Punki

I have been told several times that they can't serve alcohol on the ground, but don't remember where. I can remember once for sure in Las Vegas which seemed a little strange.

It would be very interesting to see that list.

PremEx

http://www.ual.com/site/primary/0,10017,1130,00.html

You'll note that strangely, pre-departure beverage is not an advertised feature of Premium Transcon Service.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 06-18-2002).]

richard

Are you being rude? I think the answer is in the "how" not the "what" -- as in "how" you ask, not "what" words you say.

If you say it with a smile, and with the right intent, I think it's fine.

Sure you can expect some rude looks occasionally, but screw 'em! Why let your state of mind be affected by an occasional FA who does not like his/her job.

I find I really like most FAs. And when I come into the cabin, I smile and greet the FAs like they are my friends. They respond to this so positively that I feel really good and generally get great service.

RichardMEL

... and sometimes the F/A's are just being lazy. I was told, once, in SYD flying SYD-MEL that they couldn't give me a pre-dept champ because "they're not allowed to" - funny really as I've always had it just fine on all the other such segments I've been on. I didn't make an issue of it though - I couldn't be bothered.

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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.

ozstamps

Thanks Premex - that link does at least promise for domestic First Class:

Pre-departure beverage service including juice and cocktails

I wonder how long it is since that site was updated? It also does say they offer in their Premium Transcons:

fine china, flatware, and stemware

And for 9 months the "fine flatware" has consisted entirely of cheap 1� plastic McDonalds goodies, and this was still so last week on 2 transcons. I just started a thread on this plastic flat ware madness actually.

Punki ... I sure do agree some places have not served drinks. Perhaps you had a 'rogue FA' out of Vegas, as Joh and I flew LAS to SFO a week or 2 back in First and they most certainly had nice bubbles for us. It was 105� outside and we sure appreciated a drink by time we were seated, especially as there (weirdly) is no RCC in LAS.

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~ Glen ~

warmsnickers

Good guess, but no. I get a preflight liquor drink on DL out of SLC 100% of the time. Actually, the restrictions here are primarily on alcohol sales--you can give away as much of the stuff as you want with little problem, but if you want to sell it . . .

fparker1

nope. i had 2 pre-flight g/t drinks on dl in slc in april.


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f

Gaucho100K

No, you are not being pushy. No, you are not being rude. But, yes, you are forgetting that UA FA's are there primarily for your safety...

richard

For me, more common is the pre-flight offer of "juice or water" on the latest flight, not even "champagne" (cough! cough!)

But I have noticed when people ask that they will get them a cocktail.

The policy is: Don't ask, don't fill (the glass with your favourite liquor)

techgirl

Harrisburg, PA is one city I know of where liquor can't be served on the ground. I'm not sure if that is a statewide regulation or not.

This topic comes up all the time over on the AA forum. Often it is a matter of the liquor cart not be loaded by catering in time to make the predeparture service.

Still, I see nothing wrong with asking politely....

zrs70

Interesting thoughts....

Well, I�ll take the minority opinion. While I don�t think it sounds rude, I do think it sounds self-centered. Why? Because in my experience, the FA�s are often very busy at boarding. I appreciate it when they do come for pre-departure beverages. But I don�t get in their way to demand one.

An aside: I bet if you asked the FA for water, you would never get a �look.� When I board a plane, I am often thirsty. Water is always well appreciated.

Mountain Trader

I think in C or FC, expecting to have your coat hung up or getting a drink, is being niether pushy nor rude.

It's usually easy to tell if the FAs are busy with last minute work (in which case I pass on the requests) or just lolling around talking to one another, in which case they should take your coat and drink order without being asked.

If I have a coat to be hung up and there's no FA to take it, I usually drape it over my armrest or the seat in front of me. Since the coat can't stay there for takeoff, sooner or later, they figure it out.

[This message has been edited by Mountain Trader (edited 06-19-2002).]

unagi1

The facial expressions on the prison matrons in these instances is priceless.

Not to extend the thread into other areas, but someone mentioned earlier about juice/water being offered vis a a vis champagne. This can also be correlated to prison matron crews vs. Hawaii and/or Asian based crews on transpacs, regarding both with preflight and inflight service. With the matrons, if you dont ask you dont get, or if they ask it is in a tone of voice to the effect that "you dont really want this right?" For the latter crew, they keep coming back to pour until you say no more.

izzik

I think it's rude. Especially the part about handing them your jacket.. what if they had other concerns to attend to? It's not like they can say "no" when you present a situation like that.

A little patience on the passenger end never hurts.

mdtony

Good call, man. They'll get to you. They have to before takeoff, so don't sweat it, they will get your coat.

I wonder what some folks here do when there's really something to stress over, such as a flight being delayed and a connection being missed due to weather. If you'll get stressed out over how quickly your coat is hung up, what happens when something really important happens?