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Only juice and water in business class PDB at Sydney...?

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Only juice and water in business class PDB at Sydney...?

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Old Apr 20, 2019, 2:36 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by Grace B
I'd be horrified, otherwise.
Me too (or if it applied to anything onboard). Don't mean to move Omni, but religion should have no business telling people who do not believe how to live or not to live on and around planes (among other places). I realise that a number of highly religious countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran have different conceptions, but I'd be outraged if Australia or any other democracy followed suit.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 2:39 am
  #17  
 
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BA don’t pay duty on the bars, therefore we are unable to open them until we take-off. To to enable us to offer the pre departure service the catering suppliers should load bottles of duty paid champagne, however on some occasions this does not happen and it puts the crew in an awkward position as I mentioned earlier as we can’t open the bars. Hence you get crew reverting to serving just juice and water. Like most crew I would be more than happy to get you a glass of champagne once we are in the air and we can open the bars.

Crew have received numerous reminders about not opening bars on the ground, so please don’t give the crew a hard time over this, it’s outside of their control.

Rest assured every time champagne is not loaded it’s noted on the onboard form and fed back to the company
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 2:40 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish


Easter as a religious event often brings additional rules. For example larger stores in the UK are closed on Easter Sunday. I heard yesterday from a friend who claimed that bars may not be open in Dublin on Easter Sunday (unconfirmed). Therefore, it is conceivable that there may be rules in Australia around serving any alcohol (including PDB) around the Easter holiday.

It's a possible theory. Happy for it to be debunked.


A truly irritating number of things were shut in New Zealand on Good Friday - and getting a pint was mighty hard work. Stay in a hotel with a bar was the advice.

I believe the fault of the Presbyterians?
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 5:16 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by bhdcommuter
BA don’t pay duty on the bars, therefore we are unable to open them until we take-off. To to enable us to offer the pre departure service the catering suppliers should load bottles of duty paid champagne, however on some occasions this does not happen and it puts the crew in an awkward position as I mentioned earlier as we can’t open the bars. Hence you get crew reverting to serving just juice and water. Like most crew I would be more than happy to get you a glass of champagne once we are in the air and we can open the bars.

Crew have received numerous reminders about not opening bars on the ground, so please don’t give the crew a hard time over this, it’s outside of their control.

Rest assured every time champagne is not loaded it’s noted on the onboard form and fed back to the company
So if SYD supplies duty paid champagne for the PDB service due to customers regulations and this was not supplied the bars would have to remain shut, why was the bar opened to get a small bottle of sparkling wine?
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 5:33 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by orbitmic
Me too (or if it applied to anything onboard). Don't mean to move Omni, but religion should have no business telling people who do not believe how to live or not to live on and around planes (among other places). I realise that a number of highly religious countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran have different conceptions, but I'd be outraged if Australia or any other democracy followed suit.
Welcome to Australia (or more specifically NSW)... The place with some of the weirdest licencing laws I've ever seen. Easter, Christmas and ANZAC Day all impact alcohol sales and service. Not sure if it's the cause in this instt but they do love a rule. This is said as a Sydney resident for over three years. But to answer the original question there is no blanket ban on champagne as a PDB on BA or any other airline.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 6:22 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by orbitmic
Me too (or if it applied to anything onboard). Don't mean to move Omni, but religion should have no business telling people who do not believe how to live or not to live on and around planes (among other places). I realise that a number of highly religious countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran have different conceptions, but I'd be outraged if Australia or any other democracy followed suit.
many secular democracies have alcohol restrictions not just ismalic ones.

the U.K. has some restrictions at Easter and Christmas for example.

many European countries have Sunday hours restrictions. Not just for alcohol but when shops can open as well.

Many parts of the US also have rules - no booze served in lounges at JFK until 10am on a Sunday for example.restrictions on when stores can sell alcohol. Prohibition was a secular not religious campaign and it was the same when it got reversed.

and whilst AA will serve me a GnT as a PdB on an internal flight they won’t on an International.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 6:31 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by madfish
I'm aware lounges in Australia have rules surrounding early alcohol consumption. My first instinct was something to do with this, but seems othesbhave said they have had it before.

My next thought was if this is to do with Easter? Are there any additional rules?
I'm not aware of those rules
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:10 am
  #23  
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This sounds as though it was a catering error and that the crew handled the recovery well, but could have explained it better. One presumes that the "duty paid" items were not loaded. It happens. Just as food catering is sometimes off.

I presume that there must have been a few minis of the duty paid stuff rolling around WT+, so that was all that could be served.

Carriers have to take the issue seriously because if they are found to have broken the customs seal prior to departure, they face significant fines and a suspension of their license as well as the ability to serve bonded liquor at all.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:16 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by Can I help you

So if SYD supplies duty paid champagne for the PDB service due to customers regulations and this was not supplied the bars would have to remain shut, why was the bar opened to get a small bottle of sparkling wine?
That I cannot answer! Even the normal WT bars should not be opened. Maybe the crew thought it would be easier to give the OP a small bottle of Cava to prevent a complaint? Or maybe they thought they were going above and beyond for the OP? Could be any number of reasons.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:22 am
  #25  
 
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Does BA get a refund for this missing Champagne?

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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:45 am
  #26  
 
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Brian is correct... All onboard alcohol is duty free and can only be served while airborne. thus crew can only serve Duty-Paid PDB's. -Jon
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 7:50 am
  #27  
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Catering was very off.

Once in the air we were told there were no menus so they would read the menu to us. This resulted in extraordinarily slow service.

We we are in Singapore now and happy to be done with BA. They were, overall, wretched.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 9:34 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by bhdcommuter
That I cannot answer! Even the normal WT bars should not be opened. Maybe the crew thought it would be easier to give the OP a small bottle of Cava to prevent a complaint? Or maybe they thought they were going above and beyond for the OP? Could be any number of reasons.
So they broke the customs regulations by opening a bar, why not open the CW bar and serve champagne, very poor decision I’m my opinion!
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 9:37 am
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Often1

I presume that there must have been a few minis of the duty paid stuff rolling around WT+, so that was all that could be served.
There is no such thing.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 9:40 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish
Easter as a religious event often brings additional rules. For example larger stores in the UK are closed on Easter Sunday.
Larger stores are not shut in Scotland on Easter Sunday. We have different laws up here!
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