FA withholding, measuring or commenting on in air alcoholic drinks
Dec 26, 2018, 8:57 am
#46
Join Date: Jan 2003
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I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that Uncle Nonny was joking, and I agree with you: it was a class act.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:01 am
#47
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A few mentions in this thread refer to younger FA's who may be new to the profession or over cautious to protect their jobs. In my case, the FA was in her mid 50's on a mainline flight that used to be a USAirways route ex PHL. Not sure if the FA's are now freely moving about the full network or if they've stayed more or less within their former route structure/bases that they were in pre-merger.
And of course, I have no idea how long she had been a flight attendant.
And of course, I have no idea how long she had been a flight attendant.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:05 am
#48
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Looking at this one from the attendant's POV for a moment. I'd certainly be wary to say the least, when a PAX orders a double shot of straight spirits, then comes down back to the galley with a cup asking for another hit.
That would set off alarm bells, and I can understand the response.
That would set off alarm bells, and I can understand the response.
Sounds like the FA was either 1) lazy, or 2) didn't agree with your level of alcohol consumption and was trying to limit you based on his/her beliefs. Neither is OK. The only acceptable reason for not serving you should be that you appeared intoxicated.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:06 am
#49
Join Date: Oct 2018
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Sounds lazy. I wonder who she gives those drinks to, considering she "doesn't know you". After an hour twenty in a dry tube I'd want another drink too. Whats the point of MCE if you're denied drinks because the FA was lazy or you weren't her friend. I'd write in and report the FA. Clearly, due to her response, there was no other reason for you not to being served other than her not knowing you.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:06 am
#50
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Not where I come from.
It always is a judgement call. I have cut people off when I think that they've had enough. What I would never do is spout some infantile nonsense about "rules". I'd be straight and tell them why. What I would never do is sit at the back of a cabin playing games on my phone and then talk to a passenger in such a condescending nannyish manner.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:17 am
#51
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Dec 26, 2018, 9:22 am
#52
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FAs need to stop making up rules
FA's making up "rules", typically to avoid confrontation and/or to make their jobs easier, is a real problem, but this isn't an example of that particular problem. Having their own rule of thumb does strike me as a sensible approach (and in the OP's case, the FA of course ultimately bent her rule of thumb, which seems appropriate). FA's function as bartenders, but it isn't their primary job; I think it is appropriate for them to err much more on the side of limiting consumption than would a bartender in a real bar.
Edit: correct a “doesn’t” to “does”.
Last edited by ashill; Dec 26, 2018 at 11:13 am
Dec 26, 2018, 9:23 am
#53
Join Date: Dec 2018
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On a recent midcon route (on an E190) I was seated in row 5 (MCE). When the FA came through with the cart about 45 minutes into the flight, I asked for a double Titos on the rocks with a lemon or lime. They rarely have any fruit on the coach cart, and usually can get some from the F galley, but they also weren't catered with it.
She asked me "you want 2 Titos?" and I said "yes, please". Mind you, I hadn't had a drink in days so there weren't any signs of intoxication. She gave me the drink and that was that.
I nursed it while watching some content on my tablet. About 45 minutes later, I got up to use the rear lav and took my empty cup back to ask for a refill. I initially didn't see her(or anyone) in the rear galley because she was sitting in the last row of coach playing a game on her phone. She did look up and see me and told me that someone was in the lav, which I already saw by the latch on the door in the "do not enter" position. I asked for another double and she pointed out that it's a short flight (blocked 2.5 hours) and then said "I don't know you", so she would only give me a single for the remainder of the flight. I pointed out to her that I was not driving upon arrival and she reiterated that she didn't know me.
I didn't push the issue because that would likely lead to me getting nothing. I wondered if she enforces her own limits on F passengers, if she ever works that cabin.
I know that the FA has their own discretion on when and to whom to serve alcohol, though that's typically based on the passenger's demeanor. I hadn't been drinking prior to the flight nor was I doing anything to call attention to myself with any bad behavior. She never mentioned the limit was due to me being in MCE. She simply said that she usually serves only one drink per hour and since I had a double already, she wasn't initially going to give me another until she "let" me have a single.
Not the end of the world, but seems that I got a flight with an overly conservative FA when it came to drink service. Or maybe she was annoyed to be interrupted from her game.
She asked me "you want 2 Titos?" and I said "yes, please". Mind you, I hadn't had a drink in days so there weren't any signs of intoxication. She gave me the drink and that was that.
I nursed it while watching some content on my tablet. About 45 minutes later, I got up to use the rear lav and took my empty cup back to ask for a refill. I initially didn't see her(or anyone) in the rear galley because she was sitting in the last row of coach playing a game on her phone. She did look up and see me and told me that someone was in the lav, which I already saw by the latch on the door in the "do not enter" position. I asked for another double and she pointed out that it's a short flight (blocked 2.5 hours) and then said "I don't know you", so she would only give me a single for the remainder of the flight. I pointed out to her that I was not driving upon arrival and she reiterated that she didn't know me.
