Can you put a mimosa in a Starbucks cup, and drink your own booze on board your flight? I’ve been on a flight where the woman sitting next to me had a coffee cup with wine from the American Airlines Admirals Club. A flight attendant realized it and confronted the passenger.
Things escalated quickly. We were in first class, and the woman was offered both a predeparture beverage and could have free wine once we were at cruising altitude. But she wanted her wine for taxi and takeoff, too!
That woman got a written warning from the airline. Usually if you’re discrete it probably won’t be noticed. But doing this is also illegal. Airlines don’t want passengers bringing their own alcohol and drinking it, and the government doesn’t want this either.
And it’s not for the same reason that movie theaters don’t want you bringing your own popcorn (because they sell popcorn at inflated prices). The idea is that a crewmember monitors whether you’re drinking too much. Overconsumption can lead to bad behavior in the air that puts other passengers at risk, and can lead to inconvenient and costly flight diversions too.
That’s up there with this guys basket, that he brought on the plane, sitting next to me. pic.twitter.com/Y89LdZGni8
— Paulybhoy82 (@paulybhoy82) February 20, 2023
For part of the pandemic, airline tickets were so cheap that they brought out people who did not usually fly. Many of these folks wanted to drink on board. But airlines weren’t serving alcohol, at least in economy. So passengers brought their own.
Many airports have restaurants and bars that sell drinks to go. That is sort of weird since,
- About the only place you’re going to go is on the plane
- And you’re not allowed to drink alcohol on board that isn’t served by a crewmember
American Airlines spent 2021 spent 2021 trying to get airports to ban to go alcohol sales, and also to get criminal penalties enforced on disruptive passengers.
Surprising to many though, the rule isn’t that you can’t drink your own booze! The rule is that you can’t drink alcohol that isn’t served by a crewmember. While getting U.S. airline cabin crew in economy to serve you drinks you’ve brought on board may be a stretch, flying some foreign carrier first class some passengers have been known to buy their own wine at duty free for crew to pour. Shark Tank‘s Barbara Corcoran says to bring your own booze on board when you fly.
Credit: R. Tedrow, Used With Permission
Other surprising alcohol rules are that the laws of the country where the airline is from apply on board, even when flying in the airspace of another country. As a result airlines from countries with lower drinking ages let Americans drink before they’re 21.
The other reason they don’t want you to drink your own alcohol is they lose the outrageous profit from selling their alcohol.
Some people just can’t be discreet about anything. Amateurs. But, in this economy, I get it, BYOB.
Sanctimonious teetotaler trash much?
The coke machines can GFTS.
The only thing flights attendants monitor is Candy Crush. The no personal alcohol rule is simply government-sponsored revenue protection couched as “safety”…just like ID checks, the inability to change names on a ticket and $6.00 bottled water beyond security checkpoints.
Just went to Nashville and alcohol to go seems to be the norm as the waiting area seats have cupholders in them. The gate agents make announcements telling you to finish your drink before boarding.
I’ve been in a few airports in the US… I want to say Pensacola or similar… that sold liquor minis in the Hudson News in the gate area.
The self-serve bars at the former NW clubs used to run through vodka at an extremely high rate as banks of flights approached with people making roadies in coffee cups.
JetBlue used to have a policy where their crew would serve you alcohol you brought on board, but that has been quietly discontinued. I don’t think any US carrier will now (unless they figure out how to charge a corkage fee). A few of the carriers from “damp” countries will in premium classes (I believe Egypt Air is one).
In my airline days, I dealt with people who did things like get into their duty free booze on board and got out of control in a hurry. Like with anything, the majority of people could probably be responsible with consuming a personal mini or two on board (heck, Spirit used to do a service prior to landing selling “roadies” pointing out their combo for two drinks was probably cheaper than the hotel bar, with a mixer thrown in free, so get one for later!). But the idiot who is going to make a game of drinking 750mL of duty free rum between Montego Bay and Miami and getting handsy with others is the one who ruins it.
Greetings from the civilized continent where every other table on first class TGV has a bottle of wine on it and they serve 16 years old beer yet outside of the English traveling to their football matches or hen parties no one so much as raises their voice.
Did the women actually do anything other than sit quietly and sip her wine? People should mind their own business and stop playing mall cop in the sky.
Whenever I have a leftover alcoholic beverage from the admirals club I always transfer it into a coffee cup. But I don’t feel guilty. I’m not the guy who’s going to pound 8 drinks and cause a ruckus..
Here is the reality – you get punished for bringing your own alcohol on board – but – the airlines now have a “legal” way to gouge you….
A high % of the traveling public wants to be drunk or stoned most of the time. They just cannot control themselves for very long. Their age and IQ generally match.
@ DFWSteve. Good thumb rule. Many of us have enough age related maladies that we don’t need to self induce any additional ones. Recovery time ain’t what it use to be.
Taking stuff out of the lounge in coffee cups with lids has been going on for… 15, 20 years? Didn’t need Covid to do that! *Although I remember a time in Seattle AND LA where we couldn’t even :::: DRINK ::::: in the lounge, it was *all* to go. But hey, remember “science”.
Your body, your choice, FINE. My cup, my choice 🙂
If I’m flying coach I like to bring rum and gin in my 1 qt a c up of ice ziplock for drinks in the plane if I’m not driving.or at the hotel, a sliced lime and an empty hydro flask, which I get filled with ice at one of the bars. I ask for a whole can of tonic water and a cup of ice when the drinks are served, and discretely mix my drink once the flight attendants have moved up the cabin. Since the ice that I’ve been served melts quickly, it’s nice to be able to replenish it as needed. I don’t get hammered, and have never had a problem The flight attendants are way too busy to care that I’ve passed them a cup with 3 lime wedges. in it when they’re collecting the remaining trash before landing