Reader David asked an interesting question in the Ask Lucky forum:
Continue reading: Reader Question: Why Did A Gate Agent Ask If I Was Drinking?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Airline reps know the answers won't be honest. So, why ask?
To cover the airline rep in case this passenger becomes a problem later.
"I did my job. I asked and he answered 'no'."
"It is an offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in public. Alcohol is available at licensed hotel restaurants and bars, and expatriates living in Qatar can obtain alcohol on a permit system. Don't carry alcohol around with you (except to take it on the day of collection from the warehouse to your home)."
Local laws and customs - Qatar travel advice - GOV.UK
Anyone asks me that when boarding a plane and I will be more than rude. And I am always sober. What’s next...did you eat beans? Are you wearing underwear? Did you wash your hands before boarding?
So tired of the nanny state and quite frankly if I did have a glass of wine in the lounge it’s none of their business.
For my business class flight on Hong Kong Airlines from LAX to BKK, I plan on drinking copious amounts of alcohol in the lounges. I guess that I’ll bring a couple of 3 ounce containers of mouthwash with me.
If the agent did smell "alcohol", there can be another reason for that. Certain medical conditions including but not limited to (inadequately controlled) diabetes, can lead to "acetone breath".
@DenB - Lucky states why - to see how you react to the question. A lot of people will become irrationally angry/uncontrollable when asked this simple question. You do not want that type of person on your flight.
I don't have that problem since I only fly US based airlines and either on their lounges or on their planes there is absolutely nothing worth drinking. Thus, I stick with sparkling water. 🙂
@Peter Yes, Lucky gave this opinion. I'm offering mine, in addition. That, among other things, is what the "Comments" section is for. I'm not sure why I'm responding to your post, TBH. Perhaps you felt the same after posting yours.
🙂
@DenB no need for the defensiveness. Simply expanding on your opinion.
I sense a little extra emotion from your response... Have you been drinking? 😉
It can be easy to get irritated by random questioning from the gate agent. It almost seems like you did something wrong. When I was in line for boarding at CDG for a U.S. bound flight, an agent just out of nowhere asked me a series of questions of why I was in Paris, what I did, and where I stayed. I get it was for security and on a normal day, I would've been eager to tell her all the exciting things I did during trip. I certainly felt a bit annoyed that I was one of a few who actually got questioned.
The world’s relationship with alcohol is nonsensical and puritinacial.
You can drink in “private” at a bar or restaurant, but not in “public” 5 feet away on the sidewalk.
Bar tenders’ job is to serve customers alcohol, but it is a felony to serve an intoxicated person alcohol.
It’s legal to be drunk in a restaurant, but it becomes a crime (public intoxication) the moment you step outside.
Overall, there must be some severe internal moral tensions ppl are working out because this makes little sense.
I wish Lucky hadn't tip toe'd around the obvious white elephant, the person was in Qatar, a country known for human rights abuses and religious extremism. Giant difference between this and drinking some wine in France. Personally I would have taken it personally, but I would have bit my lip so I could get out of that hellhole as soon as possible.
They ask for two reasons. Will you be able to assist yourself in an emergency and to determine if you could be a problem in a metal tube going 500 miles per hour at 30,000 feet. You would be surprised how many stupid things drunk people do on airplanes.
@Stuart lol nanny state... sir, calm down. I, too, would love to watch them throw your ass to the curb.
I’m a professional drunk; thus I’ve never been asked to stop drinking on a flight or lounges. The only time I had trouble is when I got pulled over in Austin TX. I told the officer “I don’t drink” but he still give me the dui test. Passed it. But it’s not worth drinking and driving. I just stick to flying first class and drinking now.
Alcohol does not have an odor...... so there’s no way someone could actually smell it.
I used to be a heavy drinker and never had any problems. Three long island iced tea before boarding and three small bottles of rum on the plane. I am not a person that causes problems while drinking. Now I am 11 months sober and going to keep it that way.
@Callum I think it is highly relevant. Alcohol is illegal for citizens, foreigners can only buy it with a residential permit AND permission from their employer (as if they were kids). The only other option is a hotel bar. Also forbidden is pornography, homosexuality, and lets not forget the woman who was imprisoned for 3 months and fined after reporting getting raped by the police. I think you can see where I am going with this.
Needless to say I think its highly plausible that there was an ulterior motive to asking this question. Perhaps she did think he was drunk, who knows, but I don't think it should be completely ignored that this guy was flying out of a country full of archaic laws
Maybe the flight was oversold and they were looking for an excuse to IDB someone without compensation.
@ Nick - well it's not. They serve alcohol in the airport and on the plane - what the law may be on the street in Qatar is irrelevant.
I had this happen to me in the EK lounge in SIN. I took a long F flight of IAD-DXB-MEL-SIN-CMB.
