On the 25th of October i went as a party of 4 to the Dominican Republic with My Travel/Airtours. On the outward flight we bought a bottle of vodka from the air stewardess and put it in to plastic water bottles so we would not be passing a glass bottle back and forth. An hour or so before landing i was woken by the air stewardess who accused me of smuggling alcohol on board the aircraft which i denied and said i had bought it off her or one of her co workers, she continued to argue with me and said i had not. She was aggressive and confrontational so i asked her to calm down and take stock of the situation. She demanded the bottle back which i gave her and it was empty. I didnt swear, raise my voice or act aggressive in anyway, i told her i would take full responsiblty for this situation so as not to involve the rest of the party, thus escalating a minor situation. She told me i had broken the law by bringing alcohol on board a plane and refused to belive i had bought it off the plane. One of the other stewardesses reassured me i had done nothing wrong and that the other stewardess sometimes gets like that.
On landing i was met off the plane by several Dominican police/airport security who took me to their office and held me for 20mins or so. They could cleary see i was not drunk or aggressive and shook my hand and told me to enjoy my stay in the Dominican. When i went to the welcome meeting the following day i informed the rep what had happened as i was worried about the flight home. A week later i recieved a letter from My Travel saying i was being refused carraige home even though we were to fly with Thomas Cook. They had forwarded a flight report to them stating i compromised safety on board the aicraft and of other passengers, this all due to the over reaction of one stewardess and her bad attitude. So there i was stranded in the Dominian with no flight home. We were due to leave four days later and i was given no help to arrange returning to the UK. I had to speak to my girlfriends parents back home and they arranged a flight to Miami, then another flight to Heathrow, then i had to get to Gatwick to meet the rest of the Party for our flight to Newcastle. This cost me £718, more than the entire cost of my holiday. I had done absolutely nothing wrong. I even have a list of about 20 passengers who witnessed this situation and reassured me i was in the right and that the stewardess was very confrontational. One passenger in particular, came up to me in the resort and said he works as a body language inturrpretter for a living and can lip read , he said that i behaved exceptionally well considering the aggressive manner in which i was being spoken to. I have wracked my brains to try and think if i was out of order in any way, and i cant think of anything. Is it fair that one individual with a bad attitude can have the complete power to destroy my holiday, and cost me £700?
Hmm difficult one. If one of the stewardesses thought the other had over reacted then you'd have thought she would have put down her version in the report - but I don't really know how these situations work ie whether or not just the person making the compliant is involved.
It might be worth you having a chat with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 she is a travel law lawyer and will offer you free advice.
Let us know how you get on.
It might be worth you having a chat with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 she is a travel law lawyer and will offer you free advice.
Let us know how you get on.
sounds horrendous!!!!!!! give some people a little power & it goes completely to their heads!
but are you aware that you are NOT allowed to drink your bottles of duty free whether brought on to the aircraft if you bought it at the airport or if you buy it on board. Im assuming here that it was a normal size bottle of vodka you are talking about not a minature bought from the bar???
still regardless, it sounds as though the stewardess was rather heavy handed im sure if she'd just told you that what you were doing was not allowed in a calm manner you would not have had a problem with it. having been on a flight with a loud obnoxious drunk ( who had been sneaking his whisky from his duty free bottle & had not been spotted till it was far too late) i agree with the rules of no drinking duty free on board.
but are you aware that you are NOT allowed to drink your bottles of duty free whether brought on to the aircraft if you bought it at the airport or if you buy it on board. Im assuming here that it was a normal size bottle of vodka you are talking about not a minature bought from the bar???
still regardless, it sounds as though the stewardess was rather heavy handed im sure if she'd just told you that what you were doing was not allowed in a calm manner you would not have had a problem with it. having been on a flight with a loud obnoxious drunk ( who had been sneaking his whisky from his duty free bottle & had not been spotted till it was far too late) i agree with the rules of no drinking duty free on board.