I didn't push the issue because that would likely lead to me getting nothing. I wondered if she enforces her own limits on F passengers, if she ever works that cabin.
I know that the FA has their own discretion on when and to whom to serve alcohol, though that's typically based on the passenger's demeanor. I hadn't been drinking prior to the flight nor was I doing anything to call attention to myself with any bad behavior. She never mentioned the limit was due to me being in MCE. She simply said that she usually serves only one drink per hour and since I had a double already, she wasn't initially going to give me another until she "let" me have a single.
Not the end of the world, but seems that I got a flight with an overly conservative FA when it came to drink service. Or maybe she was annoyed to be interrupted from her game.
Dec 26, 2018, 9:33 am
#54
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I know I'm in the minority, but I personally don't drink much and don't understand why people feel a pressing need to drink a lot. I'm not saying the OP would die without 4 drinks, but I know people who would. I never order a double although occasionally I've ordered a Jack and ginger and had the FA hand me a can of Canada Dry and two J.D. minis. I guess I'd personally side with anything that keeps the level of intoxication down, because the main problem with drunks is that you can't negotiate with one.
I've been falling-down drunk a few times in my life, not many, and I was an Uber driver for a couple of years and I would not infrequently get passengers early in the evening who were reveling in the fact that they could get falling-down drunk since they weren't driving. Again, not something I would regard as an aspiration. Dinner at Morton's and the opera, or perhaps an upscale whorehouse, yes, but three sheets to the wind, no.
I guess I'm siding with the FA for erring on the side of caution. I agree there is probably no fixed rule, but it seems as good a reason as any to say "I don't know you and I don't want to take the chance that you'll get trashed and lead to an incident."
Seriously, who would you rather deny service to, someone who's just had two drinks, or someone who's just had six? We know which one you should, but which would be a profoundly more unpleasant experience?
I've been falling-down drunk a few times in my life, not many, and I was an Uber driver for a couple of years and I would not infrequently get passengers early in the evening who were reveling in the fact that they could get falling-down drunk since they weren't driving. Again, not something I would regard as an aspiration. Dinner at Morton's and the opera, or perhaps an upscale whorehouse, yes, but three sheets to the wind, no.
I guess I'm siding with the FA for erring on the side of caution. I agree there is probably no fixed rule, but it seems as good a reason as any to say "I don't know you and I don't want to take the chance that you'll get trashed and lead to an incident."
Seriously, who would you rather deny service to, someone who's just had two drinks, or someone who's just had six? We know which one you should, but which would be a profoundly more unpleasant experience?
Dec 26, 2018, 10:09 am
#55
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Sorry but I do not care about your personal drinking habits or your need to hold them over others.
If it's a Friday afternoon I want a bloody drink, its not up to the FA to make up rules.
However I have experienced this level of union induced laziness before and I have always used "before you ask I am taking a limo/taxi home" and then have never had deal with this silliness for the rest of the trip.
If it's a Friday afternoon I want a bloody drink, its not up to the FA to make up rules.
However I have experienced this level of union induced laziness before and I have always used "before you ask I am taking a limo/taxi home" and then have never had deal with this silliness for the rest of the trip.
Dec 26, 2018, 10:16 am
#56
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It's only follow-up commentators who brought up the idea that either flight attendant described this as a "rule", as in something that they suggested was required by AA policy, the FAA, or their training. They merely suggested (as I read it) that one drink an hour is a rule of thumb that they personally use to judge alcohol consumption in their mandatory side role as bartender, a rule of thumb that might have been suggested in training, consistent with the standard rule of thumb for roughly maintaining sufficient sobriety to drive.
FA's making up "rules", typically to avoid confrontation and/or to make their jobs easier, is a real problem, but this isn't an example of that particular problem. Having their own rule of thumb doesn't really strike me as a sensible approach (and in the OP's case, the FA of course ultimately bent her rule of thumb, which seems appropriate). FA's function as bartenders, but it isn't their primary job; I think it is appropriate for them to err much more on the side of limiting consumption than would a bartender in a real bar.
+1; that particular attitude is more problematic. If the FA is restricting alcohol consumption based on a concern that the customer is intoxicated, it shouldn't matter whether the FA knows the customer. And I suspect that even if the FA knows the customer, they don't know them well enough to really judge alcohol tolerance, so it again shouldn't matter.
FA's making up "rules", typically to avoid confrontation and/or to make their jobs easier, is a real problem, but this isn't an example of that particular problem. Having their own rule of thumb doesn't really strike me as a sensible approach (and in the OP's case, the FA of course ultimately bent her rule of thumb, which seems appropriate). FA's function as bartenders, but it isn't their primary job; I think it is appropriate for them to err much more on the side of limiting consumption than would a bartender in a real bar.
