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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 19, 2019, 10:41 pm
  #1  
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Only juice and water in business class PDB at Sydney...?

sorry if this is a repeat question...just want to know if I was lied to just now.

Sitting on BA 16 in SYD. Only juice or water offered as pdb: no sparkling, no anything other than juice or water.

FA blames Sydney airport policy. This sounds very wrong to me as Qantas offered sparkling wine in business class on a domestic Australia flight SyD-MEL.

Just curious and thanks.
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Old Apr 19, 2019, 10:50 pm
  #2  
 
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Not sure whether this is the norm for SYD flights, but likely the ‘airport regulations’ part is synonymous with BA being too cheap to pay duty on what is served on the ground
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Old Apr 19, 2019, 10:53 pm
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Originally Posted by SKT-DK
Not sure whether this is the norm for SYD flights, but likely the ‘airport regulations’ part is synonymous with BA being too cheap to pay duty on what is served on the ground
indeed. Unless this is a very recent change, I’ve had champagne offered on the ground at SYD on numerous other airlines (though I usually take the water precisely!)
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Old Apr 19, 2019, 10:59 pm
  #4  
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Update: even before I could make a stink on Twitter the FA came back and said although he couldn’t open the proper bottle he grabbed a couple of minis from coach for us to enjoy at the gate.

Alls well that ends well...for us. My wife made the point that others in the business class were staring enviously.
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Old Apr 19, 2019, 11:02 pm
  #5  
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Sorry that all sounds wrong!
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Old Apr 19, 2019, 11:31 pm
  #6  
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Originally Posted by kokonutz


Update: even before I could make a stink on Twitter the FA came back and said although he couldn’t open the proper bottle he grabbed a couple of minis from coach for us to enjoy at the gate.

Alls well that ends well...for us. My wife made the point that others in the business class were staring enviously.
so much for the WT+ pax from whose drink contingent this was taken and who won’t get it...

I actually don’t think this has been handled very well by the crew.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 12:20 am
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Originally Posted by orbitmic


indeed. Unless this is a very recent change, I’ve had champagne offered on the ground at SYD on numerous other airlines (though I usually take the water precisely!)
Pretty sure we are offered champagne whilst on the ground.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 12:38 am
  #8  
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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?
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:01 am
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Had champagne PDB as normal on BA 16 at SYD just a couple of weeks ago.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:03 am
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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?
What’s Easter got to do with being served champagne as PDB?
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:09 am
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I had champagne PDB on departure from SYD with BA a few weeks ago - crew were proactively offering top ups also.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:45 am
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Originally Posted by carrotjuice


What’s Easter got to do with being served champagne as PDB?
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.


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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:47 am
  #13  
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And a quick search shows there are some additional regulations on Good Friday. Maybe this does impact PDB on flights on this date.

https://www.finder.com.au/buy-alcohol-on-good-friday
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 1:48 am
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Originally Posted by madfish
I'm aware lounges in Australia have rules surrounding early alcohol consumption.
This only applies to domestic lounges. No restriction on (separate) Intl lounges at all. I'd be horrified, otherwise.
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Old Apr 20, 2019, 2:36 am
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Maybe the “Duty Paid” stuff wasn’t loaded, or used up at LHR or SIN on the way?

I have had the crew run out of Duty-Paid Champagne in SIN on the BA15. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off the hugely embarrassed crew brought me a very large glass indeed.
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