Well, this is an interesting post.
My initial reaction when reading for the first time was..."why bother to transfer to a water bottle?" OK, I see the logic in not passing a glass bottle around but let's be honest, they survived take-off and the unsold ones will survive landing (probably often). The worst that could happen is the bottle's dropped, smashes, you loose your vodka, the stewardess gets to clean-up the mess.
Buying a full-size bottle of alcohol is generally purchased for taking off the plane - not drinking on board.
That said, clearly you were not a problem for other passengers and not drunk. I think it's significant that the Dominican police did not see fit to detain you. Also, had you really been a danger to the aircraft safety the stewardess should have called one of the flight crew - ideally the Captain.
Moving to their refusal to allow you to board the return flight - I'd class that as a simple flight cancellation and subject therefore to a full refund plus complensation in line with the values define in EC regulations. I believe an airline can refuse to permit you to board but should give good reasons for that decision at the time. For example, had you turned-up drunk for either flight they could justifiably refuse you access.
When you travelled there were (still are) strict rules on carrying liquids of any type onto a plane. You presumably passed through security checks at the departure airport - and had you really had alcohol in water bottles at that time this would have been detected.
You may have purchased alcohol after the security checks of course, and transferred to a water bottle.
You state you purchased a bottle of vodka on the plane - this would be recorded by the person making the sale - a seat number recorded, the stock downdated, the payment taken etc. The purser would be able to verify this.
I think you've been very poorly treated. If First Choice seriously believe you compromised safety they should have presented their case upon landing. With no charges pressed and no restrictions placed upon you by the police, Firs Choice should then have pursued the matter with the CAA and/or British Police but to simply deny you boarding the return flight is in my opinion unacceptable.
Check the legal position with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 though as I'm no expert - she is.
Thanks for posting though - as I said, an interesting one this. Please keep us updated with the outcome.
My initial reaction when reading for the first time was..."why bother to transfer to a water bottle?" OK, I see the logic in not passing a glass bottle around but let's be honest, they survived take-off and the unsold ones will survive landing (probably often). The worst that could happen is the bottle's dropped, smashes, you loose your vodka, the stewardess gets to clean-up the mess.
Buying a full-size bottle of alcohol is generally purchased for taking off the plane - not drinking on board.
That said, clearly you were not a problem for other passengers and not drunk. I think it's significant that the Dominican police did not see fit to detain you. Also, had you really been a danger to the aircraft safety the stewardess should have called one of the flight crew - ideally the Captain.
Moving to their refusal to allow you to board the return flight - I'd class that as a simple flight cancellation and subject therefore to a full refund plus complensation in line with the values define in EC regulations. I believe an airline can refuse to permit you to board but should give good reasons for that decision at the time. For example, had you turned-up drunk for either flight they could justifiably refuse you access.
When you travelled there were (still are) strict rules on carrying liquids of any type onto a plane. You presumably passed through security checks at the departure airport - and had you really had alcohol in water bottles at that time this would have been detected.
You may have purchased alcohol after the security checks of course, and transferred to a water bottle.
You state you purchased a bottle of vodka on the plane - this would be recorded by the person making the sale - a seat number recorded, the stock downdated, the payment taken etc. The purser would be able to verify this.
I think you've been very poorly treated. If First Choice seriously believe you compromised safety they should have presented their case upon landing. With no charges pressed and no restrictions placed upon you by the police, Firs Choice should then have pursued the matter with the CAA and/or British Police but to simply deny you boarding the return flight is in my opinion unacceptable.
Check the legal position with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 though as I'm no expert - she is.
Thanks for posting though - as I said, an interesting one this. Please keep us updated with the outcome.
Not really sure of what advice you are asking for here.
Millym is correct regarding the rule on duty free purchases. Technically you could be prosecuted for this.
You state you were not drunk. Having shared a bottle of vodka with three others you were not sober.
