Penny pinching at Heathrow

[SLeanne]

We are due to go away soon from Heathrow T4. OH and I like a couple of drinks before the flight (at 9pm). However, I was shocked last time that a glass of wine is over £10 a glass. If we are discreet, could we get away with buying a bottle in Duty Free and drinking it before the flight (and disposing of the empty bottle before boarding). I know it's not allowed but has anyone done it before and got away with it? Quite frankly I'm getting sick of having to spend C 100 quid for something to eat and a couple of drinks each (family of 4) and am looking at ways of cheating the system 🤔

👏👏

Wow.

I gathered that when I read your comments, but it still is coming across as pretty judgemental. You can’t tell me you didn’t write any of them thinking OP wouldn’t read them.

Sigh. The comment you challenged was specifically for the poster who thinks drunk is the only way to be ‘fun’ when travelling. It’s such a pathetic and immature attitude. If you share that view, then it’s aimed at you too. If it’s not (as you don’t drink) then don’t take it to heart.

I think if you buy alcohol in Duty free and are flying out - you have to present your boarding pass and they deliver the bottle to you at the gate as you board. You don't get to walk through the airport with the bottles.

Drinking much ( or any ) alcohol before or on a flight isn’t the greatest idea ,it affects you more than it would in usual circumstances.
I haven’t drunk alcohol for about 14 / 15 years but I did use to enjoy the occasional glass of wine .
However on a flight , I never drunk any alcohol , only water and a coffee before arrival

It is possible to have a couple of drinks without becoming ‘inebriated’ 🙄

Buy a bottle and disappear into the loo to decant the wine into a thermos flask.
You'll need to consume it all before you go through security
Cheers !

OP if you don’t mine travelling beforehand and it is just for dinner and a few drinks, there is a Wetherspoons in Feltham. I can’t remember how much of a distance it is from Heathrow as I haven’t been there in a while but I’m sure you can get a bus (285) from Feltham to Heathrow and vice versa.

Do you think it’s possible to be ‘fun’ without drinking?

I simply can’t imagine this. Planning a lovely holiday by starting it in Feltham Wetherspoons and then getting a bus to the airport with your luggage. The mind boggles!

Would anyone other than an alcoholic do this? Genuinely.

I can never understand - unless you are a nervous flyer - why people drink before they fly. And, to be honest, drinking is probably not going to make flying (nervous or not) any better. People eating a a full English and necking 2 pints/half a bottle of wine at 5am before squeezing into a metal tube for 2 to 3 hours sounds like a recipe for disaster - personally, anyway. And I like a full English and a drink!

Of course it is. Being ‘fun’ has nothing to do with enjoying a glass of wine.

@DaringDrew If they want to, yes, maybe. I don’t have a clue. I don’t know if you noticed, because you seem to be so busy making sure people realise how all high and mighty you are, that OP did mention that they’re a family of 4, so I would assume children who don’t drink, and therefore I would hope OP won’t end up absolutely paralytic. That’s not my issue anyway. I just thought I would suggest it as I kind of know the area. What OP wants to do before her flight with her family is up to her. I don’t understand why it bothers you so much. Even I understand not everyone that drinks is an alcoholic.

Quite. I was questioning the poster who sarcastically implied someone who doesn’t drink before flights isn’t ‘fun’.

If you are unable to see the bigger issue here and don’t think that the drinking culture in this country is problematic, then I can’t be bothered to discuss this further with you.

I am interested to see still if anyone would go to those lengths to drink before a flight though!

No, you don’t want to discuss things further because I won’t come around to seeing things your way. I’ve noticed that quite a lot with other replies you’ve given. There is a massive problem with drinking in this country but moaning and moaning on a forum because someone wants a drink isn’t going to change it. I take it you like a tipple yourself?!

just for info you never asked for, I went to Stansted last week as I was going away, stopped off in a Wetherspoons in central London to eat first because it was cheaper than Stansted. I guess that was okay because I didn’t drink alcohol though.

I have never drunk alcohol, though my husband and adult kids do. My husband has never needed to start his holiday off with alcohol at the airport though.

I don’t expect you to come round to my way of thinking. The drinking culture is too entrenched here.

And of course you are allowed to enjoy whichever Wetherspoons establishment you wish. I hope it was lovely.

Then I hope your husband and children get this same type of treatment from you when they decide to have a drop of alcohol because I don’t believe for one second your spouting all of this nonsense because OP has decided to have a drink before the start of their holiday.

As you have said, drinking culture is too entrenched here. I don’t know why you think it’s your place to police it. Let them get on with it.

Some of the posters on here would be horrified if they went into one of the business lounges. 😅😅😅

@DaringDrew Isnt that more or less impossible? A lovely Weatherspoons? I agree. The mind boggles about Feltham! All because the OP doesn’t want to pay £10 for a glass wine. I also think we drink too much on many occasions. Including on flights.

She's getting on a plane with kids...I would suck the alcohol from a deodorant stick if it were my kids 🤣

it’s like the OP actually replied and said she would go to Feltham 😂🙄

Sweet summer child - Get yourself a ribena bottle. Empty the bottle in a bathroom and fill it with wine. When I was youngerrrr (I am still young), we would sneak alcohol into pubs, in Panda-pop bottles and just order coke. Started the night off cheap!

This is the most sensible comment.

I’m actually not a drinker at all, but I understand why you’d want to try and save a little on something you see as a treat. Whilst I appreciate it’s way more expensive, you’ve got to accept it’s part and parcel of the holiday experience.

Sneaking alcohol is not the same as taking your own Pringles tin from home.