fokker50

Strange thing happened to me few days ago on a transpac flight: purser (who, in my opionon, had not been in particularly good mood since the start of flight and was also personally serving my part of the cabin) decided in the middle of transpac flight that she will not serving me any more alcohol. I totally understand that having drunk person on board can be a major hassle (especially in the middle of ocean), but for several reasons her course of action felt strange:

* all the other FA-s with whom I spoke with (right after the incident) agreed that I am not intoxicated and one of them wondered "what triggered it"

* one of the FA-s told me that incident was situation was handled very inappropriately by the purser and promised to talk with her about it

* second FA told me that she "will get me anything I want" as soon as purser had finished her duty and left the cabin (needless to say, I didnt want anything to drink any more, as this incident had very much ruined my mood)

* purser herself, when confronted after the flight, apologized (coldly) and told me that I "did nothing worng" but sticked to her opinion that "I had had enough drinks already"

* this happened in the BusinessElite cabin

I admit that I had enjoyed about 4 small glasses of rioja with dinner, one glass of other red wine (did not liked it so switched back to rioja), one glass of champagne before takeoff and - very slowly - two glasses of port (not full glass for of course, they were 85% empty) during movie I watched after dinner. But there were no incidents or strange behaviour from my part,all was nice and peaceful. Then I slept for 2-3 hours and when I woke up in the end of mid-flight snack (about 6-7 hrs after departure, 09.30 AM Narita time) and asked purser if I can have mid-flight meal too (all the other paxs were already finishing theirs) and glass of chardonnay to go with it, came this strange incident.

Purser (senior afroamerican woman, professional, but VERY VERY icy, very strict, no smiles, minimum conversation with all passengers, "queen of the cabin" type,) told me following words: "you will never fall to sleep if you keep drinking wine like this - blood suggar will kick in and wake you up in few hours!"

I was totally baffled. For starters I had just slept for 2 hours and secondly, in my opinion, it´s not purser´s business if I sleep or not (I very much felt that she preferred to have all her passengers sleeping, as it meant less work for her - she forceclosed, for example, all the windows in the beginning of flight, even for those, who were looking out from the window at that time). So I told her (I admit, it came out bit snappily) that "yes, but If I prefer not to sleep but watch a movie and enjoy a meal, then, in my opinion, I am entitled to it".

She left silently, came back with meal AND glass of wine AND told me that she is NOT serving me any more drinks, as I have had enough. Then she left me with my meal AND wine AND (does not make any sense, does it?) AND, of course, with my sort of crushed dignity. I was speachless for a 30 seconds or so, then I did ring the bell, she came back and I asked for explanation, as I was - in my opinion and, as it later appeared, also in other FA-s opinion - not behaving in a disorderly or intoxicated manner.

Purser told me - very coldly - that she does not have to explain anything, as this is her decision and I can have her card, if I want to complain (she already had a card in the hand, making me feel that in a sort of way she had already calculated that I may ask for her name/business card). I believe that she also may have mumbled something about "or there will be police waiting on arrival" - I am not sure, very likely my brain just blocked threat part. Then she told me - perfectly icily - that discussion is finished and she has other paxs to care for. Then she went back to the galley.

Needless to say, I did not touch that glass of wine she granted me, but I felt very much hurt. There was still about 6 hours to go until landing and, despite the fact that other FAs almost tried to serve me alcohol after the incident, I did not want to drink - or enjoy my flight - any more, as I felt really bad - in a punished kid kind of a way. I have never had problems with drinking on planes and I have never been refused alcohol before (I fly about 100 - 120 000 miles a year).

So what should I do? Before landing, during pre-arrival meal service - by now I was already totally sober by any standard -, I asked purser to explain why she decided to do this. She told me that she will explain it later - and never came back. As I disembarked, I asked her again. She told me that she apologizes, but "I had had enough drinks and discussion is over" - then she left hastily. Captain, who was standing nearby, apologized personally and explained that he can not openly confront purser because of "race and sex issues".
All in all, very strange incident and, despite technical apologies, I feel that I have been mistreated. It was a start of my holiday and pursers ego trip - the way I see it - sort of ruined it. I understand that intoxicated person can ruin trip for himself (and others) as well, but there are several smooth ways how to send a message to passenger that she/he has had enough (offer water with alcohol, recommend having a small break, smartly question his decision to have more right now etc). There is, in my opinon, no sense in throwing someone glass of wine and telling him that he can not have any more, as he "has had enough" already - it just plain wrong in any sense and a way how to crush someones dignity (and loyalty).

maclover

No offendlce to the OP, but sometimes when in lounges or on board I really get the impression many people act like they are in a all you can eat/drink contest.
I always wonder if they really would eat/drink that much if they had to pay for it

CAL PHL FLYER

If a crew member even thinks you have had too much to drink it is against the law to serve that person..Thats the rule..she will only have to say she thought you had too much to drink,case dismissed..It really is as simple as that in this type of situation..@:-)

javabytes

If I'm reading this correctly, you had 8 drinks in the first 4 hours of the flight?

fokker50

Yes. I understand that it may be much by some standard. However, as you probably know, wine glasses in BusinessElite are really small (not like plastic cups in the economy). It all probably totalled to just a bit more than one bottle of wine (all drinks calculated in).

Vuelos

Your point? I've had that many on an MCO-ATL trip before....

fokker50

In case of a BusinessElite paxs have paid more (either in bucks or miles) in order to enjoy more. Delta can, of course, definitely limit number of drinks and snacks that are included in either cabin and make it part of their contract of carriage.

generaltao

Fokker, what ethnic/racial background are you? (I normally wouldn't ask but you seemed to make a point of highlighting the purser's ethnicity.)

pbarnette

I'm not unsympathetic to your plight, but a bottle of wine in that short of a period would likely put anyone quite a fair bit over the legal limit in most jurisdictions.

fokker50

I am native european and I only mentioned pursers race because captain - caucasian male - stressed it later (he told that he, because of sex and race issues, can not confront purser, "as you surely understand").

javabytes

mbarreto

That was my first thought as well... Maybe he/she didn't seem intoxicated, but purser added up all the drinks he/she had and decided it was enough.

Had that happened after 2-3 drinks, I think it would've been out of line. After 8 drinks in the first few hours, it's at least debatable.

mbarreto

It's different flying out of MCO. We NEED those drinks on those routes

VolareBene

deleted

justforfun

I would have been put off as well. Thankfully the airlines that I usually travel seem to encourage my getting drunk while sitting up front. In fact, I usually have to cut THEM off from serving me. Unless you're a hostile drunk or at the point of being incoherent, the FA should continue to serve you. If alcohol is such an issue for the airlines, then they shouldn't be serving it in the first place. But it's not. You just happen to come across a bitter purser, who also lacked in customer service skills.