Take legal advice by all means if you wish. Here on HT we can only express personal opinions.
A point you should consider before spending money on this however, is the negative publicity applying to people who have been prosecuted for being "under the influence of alcohol" on board an aircraft.
Here on HT we can only express personal opinions.
fwh
Millym is correct regarding the rule on duty free purchases. Technically you could be prosecuted for this.
You state you were not drunk. Having shared a bottle of vodka with three others you were not sober.
Take legal advice by all means if you wish. Here on HT we can only express personal opinions.
A point you should consider before spending money on this however, is the negative publicity applying to people who have been prosecuted for being "under the influence of alcohol" on board an aircraft.
Here on HT we can only express personal opinions.
fwh
Apologies to First Choice.I re-read the original post and realise MyTravel/Airtours and NOT First Choice are involved. My fault.
Mike
The rule that you can't drink duty free purchases is there for a good reason. Restricting you to alcoholic drinks served by the cabin crew means they can keep a check on the amount you are drinking. I don't know how big the bottles of vodka was but I don't think you can say you were fully sober after a quarter of a bottle.
You probably were not very well treated but I would not have thought you have a case - after all you do seem to have been breaking the law yourself.
Pippa
You probably were not very well treated but I would not have thought you have a case - after all you do seem to have been breaking the law yourself.
Pippa
An interesting one this and one that I might be tempted to let go off in your situation. I'm assuming that the bottle you bought was a litre? Most duty free sales on planes are. Vodka has to be sold in either 25ml or 35 ml 'shots' in pubs in the UK - most pubs in Scotland calibrate their optics for 35ml measures but pubs in England usually serve 25 ml measures. So a litre bottle contains the equivalent of 40 English 'singles', 20 doubles. Assuming that you had equal shares, this means that you had drunk 5 doubles each. Not enough to make you legless perhaps, especially if used to drinking, but it would have put me on the floor. And put you close to over 5 times the legal limit for driving, would have taken in the region of 10 hours in total to process through your system before you'd be considered sober under drink driving laws and, assuming that you are male, is equivalent to at least double the recommended maximum daily intake of alcohol.
You mightn't have been obviously drunk or aggressive but even on a long haul flight to the Dominican Republic you wouldn't have met any of the legal or recommended measures of sobriety in the UK. And it would certainly have been enough for most Courts to regard your judgement as being impaired and not necessarily in a position to give an accurate estimate of your own state of being. But the bottom line is that you contravened regulations and consumed on the plane duty free alcohol which you're supposed to import intact into your destination country.
Yes, the stewardess might have not been as tactful as she could have been in how she handled it but you did something which is expressly forbidden - and I've never travelled on a plane where passengers haven't been reminded that they are only allowed to consume alcohol purchased from the pay bar and not the duty free trolley or pre-boarding duty free shops whilst on board. And in the end all passengers are only carried at the discretion of the airline and they can cancel your flight if they regard you as a posing a danger. To have any come back I would think that the onus is now on you to prove that they were in the wrong - a bit difficult given how much alcohol you openly admit you drank. Particularly since you appear to have told her that
and thus possibly left her with the impression that you drank the whole bottle on your own. 40 shots is the absolute top end of the recommended WEEKLY intake for a man. In such circumstances I'd be very apprehensive about having to deal with someone I thought had drunk a whole litre of spirits.
By all means try and pursue it but you are going to have to prove that they were in the wrong and I'm not at all sure how you could now do that.
SMa
You mightn't have been obviously drunk or aggressive but even on a long haul flight to the Dominican Republic you wouldn't have met any of the legal or recommended measures of sobriety in the UK. And it would certainly have been enough for most Courts to regard your judgement as being impaired and not necessarily in a position to give an accurate estimate of your own state of being. But the bottom line is that you contravened regulations and consumed on the plane duty free alcohol which you're supposed to import intact into your destination country.
