Polynesian Pub ?
 

the wikipedia pages of CO show a 'Polynesian Pub'.

Is this for real? If so did anyone have personal experience on this?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nesian_Pub.jpg

No. wikipedia lied.

Yup - CO used to have a "Pub" on it's DC10 service to Hawaii. Had quite a few cocktails on a LAX-HNL flight back in '92. Great service - not quite what they are showing in the picture but they certainly had one.

There were some other pub flights as well. On the DC-10s if I recall correctly. Flew one from IAH to MCO in the mid/late 80's (I think it was 1986). I don't recall the red carpet or the wild prints on the walls and seats - the picture posted must be from the 70's - but there were barstools and bar tables in the pub area.

747
 

While there were Polynesian Pubs on CO's DC-10's, they were inaugurated on the 747's, which is what the photo is showing.

CO got rid of its 747's in the seventies (although it eventually acquired another batch when it took over PE, this time, of course, without any lounges).

That picture looks like its of the main cabin behind FC. They could have put 60 more seats in there. That would give the bean counters of today a stroke!

Picture is definitely that of a 747. I flew several Pub DC10s HNL-GUM and GUM-HKG in the mid 90s. The 'bar' was rather small. Standard FC seats were forward of the bar and behind the bar were maybe 1-2 rows of seats.

I loved the Continental "Polynesian Pubs" on DC10's to and from Honolulu
 

I flew Continental between Honolulu and LAX and SFO in the 90's and they still had the "Polynesian Pubs" on the DC10's.

It was great, if you were in First Class, you could order any beverage for free and if you were in coach, you only had to pay for alcoholic beverages. They freely offered soft drinks, juices, coffee and tea in the pub for free to all passengers.

Free light snacks of peanuts and pretzels were offered.

The photo the OP posted does resemble the actual pub onboard. It was a very social and pleasant atmosphere as shown with a Bar and tables that were similiar to seating in a private club.

These flights were some of the best flying experiences that I have ever had, especially when I flew Coach. It was great to be able to move about the aircraft and socialize with other passengers in this separate "pub" cabin. BTW, the pub was located between First Class and Coach and I do not think anyone under 18 or 21 years old were allowed to enter.

I say bring back the "Polynesian Pubs", even if they now have a "cover" charge to enter!

soccer

I remember sitting in a Polynesian Pub, eating peanuts and drinking a soft drink at the age of 14 or 15...

They may not be Polynsesian, but Emirates has an on-board lounge on their A-380...

http://content.emirates.com/english/...233-354378.jpg

Also, Qantas has a lounge on its A-380's as well, but it's not quite as spectacular (looks like an East German bus stop)...

http://www.businesstraveller.com/fil...ard-lounge.jpg

The VS pubs are kinda cool....unique to this flyer. :-: I have only flown on the VS A340's, though,a nd although they are a bit cramped, it is a nice touch and doesn't really interfere with the normal seating arrangements, imho.

I say, put one in the ERJ's....take out the two A-side seats in the front and have a small bench facing the galley....put plexiglass in and *presto* we have a smoking section! :cool:

If they did that on ERJ's I might try to fly on jungle jets as opposed to avoiding them.

I like that idea.....a pub in the ERJ 145.

And, heck, if they do this, it may prevent their introduction into the boneyard at Mojave by a year or two.....

However, I'll have to veto this far fetched "smoking section" provision.....

Unless, of course, it involves a complimentary Gold Label Macanaudo "Churchill" for Plat Elite members.....with a complimentary fine Port offered as well, natch......:cool:

Yes, all brilliant. But instead of going through all this trouble, I would suggest leasing a good G5...

Flew on the CO D10-10 flights to HNL a few times and to HNL on the way to SYD/MEL. Although it wasn't called Polynesian Pub when I flew it. Only on the DC10-10s. There were no tables. The newer DC10-30s did not have a Pub.

CO printed schedule showed "Pub Service" next to the flight number for the flights that had it.

