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Original poster

Can someone explain 5am airport drinking?

409 replies

Prenoden · 04/09/2025 06:52

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

OP posts:
Embankments · 04/09/2025 07:12

Fear of flying for me.

LaughingCat · 04/09/2025 07:15

I’d take a lovely glass of Buck’s Fizz or a morning mimosa before a holiday, no trouble…no-one’s ever offered me one but I would if they did 😂. Couldn’t drink a pint though or eat breakfast. That’s too much.

RedRiverShore5 · 04/09/2025 07:15

I can't stomach alcohol any time of day but anything else I can eat at any time so I guess if I drank alcohol that would be the same and I could easily manage it at 5am and not just at the airport

Rewis · 04/09/2025 07:16

I'm sure some are scared scared flying etc. But I just think drinking has become a symbol of a holiday so the first drink at 5am at the airport signifies you're officially on holiday. Novelty and how it os normally "forbidden"

soupyspoon · 04/09/2025 07:17

Prenoden · 04/09/2025 06:52

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

Because they've probably been up since about 1 or 2 in the morning so its like lunchtime

An hour to get ready, 2 hours to the airport at least, 1 hour getting through the check in, security, blah blah blah, by all that time, you're wide awake, you've been on the go and fancy a little drinkie.

CoastalCalm · 04/09/2025 07:17

Bloody Mary or an Espresso Martini for me please with a couple of rounds of toast , butter and jam

BCBird · 04/09/2025 07:18

For some people they see it as signifying the start of their holiday. Not for me, a Boots Meal Deal or a spritz of new perfume is my indicator😂

Fastingandhungry · 04/09/2025 07:18

MuffinsAreJustCakesAtBreakfast · 04/09/2025 07:09

The same reason you think it's normal to pay £84 for a paperback booked published five years ago and £12.99 for a single bag of crisps.

normal rules don't apply in airports.

🤣

itsgettingweird · 04/09/2025 07:19

I think it’s the relationship between seeing as drinking as a sociable celebration behaviour and holiday being just that. So not necessarily wanting a drink but almost like an ingrained mindset?

I always had a cooked breakfast at the airport - even if I didn’t particularly want it it was just part of what I did!

I imagine some people it’s alcoholism? I use to be a holiday rep decades ago and we had a lot of lone travellers come through having urinated on themselves and seemingly unaware - but also not outwardly drunk and rowdy iyswim?

Coffeeishot · 04/09/2025 07:20

I just think i would heave at 5 am "pints" I mean let them crack on but it isnt for me 🤢

Gerardormikey · 04/09/2025 07:20

I’m not getting on a plane straight.

Valium does sod all for me, beta blockers just make me feel ill. Ive tried all the drugs for flying. I’ve had hypnotherapy, I even did a fear of flying course at the airport.

If I have an early flight, the chances of me sleeping the night before and zero anyway, so I haven’t just woken up.

A few pints of Stella and I’m good to go.

AutumnIsFinallyHere · 04/09/2025 07:21

If they’re at the airport at 5am, they might not have been to bed yet, or they’ve been up for hours, so it feels more like lunchtime or evening to them. Others will just be in holiday mode and doing something different because of that.

Some will just be functioning alcoholics though. A relative and his wife drink whenever they get chance, if they’re not at work they drink all day and they drink a lot, including as soon as they get up.

Imagineallthepuppies · 04/09/2025 07:21

I wouldn’t be able to stomach it. I would probably need a nap.
5am is still coffee time.

Squidgemoon · 04/09/2025 07:23

I couldn’t drink anything other than a cup of tea at that time, bleugh. Having just got home from holiday myself I was also surprised at how many people were straight onto the Prosecco/beer/cocktails the second the pool bar opened at 10am 😳

Createausername1970 · 04/09/2025 07:24

We had to be at Heathrow about 7, but in order to arrive at that time we would been negotiating the M25 at a busy time, so we decided to get there very early and avoid the possibility of getting stuck in traffic, with an ASD child getting worked up about the time and adding to the general levels of stress.

We got there about 5 a m. and to be honest I would have liked a large glass of wine with my full English as it was still dark outside and felt more like a continuation of the previous night than the start of a new day. Plus I had been up since 1 a.m. with a hyper child, so I felt I was in a different time zone!

40andlovelife · 04/09/2025 07:24

For some ( not all) it’s alcoholism. It’s socially acceptable to drink at that time and not be judged. Same with the people who drink before 12 at the all inclusive on holiday. For others it’s just the start of their hols. The Facebook posts of ‘ obligatory pint’ photographs in an airport bar have made it seem like something that HAS to be done.

abracadabra1980 · 04/09/2025 07:25

sorrynotathome · 04/09/2025 06:56

You might be surprised how many of them are scared of flying and use alcohol to cope.

This-and the sheer buzz of going on holiday makes the time irrelevant.

spoofyuser · 04/09/2025 07:26

I definitely couldn’t stomach anything other than a coffee before about 11am but everyone’s different. My guess is that people are in holiday mode or they’re trying to squash their nerves about flying.

We went for a cooked breakfast at a pub recently and people were having pints with their fry up. That feels all ‘wrong’ in my head but each to their own.

OhNoNotSusan · 04/09/2025 07:26

oh that is so off putting

LittleCarrot12 · 04/09/2025 07:27

I’ve never been able to stomach it either. For some it’s a way to start the holiday but alcohol isn’t a big part of my holiday anyway.

Scotsgirl001 · 04/09/2025 07:28

It’s one of only two times acceptable to drink in the morning. At the airport heading on holiday, and Xmas Day 🥂☺️

DeltaAlphaDelta79 · 04/09/2025 07:28

CultureAlienationBoredomandDespair · 04/09/2025 06:57

I think it’s a mix, some people are just in holiday mode and may well have been up a long time to travel to the airport. Others don’t like flying and drink to take the edge off or some just hope it will help them sleep through their flight.

All of those reasons for me!

StressedOot3 · 04/09/2025 07:28

I used to do it when younger, I don't really bother now. The last time I did, was Xmas eve and we were going abroad for Xmas. Had a wine in the airport and helped me crash out and sleep the whole flight and woke up to landing and enjoyed the rest of the day in the sun after being up since 1am. Had I not had one, I wouldn't of slept and whole first day would have been ruined.

nomas · 04/09/2025 07:29

Just as long as these 5am drinkers are not getting drunk or tipsy and trying to talk to me if they’re sitting next to me on the flight.

camelfinger · 04/09/2025 07:30

The only time I had pints before a flight (not in the morning though) I slept really soundly throughout the flight. I’m not afraid of flying, but based on this I might be tempted to drink early if I definitely wanted to sleep. Also, agree with the other comments that it might be just a way to start off the holiday.

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