Hello,

Does AY provide free drinks (or snacks) in Y for OWE and a guest?

If so what is the protocol? Should I show my card when asked to pay?

Thanks in advance

Bil

They serve you one free drink (anything from Coke to champagne). Not sure about gin and tonic (maybe only gin). One person travelling with you is also entitled to this treat. Very seldomly they are proactive, Sometimes they just don’t charge anything and ocassionally you have to tell them. In the last case they usually re-check the passenger manifest and rarely you need to show the boarding pass / FF card. Rarely it turns out that the member of cabin crew does not have any clue of the benefit. A free snack is a available only to the AY’s own Platinum Lumos (a status above OWE). The benefit is not available on very short flights when there is not any time for selling food. Even in these cases it may happen that you hear a whisper saying that there is no service but just you may choose any drink (it mostly happens on domestic triangle routes).

My experience is based on being a Finnish BA Gold.

Worth remembering that a free drink for OWE is not an official benefit, even if in practise it happens often.

(I.e. if FA ”denies” a complimentary beverage for OWE there is very little ground arguing.)

I usually reply saying that I’m OWE and it causes no problem.

I don’t fly a lot in AY short haul Economy apart from domestic flights. I think out of 50 flights I have had a 100 % success rate. In one case they did not know anything but believed that I was right. This was in the introductory phase. I emailed and asked about the benefit. The answer confirmed that I was right. I showed the reply to the cabin crew on the second case of not knowing. Both cases were on Norra ATR flights. At least the latter purser learned the rules and even extended them. I remember her offering me a drink proactively during a short no-service sector of a domestic triangle flight. Only one other person received a drink. I’m sure she did not recognize me two years later after the first incident.

Okay, you seem pretty confident about this. And I have asked this multiple times from AY CS.

So where are those those written instructions so I can quote those in the future as OWE? I’m sure you can send me some links or something so that for sure I get my complimentary drink next time in AY Y as that seems to be the norm.

Haha, good one! ”I would like to have a Gin with Erica” would sound a bit harassing but then ”A Gin for me and Tonic for Erica” would produce a bit confused reply

When I still was platsku (until spring this year) I never had problems ordering two gin and tonic, one for my partner and another for me.