Suffice to say by the last segment to Colombo I was very tired (and jetlagged). I waddled to the front of the lounge VERY tired to ask if the flight to Colombo was on time. When the agent saw me so tired he got a very serious look on his face and said “have you been drinking sir?” I actually started chuckling, and explained why I may look inebriated. It did not escalate from there. But it is airline ground personnel’s responsibility to identify intoxicated passengers and stop them from boarding for the safety of everyone.
Not yet thankfully but I too want to be clear headed. Note: intra-Asia business class on Asiana serve alcohol in “thimbles”; I had a little glass of pre departure champagne and my 1 vodka and soda was beyond weak. OTOH Thai the opposite
I wasn’t aware of this policy on Asiana. How strict are they? I have an OZ F segment coming up. Korean Air doesn’t seem to have this same policy.
Also Japanese Airlines let you get totally hammered in premium cabins as long as you’re not bothering anyone.
A Delta Airlines agent asked me where I bought my watch. Can you write a post about that too?
In Mexico while checking in our bags we were denied our boarding passes because the agent said my husband was drunk. I heard him telling his coworker in Spanish that he was drunk, I know Spanish but my husband doesn’t. He insisted he get some coffee and something to eat, than accused my 18 year stepson of also being drunk which was not true.
I find that the flight attendants try to ply me with alcohol in first and I have to restrain them.
If I am to sample more than 2 wines and an after dinner cognac I need really small quantities not the usual serving. Not easy to get this across sometimes.
I think Asiana is doing the smart thing to educate passengers on alcohol during flights. not only does it keep passengers in line out of courtesy and etiquette for other passengers, but also passengers simply do not know the many negative effects of alcohol on flights, especially during long-haul.
i once had a once-in-a-lifetime flight on Austrian in J but it was wrecked when a couple behind me was cackling and giggling throughout the entire flight while half the cabin was (trying to) sleep until a flight attendant outright denied them any more alcohol and said that they have "had (consumed) enough" and the couple got a hissy fit while i winked at the FA and gave her a thumbs up.
@Abe, apparently Japanese airlines will let you get hammered if you're in the cockpit, too. 😛
This literally just happened to me (I arrived at this post seeking others with a similar experience).
My husband and I were the last two people to board a flight from Chicago to Kansas City. I was about to start my walk down the jetway when my husband called out to me that they wanted us to turn around and go back. We were informed that we appeared intoxicated (not even a little bit true) and would require an evaluation by a supervisor. We were not even asked if either had actually been drinking.
I have no idea why anyone would say such a thing. I did have a glass of wine on the prior flight. My husband had a partial glass of beer at the United Club. While I can imagine that someone with a keen sense of smell might smell his beer breath and/or my wine breath, we were by no means intoxicated, nor did we draw attention to ourselves in any way. I also found it odd that we were never asked point blank if either had been drinking. Also, despite being told that we could not board due to our suspected intoxication, we were at the same time also reassured early on that the flight would not leave without us.
As we stood there waiting, there was some quiet discussion between the gate agents with regard to a couple of passengers who had been running late due to long connections (and possibly flight delays - not sure about that part). I did overhear that least one person was needing to get from F10 to C15 (this is at O’Hare) with just 15 minutes left prior to take off. It became pretty clear (to me, at least) that rather than hassle with the rebooking of these 2 delayed individuals, the gate agents had decided to create a false “intoxicated passengers” event in order to buy them some time. To get to C15.
At no time was there any explanation provided to my husband and I for why we (or one of us - it was never clarified which person had appeared intoxicated or what it was that suggested such a condition) had been singled out for the detention. Eventually (shortly after the final passenger arrived), the “supervisor” appeared. He was wearing reflective clothing and such, suggesting to me that he was a part of the ground crew. Even after speaking with that individual, we were provided no explanation with regard to why we had been been detained. The supervisor asked where we were coming from and where we were going. He asked what day of the week it was. He then said that as long as we “were able to follow protocols” that we could now board. I asked what he meant by that, but my husband gave me a look so I just said ok.
I’m not sure if we were selected for this honor because we were the last to board, because we had no significant carry-on baggage, or what. I’m not sure if they were hoping that we would get upset and angry and make a scene or what they wanted out of us. The end result was that two passengers were able to board who might not have made it save the delay created by the false accusations that had been levied against myself and my husband.
There was a time in my life that I might have just laughed about something like this. I might even have considered these two gate agents to be clever and their ruse justified. However, I am a physician and my husband a lawyer. Even the appearance of this sort of impropriety could affect our careers.
To think that these gate agents would take it upon themselves to risk the professional reputations of two strangers (not sure they would know that my husband is a lawyer, but I am certain that I have been listed in the computer as an MD since I helped a patient who was seizing on a plane), is beyond the pale.
We are thinking about a lawsuit.