The pub was located in the door area between F and Y. On the DC10 - the bar was L shaped to one side. Row of CO brown leather lounge seats around the perimeter (like shown) but they were the standard brown leather. The bar had about 3 stools.

Since the pub was at the door area - the row in front of Y likely took one row of Y seats - there was a divider with curtain so as not to disturb those in the main cabin. The L shaped bar went into one side of the plane and the other side had the galley.

When CO took out the pub - they likely added one standard row of coach. The L part then had a mini cabin of coach seats added in a 2x3 arrangement. The DC10s were 2x5x2 as I recall.

The lounges was accessible for coach passengers - and used mostly by coach. Those in F (the old standard brown leather domestic F type of seats) usually stayed in F since they have more service to their seat.

The DC10-30 were three class of service with no pub - with F at 60 inch pitch, J was like domestic F brown leather. The DC10-10 had two class with F being a domestic F seat.

---------------

On the photo of the QF J lounge. Not really a lounge - a row of 5 seats with a large TV panel across from it. A place to go and watch a large screen with a few people. Gets little use. I was on a QF J trip earlier this year to MEL- I spent about half the flight sitting in the J lounge - mostly alone. It was like having a private two story suite (staircase is open) on a flight with 500+ people in the back. One set of earphones availabe. Stairs are in the middle then lounge row on one side and the other side has a small bar cabinet and then a terminal area for the FAs - not an internet terminal (too bad).

Or, referencing my latest complimentary copy of Business & Commercial Aviation (the Oct. issue that is brought to us by the fine folks at "Aviation Week & Space Technology"), the new Gulfstream G650!

Now, there's an airplane!

But, alas, I cannot afford such a lavish sky chariot (I'm approaching retirement, you understand), so I'll have to continue to console myself with my fairly new BMW M3 along with my dear old Lexus RX 350 as a back up (let it be known that I really like automobiles and have so far been able to pay for what I like - that is, so far)....

And, of course, still try for the upgrades on CO and UA........

That's nutin'!

If you're gonna go whole hog (pun intended, of course), then you have to have an....A380 VIP Saloon...the ultimate private jet...

Operating costs slightly in excess of the national debt...

http://www.didntyouhear.com/wp-conte...a380detail.jpg

http://www.indiaonrent.com/forwards/...res/svxuk4.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...96_964x515.jpg

I'm sure we shall see one or more of these "corporate" A380s delivered to "private" interests in the Gulf States and/or the Saudi Arabian peninsula....

And these "private" interests will operate them until the oil & gas revenue runs out....

Good Lord, and I thought Hugh Hefner was bad when he took delivery of a brand new DC-9-30 ("Bunny One") in Long Beach all those years ago......:p

I took three of those "pub" flights in 1993: HNL - GUM / DPS -GUM - HNL. Once the flight hit cruising altitude they announced "the pub is open!" Right around that time was when CO was introducing BusinessFirst. In contrast to that version of BusinessFirst, most anyone would be glad to see the pub go. While the concept was great, it was VERY dated, and no thought had been put into it since someone vomited orange and red all over the walls and covered the three barstools with red pleather.

My favorite touch is the economy-style cabin for the sub-peons at the back of the (air)bus...must be a pretty cr*ppy feeling to be sitting in a regular ole' airline seat knowing that the Sheik of Araby ahead is sleeping in sybaritic, imperial comfort in his King-size bed...one of four bedrooms on board.

The sad thing is that, for all the outrageous excess, it's probably cheaper than some co-op apartments on Park Avenue...:eek::D

This is a Pan Am lounge from 2001...
http://i.cnn.net/v5cache/TCM/Images/...0220051550.gif

Hal, open the pod bay door...

Hal, open the pod bay door...

Hal?

-Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that

No? OK, how about getting me that EUA?

-You're kidding, right?

Well, way back in the day, I got to take a look inside Mr. Hefner's DC-9-30 when I lived near SBA. The aircraft was parked at SBA Aviation and I also got to meet Hugh.

The airplane on the outside was painted black. For which, as I understand it, Hugh had get approval from the FAA.

