TPACjv

What would the difference be between well-mannered and obsequious ?

bmwe92fan

Currently on UA 959 from LHR to ORD - given the usual "only sparkling" wine is available for PDB - this time when I pushed back that from most other cities - including all domestic F routes - I can get a proper glass of wine - I was given a nice Sauvignon - was very pleased at the FA desire to actually take care of their passengers - instead of following stupid, lazy rules....

uanj

That's so good!!!

PVG-EWR late last year I was told no alcoholic beverages, but orange juice and water were poured and ready to serve. The guy next to me challenged the FA who said it was the request of the captain not to open those carts, she did not know why. But hard for us to argue. Other side of the plane, with a different FA, got whatever they wanted as a PDB.

bmwe92fan

And there you have the issue with UA today - and why unless something changes they will never be a truly competitive global airline - especially for premium cabin traffic....

CMK10

7/13 UA 429 RDU-IAD 320: Full PDB ^^

Nice to enjoy one on a rare upgrade for this Premier Silver.

findark

7/15 UA 712 IAD-SFO: ran onto the plane about 3 minutes before I was going to get offloaded. Wonderful FA made room for my bag and made sure I got a drink before we pushed ^

The rare time UA was on schedule - in fact we were so early into SFO we had to wait 20 minutes for a gate (and still logged "in" 0h06 early). I joked with the IAD GA "you guys are actually on time!" and got a laugh

laughinlab2001

I can confirm from first hand experience (after a really long day that culminated in UA49 BOM-EWR last Friday) that the India government prohibits UA from serving a PDB with alcohol... Sad but true, the saving grace in this instance was UA made it a Glenfarclas double (check the related "new Scotch" thread for detailed feedback). Lol...

exerda

I've had good luck recently with PDBs. Still some FAs, though, who have no idea what "Buffalo Trace" is. I had missed the Glenfarclas announcement and may have to give it a try (I like some of their offerings).

iluv2fly

Trust me, most have no idea what Glenfarclas is. They try to push Dewar's on you.

RobOnLI

I have found PDB very hit or miss when I don't board with group 1. If I decided to hang in the lounge a little bit and let the majority of boarding sort itself out then I don't always get a PDB.

Yesterday's SEA-SFO is a perfect example. I was probably #15 of 20 to board for first class on a 739. Seat mate was boarded before me (no idea how much longer) and had no PDB. Ultimately after two battlefield upgrades the FA came back to them in row 5 and asked what they wanted. Then someone asked why the rest of us didn't get a PDB in row 4. She had apparently stopped doing PDB at row 3 (maybe forgot to continue, got sidetracked, I don't know).

Lack of a PDB is not the end of the world to me. But lack of consistency does drive me nuts. I ultimately got a PDB but had to hold the cup as they didn't come and get them before take off.

-RM

exerda

They tried to push Jim Beam Devil's Cut on me the first few months when I tried explaining that Buffalo Trace was "bourbon," "whiskey," etc.

PsiFighter37

Got a plastic cup of Goose IPA instead of the whole can today. First time that has happened to me. No idea why anyone would think that is a good idea...

Wooglin

Maybe they only had 1 can, and 2 requests for it as a PDB?

Or FA thought you couldn't finish a whole one before takeoff?

In The 216

I could not agree more. I don't necessarily care about the PDB but the lack of consistency - and totally fabricated reasons as to why they won't do PDB's - drives me crazy. I wish the FA's whom are too lazy to PDB's would realize how negative it comes across.

CMK10

RDU-ORD-YVR on a 73G/738 last weekend and both flights had full PDBs. I boarded midway through boarding on both flights and had no problems getting a drink. For all of United's faults, this is something they are (at least in my experience) consistently good at.