. The system had also crashed a few times.
For mobile boarding passes, you have to hand over your phone for the bartender to walk over to the scanner behind the bar. I can imagine some people not wanting to do that, but I can also imagine phones being dropped.
I can understand why AA wants to track the comped drinks, but the system doesn't seem to be well implemented. How many other clubs have this system?
V
Drink vouchers for elites/biz class, etc are tracked by your boarding pass and limited to "Two per airport". I arrived in B and headed in there quickly to check out the renovations, but the voucher system "works" across the two clubs at Charlotte. The rationale (explained to me) was based on greedy guests trying to get more free drinks or to prevent transferability. So they now have a new software system that tracks you.
On the practical end of it, it's a bit of a mess. You walk up to the bar, place and order, then they ask for your boarding pass to see if you have enough credits on your ticket.
Then they walk back, hand you your boarding pass and then begin to make the drink. Ok, so it adds about 15 -30 seconds to each order, but it does slow down the order even when working well.
Two hooks: The system is already buggy. At the larger club, the system didn't read my pass so the bartender had to type in my full name to pull up my credits. The system had also crashed a few times.
For mobile boarding passes, you have to hand over your phone for the bartender to walk over to the scanner behind the bar. I can imagine some people not wanting to do that, but I can also imagine phones being dropped.
I can understand why AA wants to track the comped drinks, but the system doesn't seem to be well implemented. How many other clubs have this system?
V
Mar 17, 2019, 4:05 pm
#132
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: UA 1K and PP, AA PPro (3MM, former CK), Marriott Ambassador and LTT, Uber One
Posts: 1,348
Sure sounds that way. That’s a poor policy given the length of many international connections. It seems that someone is very concerned about premium drink costs. First they eliminated them for CK, now this. IMHO, locations (especially hubs) without FLs should be trying to make up for that as best they can, with free premium drinks being one reasonable way.
Mar 18, 2019, 3:41 pm
#133
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Programs: AA-EXP, Marriott(T)
Posts: 208
Yep. Two premium drinks per airport. I'm not sure but I think it's also limited to the premium passenger alone. When I had my spouse traveling with me previously we were each handed paper chits. Now it seems to be connected solely to the passenger boarding pass.
