Bottled Water
 

I know that bits and pieces of the bottled-water ban have been discussed
in various threads. I wonder if anyone else would be interested in a thread
specifically about water, possibly addressing the following questions:

1. Are specific airlines/routes reliably providing enough bottled water (now
that we can't bring our own...grr)

2. Has anyone successfully used a doctor's note about dehydration risk to
bring his/her own bottled water on board a plane - and if so, were there
mitigating circumstances like pregnancy/breastfeeding/youth/age/illness?

3. What (if any) are the "real" risks for a healthy non-immuno-compromised
person to drink the holding-tank water? (I.e. if I'm healthy, should I be
requesting the tap water so that sicker people will get the bottled?)

4. What experiences have people had recently around the issue that many
of us faced in the past (which is why we brought our own): flight attendants
being kind of irritable about providing ample quantities of beverages...?

5. Is there any real evidence (or any way to expedite a process) of the
TSA/DHS relaxing the ban on bottled water per se? Particularly because
it seems that a sealed bottle of pure water would be easy enough to inspect
for a false bottom or incorrect clarity or whatever.

Thank you for any discussion on this topic. I am a relatively new poster
here on flyertalk, but I have read for a while and it is a great site.

--LG

I posted a post similar to this on TravelBuzz right after the restrictions were announced and pretty much had no takers. I have to assume on that basis that no one has had a problem getting enough water on a plane.

but
 

the OP does bring up the question of SOURCE of the water being served. I believe that is and will remain a very valid question.

I've seen FA's fill Evian bottles from pitches one time to many to trust the source of their 'bottled' water.

At least for WN - it looks good
 

I've only been on WN since the water ban, but I have ask for a beverage and a can of spring water and gotten it with no attitude. I saw other passengers doing likewise - again with no problems. I have to imagine that the airlines are ready for this - but I have not gone on any really long flights. That will be a big challenge.

I'm going to Fiji in Oct -- I hope this nonsense has subsided by then.

--Sioux

People are just scaling back the amount of water they drink on the planes. For people whose health is "at the margin," this will cause problems. For most people, it is just uncomfortable. I used to drink several liters of water on a typical transcon before the new rules; there's no way any FA will serve me that much water now (it's probably at least a quarter of the water they boarded for the entire flight). So now I fly only when absolutely necessary. And, as previously mentioned, I'm not sure you'd want to drink a few liters on a plane now anyway, since they sometimes pull it out of the onboard tanks which are well-documented to have unsafe levels of e. coli and other critters.

Even Bart has indicated he thinks it's absurd that they're not allowing water purchased in the sterile area to be brought on board, with manufacturer's seal still intact, etc. I'm still waiting to hear from Hawley or Chertoff exactly what risk is posed by such an item. Problem is, they know damn well they have no reason. It's just another case of "abundance of caution" -- which means, we have no freakin' idea what we're doing.

soooo frustrating...
 

Thanks for the replies....

The thing that drives me nuts is that for years the airlines have decimated
their levels of service so that we have to bring our own food, water,
entertainment, pillows, sanitizer, etc.

And now I feel so squeezed the other way. I really hate the idea of being
so *dependent* on the FA's whim as to how hydrated I will be.

In the interest of disclosure, I happen to be pregnant at the moment, and
my water needs are higher than average. But even when not, I would
so much rather be in charge of carrying/using/deciding about my own
water needs instead of being infantilized. Plus, if I could bring my own
drinks, then I wouldn't need to use up the time/resources of FA's who
need to do other presumably-more-important tasks.

Not water-related precisely, but I'm also feeling a bit squeamish about all
the former-Purell-users who will now be inadvertently spreading more
viruses around the rarely-cleaned aircraft.

Yes, I read about Bart's view that sealed water in the sterile area should
be allowed. BTW I also called TSA and told them that this is my opinion,
way back when the restrictions first came out. I emailed AA and asked
about it, but I got a form letter "we always serve a beverage" answer.

The only tiny bit of silver lining is that in packing for my latest trip, I found
that my carry-on was enormously lighter than usual. ;)

I will be going on AA and I will report back about quanitity/attitudes of
bottled water.

--LG

I have flown on AA and AS this week; there are no problems with passengers getting enough to drink.

Article in the WSJ today says that DL has backed off from the extra H2O that they were putting on board because passengers are not consuming any more than they did before.

That seems kind of silly. How can DL to determine that passengers don't want more water a mere 8 days after the TSA ban? Many FF like me have not even flown in those 8 days (I'm not on the road every week, but sometimes it feels like it).

My first trip after the ban is Monday (PDX - EWR on CO; 5.5 hrs of pure joy). I usually bring about 2L of H2O on that flight so I'll be asking for more water to stay well hydrated. I for one do notice the difference when I get dehydrated. Jet lag is a definitely worse and I don't sleep as well the first night, but maybe that's just me.

Of course -- if the FAs don't go through the cabin any more frequently most passengers will just tough it out.

If it's early and it's not apparent, make sure you let the FA know - and good luck :)

still, what is the source of that water?
We do need to know!

Yeah, I think you talking about the water. Does TSA will refines bans bottled water can go through the checkpoint again. I will take eivan into the checkpoint again? How much longer TSA will handling the bottled water will bring back normal again.

I'm hoping that the TSA allows water again (as well as all beverages), but the latest word from Bart is not encouraging. Reading his posts I get the impression that the water ban is here to stay for a while. :(

Chertoff said basically the same thing: until the threat level is reduced, don't expect big changes in the carryon rules. :(

Stupid, stupid.

Allow bottled water sealed in its original fully transparent container.

Or make passengers drink it.