Yes, the stewardess might have not been as tactful as she could have been in how she handled it but you did something which is expressly forbidden - and I've never travelled on a plane where passengers haven't been reminded that they are only allowed to consume alcohol purchased from the pay bar and not the duty free trolley or pre-boarding duty free shops whilst on board. And in the end all passengers are only carried at the discretion of the airline and they can cancel your flight if they regard you as a posing a danger. To have any come back I would think that the onus is now on you to prove that they were in the wrong - a bit difficult given how much alcohol you openly admit you drank. Particularly since you appear to have told her that
i would take full responsiblty for this situation so as not to involve the rest of the party
and thus possibly left her with the impression that you drank the whole bottle on your own. 40 shots is the absolute top end of the recommended WEEKLY intake for a man. In such circumstances I'd be very apprehensive about having to deal with someone I thought had drunk a whole litre of spirits.
By all means try and pursue it but you are going to have to prove that they were in the wrong and I'm not at all sure how you could now do that.
SMa
Please forgive me JD123 but there is something that I cannot understand. Why she woke you up on purpose ? Do you know if someone complained about what you guys were doing? I find difficult to understand why the steward has acted inthe way you have reported it. For an airline to refuse boarding it means something else may have happened, including other passengers may have complained about you and you are not aware of it. The reaction of the hostess on board of the plany sounds very abrupt and could have benefit from a more professional conduct but I personally do not think that you may have a vlaid claim for any compensation. I may be 100% wrong and I will be happy to be proven wrong . Of course this is my personal opinion
Ok, So you made a booboo drinking the alcohol you bought on board but unless you know you are not allowed to drink it, it is an easy mistake. The Duty Free trolley doesn't normally go round till later in the trip so the Stewardesses should have pointed out that you were not allowed to drink it onboard at the time.
I have flown a few times now and I didn't know you weren't allowed to drink it. Not being a drinker means it isn't a problem for me and also that I have not been in the situation where the small print would have been pointed out.
If someone is making life difficult through rowdy behaviour then there is grounds for complaint but this looks like a misunderstanding that has been blown out of proportion by the relevant staff member. What you needed were the names of the other stewardesses and the names and addresses of the other holiday maker witnesses.
Also when you told the rep in resort you should have made it an official complaint about your treatment by their agent.
As the early reply says ... contact Ros.
If it had happened to me I would not only expect refunds for the extra fares but also hefty compensation for the inconvenience worry defamation etc etc. You may find that you are now on a list that is banned from flying to the US or on certain airlines.
You should also go for compensation because they refused to help you get home.
Check your travel insurance and car and home insurance as you may be able to use the legal services.
Good luck.
I have flown a few times now and I didn't know you weren't allowed to drink it. Not being a drinker means it isn't a problem for me and also that I have not been in the situation where the small print would have been pointed out.
If someone is making life difficult through rowdy behaviour then there is grounds for complaint but this looks like a misunderstanding that has been blown out of proportion by the relevant staff member. What you needed were the names of the other stewardesses and the names and addresses of the other holiday maker witnesses.
Also when you told the rep in resort you should have made it an official complaint about your treatment by their agent.
As the early reply says ... contact Ros.
If it had happened to me I would not only expect refunds for the extra fares but also hefty compensation for the inconvenience worry defamation etc etc. You may find that you are now on a list that is banned from flying to the US or on certain airlines.
You should also go for compensation because they refused to help you get home.
Check your travel insurance and car and home insurance as you may be able to use the legal services.
Good luck.
jd123
i am appalled that you were refused carriage on the homeward bound flight. I have never bought alcohol (duty free) on a plane but and this is a big but i have never heard the crew say that you could not drink the alcohol that you have purchased on board! only your own alcohol
I agree with previous poster that you give some people some power and it goes to their head!!!
the fact that the dominican authorities did not take any action surely gives weight to your case that your were not drunk or aggressive.
personally, i would never fly charter again after a particulary bad experience with a well known operater (really bad service and crew with serious attidtude!!) you can't beat scheduled mate! free drinks too so none of this situation.