+1; that particular attitude is more problematic. If the FA is restricting alcohol consumption based on a concern that the customer is intoxicated, it shouldn't matter whether the FA knows the customer. And I suspect that even if the FA knows the customer, they don't know them well enough to really judge alcohol tolerance, so it again shouldn't matter.
Dec 26, 2018, 10:28 am
#57
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One time during a ~4hr flight in FC on UA, the FA #1 refused to serve us alcohol after meal service because despite our high tolerance, he believed we "had too much to drink". 2 scotches and 1 wine? We were baffled by the remark, told FA #2 about how we in no way were acting nor appearing intoxicated, and she went to the galley to talk to him (and probably also saw our flyer status). A couple minutes later, he came out and apologized to us claiming he believed we appeared intoxicated, that FA's have to make judgement calls based on passengers' alcohol tolerance levels, and they "try to not have things get out of hand". Talk about making a fool out of oneself. He then asked us what we wanted to drink.
Regardless of airline, FA's can act like they are the king of judgment void of any lapses, and every now and then you're bound to run into one and have to deal with them.
We also encountered a FA who refused to serve the whole FC cabin for the remainder of the flight due to her "union break". That was interesting.
Regardless of airline, FA's can act like they are the king of judgment void of any lapses, and every now and then you're bound to run into one and have to deal with them.
We also encountered a FA who refused to serve the whole FC cabin for the remainder of the flight due to her "union break". That was interesting.
Last edited by DBam; Dec 26, 2018 at 10:35 am Reason: add content
Dec 26, 2018, 10:31 am
#58
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I'll give the FA a break here.
There's a lot of air rage in the news lately and much of it involves alcohol so for a FA to be cautious seems fine for me. That's not saying there was anything wrong with OP's asking. But, she did give a double the first time around without an issue and it is a fairly short flight.
And ... obviously alcohol isn't a direct source of air rage ... if so, we'd have more problems in F
Instead, it seems to be a bigger issue on Spirit/Frontier/Ryanair where nothing is free.
There's a lot of air rage in the news lately and much of it involves alcohol so for a FA to be cautious seems fine for me. That's not saying there was anything wrong with OP's asking. But, she did give a double the first time around without an issue and it is a fairly short flight.
And ... obviously alcohol isn't a direct source of air rage ... if so, we'd have more problems in F
Instead, it seems to be a bigger issue on Spirit/Frontier/Ryanair where nothing is free.
Dec 26, 2018, 10:43 am
#59
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Virginia
Posts: 292
Since we are telling drinking stories, most of the time things are "just fine" and not interesting one way or the other, but I do remember one J trip to LHR where I wasn't following by the playbook and going to bed after dinner like everyone else. I was about halfway through the movie, no FA in sight so I steeled myself and pressed the call button. FA arrives and I ask for some Port. She isn't overtly hostile or anything, but she definitely paused for a beat where I could see her wheels turning probably thinking something like "I can't believe he called me over here for this". She leaves and returns a few minutes later with my wine. Now, Port is pretty high proof and meant to be sipped in small amounts. She served me a giant glass of the stuff. It was so much that I laughed when she brought it over. I thanked her and that was that. I didn't even try to finish it all, and for some reason fell asleep shortly thereafter.
And then there was a LUS flight where the FA kept bringing so many Tanqueray bottles to my seat mate and I that we must've left with 8 of the things still unopened. That was one for the books.
But yes, 3 drinks on that "short" flight doesn't strike me as anything to worry about. Making up the rules and the I don't "know" you is the most curious part. If that really were a rule, then a lot of her "friends" are breaking it every day. If an actual bartender in the AA Lounge will serve unlimited numbers of drinks pre-flight, then I don't need the FAs to be the morality police when someone is minding their own business and playing on their iPad.
fell asleep shortly thereafter. And then there was a LUS flight where the FA kept bringing so many Tanqueray bottles to my seat mate and I that we must've left with 8 of the things still unopened. That was one for the books.
But yes, 3 drinks on that "short" flight doesn't strike me as anything to worry about. Making up the rules and the I don't "know" you is the most curious part. If that really were a rule, then a lot of her "friends" are breaking it every day. If an actual bartender in the AA Lounge will serve unlimited numbers of drinks pre-flight, then I don't need the FAs to be the morality police when someone is minding their own business and playing on their iPad.
Dec 26, 2018, 10:46 am
#60
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I remember flying SYD/LAX years ago on QF in Y. The guy next to me was ordering doubles every 15 minutes and the FA was simply serving them. Within a space of a few hours he had nearly 20 drinks. I kept thinking when is the FA going to cut him off. I had visions of him puking all over the cabin (and possibly on me) and what that would mean on what would be more than ten hours to go. There aren't many places to easily divert in the middle of the Pacific. Luckily this guy finally passed out but his snoring could have woken up the dead.