pnwjet

Just a thought for the under 21 set around lounge access. Take inventory of what you are wearing. Even a blazer adds enough class for most agents to think "age appropriate".

Man_Utd_Fan

wow...

orbitmic

layz

All countries have their fair share of stupid laws.

DWFI

+1 works wonders.

1010101

I used to find a pencilled on moustache and talking in a gruff voice helped too

chehk

Well yes I am American yet I grew up outside the US and only reside in the US for 1-2 months per year.

I think that it's absolutely ridiculous that persons between the age of 18 and 21 are entrusted to vote yet are not allowed to go into a bar and purchase a drink.

It gets worse, due to the ridiculous licensing laws (which compound the taboo nature of alcohol which lead to its mystique - and ultimately to many youths trying it) I cannot go into a restaurant with a bar attached that has a divider below a certain height.

Example: when a year ago myself and a friend of mine went to grab a burger but were refused entry to a grillhouse I have gone to practically all my life (whilst a birthday party for a child was going on in full view) due to one of us not being over 21 and the divider not being high enough between the restaurant and the bar.

This is where things get completely insane; I carry the full legal responsibilities of an adult yet I am deemed incapable of sitting in a restaurant without circumventing the barstaff to gain access to alcohol... moreover, if the divider was 2 feet higher, I would miraculously loose this ability.

Utterly insane; and it shows, plenty of Americans study at my university in the UK and the vast majority of them show up thinking they know everything about alcohol when they do not. Due to its taboo nature they are forced to hide their drinking and are not educated about responsible drinking and knowing their limits. The result? A rough learning curb for them and a messy first semester.

tl;dr America's minimum drinking age does little to curb teen drinking and encourages anti-social drinking so as to skirt the law.

chehk

I do usually wear a blazer and a shirt though I occasionally ditch the blazer when I know I am travelling in Y and will have difficulty storing it.

People often ask me why I do this; I think it harkens back to my grandmother who was a stewardess back in the glory days of PanAm telling me how people used to dress to fly (and the fact that it's not uncomfortable to wear chinos or jeans and a shirt when flying). I sometimes look upon people tromping about the terminal in ridiculously baggy sweatpants (or worse, pyjamas) with 3 flight cushions and just think "is that really necessary... you could always change into that on the flight".

BahrainLad

It's not just the age rule, the whole attitude to drinking encourages drinking as some sort of devil taboo

- people looking amazed if you order a glass of wine with lunch
- "one bottle, BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE ARE YOU MAD!?" once at a Californian restaurant (should have seen the reaction upon bottle nos. 2 & 3 arriving)
- lots of drinking behind closed doors in dark & dingy bars
- the fact it's illegal to be served a drink before midday on a Sunday in New York City. This is a particular peeve of mine.

GadgetGal

hehe, reminds me of my travelling as a child in 80s dressed up in church clothes for long haul flights. And yes, that the idea of being (at the very least) smart or business casual for travelling, has stuck.

chehk

Exactly but then suddenly when people do want a drink it's this "let's get f***ed up" attitude that just emerges from nowhere. I'm not saying that the UK and Hong Kong don't have their issues with alcohol abuse - expats are well known for enjoying more than a few - but there is a certain level of maturity that the majority of the populace has towards alcohol consumption.

From what I have seen and been told, youths who have parties often make alcoholic beverages from whatever liquor they can find (the infamous 'jungle juice') which is, frankly, pretty scary as one has no idea what they are imbibing.

United747

A few days ago I was kicked out of GF at JFK for being under 21. I was flying CX F from JFK-YVR. I completely forgot about US liquor laws! I had been in Europe for about a week and a half, trying out a variety of lounges and drinking at some restaurants. The CX rep was very nice about it and gave me $25 in food vouchers. To be honest, I was not really that mad. It looked like an underwhelming lounge!

layz

It is underwhelming. BA F passengers get the Concorde Room, so it's basically a Golds and other oneworld F lounge.

A lot of golds prefer using the main lounge if not flying F, you need to use that lounge for business class pre-flight dining anyway.

BA0197

Is this something that is actually inforced of is this just a particular agent inventing this rule. I see nothing on the BA website to indicate this and it would seem that it would be against the T&C's of the BA product offering, especially if one is purchasing a J class ticket with the intent of using its associated benefits. Especially in the US, this could very well be a case of another "lawsuit". This is very shocking actually.

Phil the Flyer

On a LHR-MIA-MBJ-MIA-CHS-DFW-LHR BA/AA itinerary two months ago Master PtF (who had his 17th birthday during the trip) had absolutely no problems accessing lounges at LHR (BA J flight), MIA (AA J), MBJ (AA J) and DFW (AA F). This included availing himself of BA's in-flight champagne.

It probably helps that he's 6'3", 100+ kg and plays front row boarding school sixth-form rugby.