If you have independent witnesses i would definately pursue this and wish you luck, it seems like the world has gone mad sometimes with pc!!
i am appalled that you were refused carriage on the homeward bound flight. I have never bought alcohol (duty free) on a plane but and this is a big but i have never heard the crew say that you could not drink the alcohol that you have purchased on board! only your own alcohol
I agree with previous poster that you give some people some power and it goes to their head!!!
the fact that the dominican authorities did not take any action surely gives weight to your case that your were not drunk or aggressive.
personally, i would never fly charter again after a particulary bad experience with a well known operater (really bad service and crew with serious attidtude!!) you can't beat scheduled mate! free drinks too so none of this situation.
If you have independent witnesses i would definately pursue this and wish you luck, it seems like the world has gone mad sometimes with pc!!
In all fairness most times Ive flown an announcement has been made to say that any alcohol purchased from duty free can not be drunk on the flight. I think that common sense would tell you that you cant just buy a big bottle of vodka and start drinking it. Thats why they sell the little minitures.
However it really does seem very much of an over reaction on the part of the air crew, though a point was made above that perhaps some other people on the flight saw you passing the bottle around and complained? Id be miffed if I was paying over the odds for a tiny minature and saw others merrily passing round a big bottle (wouldnt grass on em though!!
)
But still, it all seems very heavy handed and unprofessional, and I hope you get some success if you contact Ros.
Let us know the outcome please, Ill be following this one!
However it really does seem very much of an over reaction on the part of the air crew, though a point was made above that perhaps some other people on the flight saw you passing the bottle around and complained? Id be miffed if I was paying over the odds for a tiny minature and saw others merrily passing round a big bottle (wouldnt grass on em though!!
)But still, it all seems very heavy handed and unprofessional, and I hope you get some success if you contact Ros.
Let us know the outcome please, Ill be following this one!
Passengers have never been allowed to purchase litre bottles of spirits from the trolly for consumption on the plane. Only items from the bar are allowed to be consumed on board. It's stated in 'in flight magazines' and there is an announcement that only drinks purchased from the bar can be consumed on board. This is to protect all from air-rage incidents etc.
A litre would be 40 measures of spirt, therefore you all had the equivalent of 10 spirit drinks each. Why did you have plastic bottles with you to decant this into? (smacks of pre-meditaiton to me).
I would not wish either myself or my children to sit near people who were passing spirts back and forth (even in plastic bottles) on a 10 hour charter flight.
It will be interesting to see if Ros takes on something like this please let us know if you get your £700? My gut feeling is that she would want to deal with more legitimate complaints.
A litre would be 40 measures of spirt, therefore you all had the equivalent of 10 spirit drinks each.
Why did you have plastic bottles with you to decant this into? (smacks of pre-meditaiton to me).I would not wish either myself or my children to sit near people who were passing spirts back and forth (even in plastic bottles) on a 10 hour charter flight.
It will be interesting to see if Ros takes on something like this please let us know if you get your £700? My gut feeling is that she would want to deal with more legitimate complaints.
As the original poster hasn't been back to comment it looks a bit suspicious to me now as well. 
Hi Glynis
Think you might be right, its probably one of those posts put on to wind us up and waste our time. Can't believe anyone thinks it's normal to by a litre of voddie from the trolley and proceed to drink it from plastic bottles in full view of the stewardesses.
Think Ros has probably got better things to do with her time.
Think you might be right, its probably one of those posts put on to wind us up and waste our time. Can't believe anyone thinks it's normal to by a litre of voddie from the trolley and proceed to drink it from plastic bottles in full view of the stewardesses.
Think Ros has probably got better things to do with her time.
Its no wonder the original post hasn't been back with some of the comments made. 
