kthpence

[Mod note: This thread/post moved from the flame-free Information Desk forum. Thanks for contributing respectful responses.]

About a week ago, I was traveling from MEL-SYD on Virgin Australia and was denied boarding because I had a coffee in my hand that I had bought right before boarding the plane (ironically, the coffee stand was next to the gate). My partner's boarding pass had already been scanned, and the gate attendant said that she had to get on the plane and couldn't wait for me to drink (or throw away my $4 small espresso).

I asked the attendant why this was the case and she said it was "aviation policy." I'm not sure if this an Australian thing, as I fly 20+ times a year in the states and have never come across this issue. It was even more interesting considering how lax security is on OZ...

Has anyone heard of this occurring? Is it standard practice in Australia/other countries?

Dave Noble

It is for safety that the airline does not allow hot drinks to be taken onboard the aeroplane and there are signs (iirc) that mention this and is standard with Virgin and istr that Qantas may have a similar rule

There is nothing ironic about a coffee stand being there since people may be waiting in the gate area for a while before boarding an aeroplane

I wouldn't say that security in Australia is lax

kthpence

Yes, that's what the woman told me...but what is unsafe about it? You can get coffee on board the plane, so I don't understand why it's unsafe to bring your own coffee on the plane that is purchased post security.

Flying from SYD-MEL and, back in October, from SYD-CNS, I never had to take off my shoes, belt, hat, jacket, watch, wallet, phone or take my laptop out of my bag. I also brought in two opened containers of water and juice (forgot they were in my bag) and nobody said anything.

I also travel with a nebulizer that usually gets swabbed down in the states, or at the very least taken out of the bag and run through the x-ray on its own. Not here. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, I think that the states are over-the-top in their security at airports, but I can't say that the security in Australia has been nearly as scrutinizing as it is in the US. So, with my past experiences in Australia compared to those in the sates, I'd consider their security to be lax.

kthpence

Oh, the icing on the cake (for my partner and I at least), was the fact that we didn't even show a boarding pass or ID to get through security.

nux

What is your point exactly? You are travelling in Australia and Australian regulations apply.

You do not need to show your boarding pass or ID to go through security when travelling domestically. You do not need to remove shoes etc when going through security.
However, I think you would struggle to find many air security incidents that have occurred in Australia because of the security practices used which could have been prevented with American style security.

I believe it is airline policy rather than law that hot beverages cannot be taken onboard.

kthpence

"I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, I think that the states are over-the-top in their security at airports," is what I said. I just thought it was interesting that you can't bring a coffee on board the plane when the security is the way that it is. I wasn't attacking Australian regulations at all and think that the US can take a pointer from some of them at least (the no ID policy is weird to me though). I still don't understand the airline policy of not allowing coffee on the plane. Policies come to fruition for a certain reason - that reason is not clear at all IMO in this case.

nux

Not being allowed to take onboard hot drinks is unrelated to airport security, it is more about personal safety (and liability).

It seems quite obvious to me the reasons and type previous incidents that may have happened to put the policy in place.

satman40

They probably heard some stupid American sued McDee for a hot coffee spill and wanted to limit their liability, go with the flow and move on...it is their airplane.

erik123

She had third degree burns, required multiple operations/skin grafts and only asked to reimbursed for medical expenses (which McD) refused.

zoonil

My kids could not board with balloons on the airplane in Milan (Alitalia) flight to New York. So we unhappily left them by the gate and boarded the plane.

Often1

I only wish that all carriers had this policy everywhere. This is not a security issue (the one about liquids from certain stations), but rather about the dangers of spilling hot drinks as one walks down the aisle.

Hot drinks, when served onboard, are served at the seat and by trained FA's who presumably know when to serve and not.

Out of my Element

Shoot, we bought Dulce de leche in the Buenos Aires airport PAST security a couple years ago and were forced to leave them behind due to the "no liquids" rule.

Mwenenzi

No that that unusual from http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/virgi...-policies.html

jackal

Since this seems to be related to a Virgin Australia policy, we'll put this in the Virgin Australia forum for comment by the experienced locals there.

For future members responding, please bear in mind this thread began in the flame-free Information Desk forum.

jackal
Information Desk

GoingMyWay

Seems ridiculous. Methinks one would be more likely to spill the hot coffee that's served in flight if there's a little bit of turbulence vs walking down the aisle while the plane is sitting stationary on the ground.