I was told that starting on January 6, 2005, all US Airlines would begin charging $4 or $5 for a glass of wine on International flights in coach. For that reason alone, I am willing to pay a little extra to fly on a foreign airline like BA, Virgin, etc., where a glass of wine is free with dinner. Has anyone had free wine on any US airline since January 6, 2005?

Wally, just how much wine are you planning to drink to make this a cost-effective maneuver?

A guy in my office flew Continental to Amsterdam a couple of years ago and came back mad as heck for having to pay $5 for a beer. He vowed never to fly Continental again for that reason. The next year he was planning another trip to Europe and Continental was about $150 cheaper than any of it's competitors. He got over the "free drink" issue fast, and flew Continental. This should not be a determining factor in the airline you choose.

Does this guy know there is no dinner on AA? Or should we wait till his tummy is acidly surprised?

If you fly Continental a lot and like to have some alcoholic drinks enroute, you can get "Continental Currency" coupons at the e-kiosks. Three coupons are $13 ($2 off), six coupons $25 ($5 off).

I usually don't drink on the plane, but got a couple of such coupons from Elite relatives. Two nice things about using them - 1) make people around you jealous; 2) the FAs will know that you're a Continental regular, and will treat you a little better in general.

OK on this subject.

What is the policy on UAL LAX-NAR-BKK on drinks in economy??
:-B

I love wine but I would hope that no flyer needs so many glasses of wine on their flight that they will break the bank because they have to pay for it.

ed - UA still offers free drinks in economy on its transpacific flights. The recently change in policy to charge for wine, etc., was for transatlantic and Latin American flights. This is as stated on UA's website.

I wish you guys would take Reading 101. Three glasses of wine each way comes up to $30 on a round trip. As I said, I would be willing to pay a "little" extra to fly with BA or Virgin.

Last time I flew with BA the wine was free - but
(i) it was foul tasting and really undrinkable rubbish (and i'm not a wine snob - I rarely pay more than £6-£7 for a bottle of wine)
(ii) the seat pitch was only 31"
(iii) the cabin was roasting hot
(iv) the water froze on the plane (long haul flight without any water to drink - nice)
(v) BA in the past have made it quite clear that they don't see the Economy traveller as where they want to focus their attention - and don't you realise it when 3/4 of the passengers are crammed into the back 1/3 of the jumbo.

Virgin, may be a completely different story, but I would never pay a supplement to fly with British Airways for any reason

Walter, you left out the part about the lousy way BA treats economy passengers when it comes to earning FF miles.

They're not my favorite, either, though I did fly them last year when I got a really great fare.

Walter, I am quite confident- nay- 100% certain, that BA are not the only airline to have had the occasional glitch with air con and so forth. To denegrate an airline on this basis is rather silly. Nice.

BA is not alone either in seeing that business pax are the most important and profitable customers to their business. It seems that US airlines have forgotten this in their fare struggles (defeats?) against the Southwests and Jet Blues of this world. The full service airlines who realise this fact about business travellers are the only airlines who remain profitable and in business. Members of this select group would include the aforementioned BA, plus other usual suspects such as VS, SQ, AF, EK etc etc. Obviously, no American carriers will be in this select group as they are too busy giving away too many miles and upgrades to passengers and neglect the fact that they need to stay in business.

Pardon me Cosmic Toadstool for being silly..

The points I highlighted in my post were a few of a catalogue of horrors on that flight. I have been regularly flying long haul for over 20 years and this was without doubt the worst flight by any airline I have experienced. If I wish to denegrate an airline based on that, I will.

As for an airlines relationship with its business class passengers, obviously I know that this is where the profit is, but as far as I am aware I can only think of one airline that has in recent years gone public saying we don't really want to concentrate on those looking for cheap fares in future.

Well now, gang. There are little coosey things (don't know why they are called that) that fit around a whole water bottle. If one is discreet, who knows what is in the Zephyrhills bottle?