I've been on long haul flight where a couple got louder and more annoying the more they drunk and this was all from the trolley, but the cabin staff still kept on serving them (I wonder if there's more commission this way )
In my opinion, if the poster wasn't deemed to be out of order enough to be arrested on arrival then the whole situation has been mishandled, perhaps a warning in resort and an assurance that he wouldn't drink on the return flight would have been more in order.
Surely the head cabin staff could have overseen the situation on the return flight to prevent a recurrence?
I've been on long haul flight where a couple got louder and more annoying the more they drunk and this was all from the trolley, but the cabin staff still kept on serving them (I wonder if there's more commission this way
)In my opinion, if the poster wasn't deemed to be out of order enough to be arrested on arrival then the whole situation has been mishandled, perhaps a warning in resort and an assurance that he wouldn't drink on the return flight would have been more in order.
Surely the head cabin staff could have overseen the situation on the return flight to prevent a recurrence?
Well as the original poster said they were met off the plane by police and security, I would presume that it had been radio-ed ahead, as this is not normal procedure. That would therefore surely mean that cabin crew had reported whatever happened to the captain, and a record made? Anyhow, as has been said, if this vodka was really bought on board there will be a record of this too. If it was in fact brought on board from the dutyfree shops that is a different matter. There is no law that I can find that says you cannot drink something that you bring on board. After all the cabin crew don't mind you drinking previously bought water etc! Obviously it is an airline rule. So yes, silverpixie1uk, I am sure commissions must come into it somewhere
As far as I am aware it is the absolute right of an airline to decide who they will, or will not carry. In my experience as a holiday rep, they can also inform other airlines, who can choose whether or not to carry someone based on that information. In that respect it is irrelevant whether this person was arrested on arrival or not.
I look forward to hearing the outcome of this complaint, in particular the point about whether you can actually drink anything you may have bought dutyfree on board.
As far as I am aware it is the absolute right of an airline to decide who they will, or will not carry. In my experience as a holiday rep, they can also inform other airlines, who can choose whether or not to carry someone based on that information. In that respect it is irrelevant whether this person was arrested on arrival or not.
I look forward to hearing the outcome of this complaint, in particular the point about whether you can actually drink anything you may have bought dutyfree on board.
Blast! Just realised I can't edit! One point from your post silverpixie1uk. Why should the head cabin crew have to have the responsiblity of overseeing the situation on the return flight? They are busy enough looking after a plane full of passengers as it is. Much easier for them to just refuse to carry said passenger!!
The original poster hasn't disappeared as he/she has just pm'ed me on this. I have requested they post on the forum if they have anything to say as this would be fair to all who have shown an interest.
In brief the mitigation offered for drinking the litre of vodka on board and thus being challenged by the air crewe is that they are 'professionals' who this should not have happened to.
In brief the mitigation offered for drinking the litre of vodka on board and thus being challenged by the air crewe is that they are 'professionals' who this should not have happened to.
firstly when i posted my story on this forum it was a true story although i appreciate everyones opinion, some people seem to have lost sight of the fact i didnt annoy one single passenger to my knowedge and if there is a passenger in the flight report who has complained i would be very surprised, and so would the 20 or so families who sat around me, all of which i have spoken since my return and everyone is in complete agreement of how badly i was treated. I would still like you to bear in mind that i didn't swear, show aggression or raise my voice, i know everyone finds this hard to believe, but not much as me. One final point on the bottle of vodka, there was still one water bottle full therefore a full litre was not drank by us. Constructive critism please, blind judgement no thank you. I came on this site for assistance and thank all of those who have offered it. I am not a frequent flyer therefore im not at speed with regulations but im getting there, but i have spoken to Ros's assistant, who told me as i have already lodged an official complaint i have been advised to await their reply. And as an answer to why i havn't posted back, to quell those elvis fans with suspicious minds it s only just over 24hrs since my first post. Unfortunately i am one of those people who has to eat, sleep and work....Extra hours to pay for my flight!!
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