The inside was something else: part disco party pad, part flying film screening room. Oh, there was a really big king sized bedroom as well (for sleeping on long flights, I think........;)).

It was a really cool airplane, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it and meet Hugh.

:cool:

I once did an documentary on Donald Trump and we got to shoot inside his 727...it had winglets and, of course, the gaudy Trump interior...I know he put up for sale recently...I'm not sure if there have been any takers...

http://www.controller.com/listingsde...VE/1175026.htm

i wish i would have flown one of those flights. Would have been a great way to remember CO

I was browsing the web and came upon this:

http://d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net...sJoyQnUk_c.jpg

A "coach" lounge on AA's 747...simply amazing.

You can't see it in this ad, but their coach lounge had a piano:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruthann/2267801838/

thanks for sharing. I love to hear the stories from the old timers.

Continental flight 27, DC10. In 1989, I flew the EWR/SFO/HNL portion seat 4B eating chateau breaund(?) carved seat side for dinner then enjoyed the "pub" in the section between 1st. class and coach. That flight continued to MEL. Good times! :)

I experienced the AA coach lounge on the 747 back in 1971 from SFO to ORD.....

That was a long time ago (I had just graduated from high school) but I do remember that it was quite nice as the flight was not full that day in Y.

I also connected to this AA 747 flight via SFO Helicopter Airlines from OAK. Rotorcraft was a Sikorsky S-61. This was my first flight in a helicopter. I also remember there was an unbelievably low joint fare offered, which I think was less than $20 one way for the SFO Helicopter flight......

I logged quite a few thousand miles aboard Continental back when Bob Six ran it as the best domestic airline in America. I am happy to provide a few photos that might shed further light on the topic of Continental's lounges:


http://images43.fotki.com/v1386/phot...TALDC10-vi.jpg
Continental's DC-10-10 with both First and Coach Class lounges


http://images47.fotki.com/v1403/phot...SIANPUB-vi.jpg
Continental's Polynesian Pub aboard the DC-10


http://images45.fotki.com/v1428/phot...NTAL747-vi.jpg
Continental's Beautiful 747-124 with three lounges


http://images46.fotki.com/v1416/phot...ALOUNGE-vi.jpg
The Oceania Lounge upstairs on the 747

Flying sure was a lot nicer back then!

Indeed...I wish I flew in the 70s then...

I got to travel to Dubai on an Emirates A380, The experience in the bar on board was amazing. hanging out chatting to other passengers and enjoying a cocktail made a 12 hour flight seem like 2 or 3 hours. I hope it was not the last time I get to enjoy a flight like that.

Yeah, that's "the Pub" I remember from the '90s. It was WAY past its prime and was obviously a neglected concept.

From what I can tell, the "golden age" of on-board lounges lasted all of a decade or so. Almost a split-second in the history of commercial aviatin. Blink and they were gone!

I suspect pubs/bars will live on at some of the fancier/hipper foreign airlines in a limited way, but the concept is dead as a doornail as far as the US carriers go. They simply don't make economic sense.

And, frankly, I think most pax would prefer an extra inch or two of legroom and a better AVOD system at their seat than a "lounge."

Although leaving a few snacks and beverages by the galley on a long int'l flight still seems like a winning service concept to me!

I suspect pubs/bars will live on at some of the fancier/hipper foreign airlines in a limited way, [/QUOTE]

Not sure I would class Emirates as hipper :)

Yeah, they fit the "fancier" model. Aren't they also the ones with FC showers on the 380? Over-the-top oil wealth I guess.

The rest of us are just happy with a few on-demand movies to watch and a real-time route map. :)

I was lucky enough to enjoy the Pub for a year or so
 

on the IAH/LAX route in the DC10. On one trip my wife and I and our three small children were seated in the sofa in the Pub for the entire flight which made for a great trip.

Those were some great days.

Yeah, somehow I got seated there, too, once. I think at the end, they just started selling the seats, instead of leaving them open for "mingling."

really some great stories, keep them coming.