Prior to takeoff of my British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Austin, while flight attendants were serving predeparture beverages in business class, I tweeted that I’d been told I could not have water as my beverage.
British Airways business class pre-departure beverage, I was just denied a glass of water.
Champagne and orange juice only: “You already have a bottle of water at your seat, sir.”
A flight attendant asked if I wanted a beverage. I asked for water. They had a tray with orange juice and champagne. This was more controversial than I’d expected. There were generally 3 strands of responses.
- You’re an entitled jerk. You already had water, you should drink that before asking for more. This response primarily came from flight attendants.
Trouble makier
— Marcus Dias (@downunderdiaz) November 23, 2023
makes sense to me
— Sassy Mamaw (@rosarosso) November 22, 2023
- First world problems. Well, yes. As I wrote “Welcome to frequent flyer twitter. You must be new here.”
- Water is pretty basic not least of which (1) in business class, (2) while flight attendants are literally offering drinks.
First world problems
— Victor Meldrew (@VictorMeldrew00) November 23, 2023
First world problems
— Richard Bannister (@noxegon) November 22, 2023
First world problem
— Carolyn Davidson (@davidsonmls) November 22, 2023
The comments here tell me that people don’t drink enough water. That one little bottle should barely get you through takeoff. Also, water should be the last thing you’re denied in a premium cabin.
— Bethany Walsh (@BougieMiles) November 22, 2023
They were offering predeparture beverages. I wasn’t asking for a cocktail, or for them to brew coffee. I was asking for a glass of water.
There was a bottle already at my seat, but I was saving that for the flight. Since they were offering drinks, I figured I’d use that opportunity to get more water. On my previous flight I’d asked for a second bottle and was told no. I was told they’d run out by midflight.
Here’s why my request seemed pretty reasonable, and I felt like the response wasn’t.
- On my previous flight, and indeed on every flight in my lifetime where predeparture beverages have been offered, I’ve been able to get water.
- The flight wasn’t delayed, and was fully boarded. It wasn’t as though passengers were up in the aisle. (On the Airbus A350 they board everyone from the front of the aircraft.) The cabin wasn’t even close to full, in fact around a quarter of the seats were empty.
- The flight attendant did not apologize, or tell me that they just couldn’t accommodate the request because they were too busy. They just said no.
Note that I did not push back. I didn’t give the flight attendant a hard time. I simply asked one time for water, and accepted the ‘no’. But I shared the story because the interaction seemed odd to me. Does that make me an entitled jerk?
I did eventually get a glass of water in the air, along with my packaged nuts (such a low class replacement for the nuts BA used to serve).
Does it somehow make me “entitled” an “a-hole” or a “d-bag” as some suggested to ask for water as my predeparture beverage when a crewmember comes around offering drinks, when there’s already a bottle of water pre-placed at my seat?