Or put an artificial limit on them. (One bottle per passenger.)

Any of this would allow the TSA to "save face" while still providing for common sense security.

My experience from this week:

AA BUR-DFW, FA's walked through the cabin with water and cups periodically. Lots of takers.

AA DFW-BUR, no one walked through to provide extra water. Someone in front of me hit the call button halfway through and asked for water, and was told by the FA that they had run out during beverage service. Juice was offered instead.

no empty bottles either
 

Sugar-free?

I also read somewhere that empty bottles aren't allowed, so the strategy of asking for a few glasses up front won't work either. Even before this, I usually keep two 8 oz bottles full at my seat, refilling when I can, so I'm not dependent on the crew. I had thought to just ask for that when I boarded. I guess not.

I'm surprised the airlines haven't reverted to giving out the small bottles to each passenger.

As for the water in the tanks, I think it's better to drink that than to not drink at all. A possible option would be to drink the water used for tea, with lemon maybe, if the germs had been boiled out of it, but maybe it doesn't get hot enough.

Sylvia

On my AMS-EWR flight on Friday they FA's did 5 beverage services and came through with cups of water 2 or 3 times as well.

another experience
 

This morning (Sun 8/20) on AA from Boston to Chicago (O'Hare), I asked
the flight attendant (explained the pregnancy) and she gave me a half-full
large water bottle to finish. Then the beverage service guy had no problem
giving me two drinks (I requested water and tomato juice - so the sodium in
the T.J. would make me retain the other water...maybe this was bad thinking?).

I thought it was handled well. When I went back to the bathroom later, I saw
an additional four sealed bottles of water that hadn't yet been opened (after
the beverage service). Also, I asked a gate agent who told me that they are
loading additional water these days and I said that was good and also
necessary, and to please forward that message to the higher-ups.

I'll be doing some more flying and reporting back later in the week....

--LG

At first, I thought the restrictions would eventually, but quickly get lifted, but it looks like I was quite wrong. From what I am hearing, I don't expect the restrictions to be lifted anytime soon...or even later!

I don't expect them to be lifted anytime soon, either. :(

Can you elaborate on this?

My one experience so far is that they are. I had two empty bottles on the outside of my backpack (hard to miss). No questions. Not even to see if there was water in the bottom of the bottles.

I allow empty bottles through the checkpoint. Afterall, the ban is on liquids, not the containers. Now if you fill that bottle at a waterfountain and don't drink it all, you may lose it at the gate.

Please, please, please, when you experience this, ask the FA to write it up. Also send a letter (email) to AA. If they do not know there is unsufficient provisioning, they will certainly not be further increasing the supply of water/beverages onboard.

less-optimal experience
 

From ORD to ELP on Wednesday, we were delayed almost 2 hours on the
ground. I went to ask for some water and the FA's were kind of stingy.
("We won't have enough for everyone if they ask.") ... Eventually the
pregnancy card got them to give me one tiny cup of water, and then
a 2nd tiny cup later.

BTW I did say, "I wish I didn't have to ask you for water, but now we
can't bring our own." And I didn't get arrested or anything for my rebellious
attitude. ;)

I agree with the suggestion to write the airline and let them know that
this is a problem.

--LG

I generally buy 500ml bottles in cases of 24 for $3.99 at Ralph's or Albertson's. Even with the four cent CRV (bottle deposit) added in, I've got less than $0.21 in each one. I generally bring a couple on short flights and 5-6 on longer flights. Replacing them for the return trip can be more costly, of course, but most Hilton properties give me two. If I rented a car, the gas station/quickie mart is a reasonably priced source of replacements. If not, there's often a neighborhood bodega. And none of those charges as much as the places inside the airport.

Because of the weight in carrying water around, I have previously written to AA asking it to consider stocking bottled water for sale on longer flights. The current insanity (water ban) has prompted me to do it again. Free bottled water is perhaps too much to expect these days - and $1 or so per would still provide AA a decent margin.

I had an empty bottle in my carry on going through ORD yesterday. The screener said nothing about it after it went through the x-ray machine. I'm assuming the x-ray can't tell if the bottle is full or empty. Just not paying attention I guess?

I always fly DL where little bottles of water are omnipresent. This week, I flew USAir Shuttle and asked for a bottle of water upon boarding. I was surprised to find that they just had the large bottles; but FA did pour me a glass. From post above, it sounds like AA doesn't have small water bottles either. Is it actually rare to have bottles of water for pax in flight? I haven't thought much of the water ban since it really didn't affect me. If it is hard, in fact, to get water on board, I can see where the complaints are coming from.

Marc

Flew LAS-ORD yesterday on TED. Usual stingy half glass of beverage and NO second service (usually they at least do a run with lemonade/water). Woman behind me hit call button for a beverage; some attitude went her way from the FA. That's simply not enough beverages for three hour flight, especially with a half hour ground delay added in...

The system wins again!

You're responding to a post made under the old rules; post Sep 26, pax may once again carry water on board, as long as it was obtained inside the sterile area.

why don't the airlines start selling chilled bottled water on board the plane? even at $2 a bottle they'd be under cutting most airport vendors, and marking a 10x markup on the cost of goods, or perhaps better than that.

AA is considering just such a thing! :)

Be careful what you wish for.

I can see it now.... just like a movie theater, outside refreshments will be prohibited. They we will have airlines begging the TSA to re-implement the total water/soda/liquid/drink ban. Revenue protection. Just like ID check.

What would be the details? I mean, would it be that regular passengers
get some amount but you can buy more, or would all beverages be for
sale instead of complimentary?

--LG

Nevermind what I said eariler...
Never a dull moment working with TSA!