Can someone explain 5am airport drinking?

[Prenoden]

I'm not asking this as a kill joy or teetotaler, I enjoy a drink on holiday as much as anyone but how are people able to stomach pints at 5am?

Been on holiday recently and could barely eat before flight yet everyone else had pints/ g&t etc. It wasn't even mid morning it was 5am

Alcoholism.

Exactly not everyone is the same!

Two glasses of wine, a sleeping tablet, I go to sleep the second we are in the air and you can wake me up at the other end! I can assure you, I am quieter than you,

Mumsnet finest here!
Glass of wine at the airport and you're an alcoholic!

Yep loads 🥳

This

No, they are just having a bloody drink before they get on the plane!

Just use the fancy toilet instead... much shorter queue.

:)) some need to drown the sorrow of 3am wakeup in a pint before moving on to 10am cocktails

It's tradition now

I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve the night before my holiday, so I don’t tend to get much sleep. I had a pint with my “breakfast” in the airport at 6am last month, but I had been awake for 8 hours by that time so it just felt like a boozy lunch!

😆

Being dependent on alcohol to either calm yourself down or have a good time is alcoholism. If that fact annoys you, or you are feeling defensive when you read the world “alcoholism”, you might want to ask yourself why.

If you know you are having a 5am drink for other reasons then comments about alcoholism won’t bother you, as it’s irrelevant/not about you. But taking two glasses of wine and a sleeping pill to fly, followed by eight drinks a day on holiday and getting cross with anyone who points that out is dangerously unhealthy behaviour, whichever way you look at it.

(P.S. I’m great fun at parties too, as long as I’ve taken my E of course).

I'll book a GP appointment to discuss the fact that I am concerned i am an alcoholic because i have a few drinks to calm my nerves before a flight.

Im sure they'll take it very seriously and refer me to the relevant NHS services.

https://www.ukat.co.uk/addiction/alcohol/

Good luck. There are plenty of online resources too.

Thanks hun, none of that applies tbh, nor any of the resources I looked at to check your wild claim, but ill still let the GP know someone on MN said its definitely alcoholism for a nervy flier to 'need' a few drinks before a flight once a year 👍

Thanks for the good luck too, not sure how ill manage to get through this difficult time in my alcoholism journey. Might pop along to a few AA meetings to share my experiences and get some support from other alcoholics too

If I'm at airport at 5am, chances are I haven't been to sleep, so it's not like getting up at 7am and having a pint straight away. I also drink alcohol sometimes after night shift before going to bed in the morning.

Time doesn't exist in airports. That's a fact.

Remember when they used to have the smoking areas in Gatwick. Olden times.

I don't have the wine to calm me.
I am not a nervous passenger

I don't have the wine, to be fun on the plane. I like a nice calm quiet flight like everyone.
Its a chance to get a few hours sleep in.

Having a drink every day on holiday. Then nothing until you go away is not being an alcoholic.

My stomach seems to take time to wake up, don't know why

But if you are in an airport and through security at 5am you got up at 3 at the latest, even if you live practically next door! It’s had a minimum of 2 hours by then.

When travelling alone, I get lounge access. Most flights have been before 9am. I have drinks to relax and holiday mood. I don’t drink in excess that I lose balance and shout about.

My parents don’t do the preflight drinks.

I can’t sleep on planes. Combination of the vibrations and not much room to get comfy. My DM sleeps during take off which causes more problems with her hearing. We need her to stay awake for this in the future

My reasons (and this is the only time I do ever drink alcohol BTW),
1 - I had been up for 7 hours by then (we'd travelled from Somerset to Heathrow).
2 - I'm absolutely terrified of flying so wanted something to take the edge off

I give 0 fucks what anyone else in the departure area thought.