Drink Refusal: Confusion in Qantas Club

One sober member this week was denied a fourth drink in the Qantas lounge due to the alleged enforcement of Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) rules. The RSA rule spruiked by the Qantas staffer was that they were not allowed to serve any more than three drinks in a ninety minute period.

Qantas have defended their actions and have indicated that they were merely adhering to the service of alcohol guidelines that state that two standard drinks can be served in the first hour and then one per hour thereafter.

Our members are sceptical about the motivations of the lounge and suspect it is a penny-pinching manoeuvre.

One member feels like the application of the guidelines is incorrect. The RSA is not about keeping people under the driving limit, but rather about serving alcohol in a responsible manner. Further, one member opines that Qantas’ actions do not adhere to the guidelines. The first point should be offering food or a non-alcoholic beverage before refusing service completely. Our members largely agree that discretion and common sense ought to be applied and if no signs of intoxication are being displayed, then serving a fourth drink is not irresponsible.

Some members see the lounges view point and acknowledge that it is not in the airlines interest from a safety perspective to have intoxicated patrons boarding planes. Further, if passengers have drunk too much they will not be in a position to act appropriately in an emergency situation.

Follow the discussion HERE.

Staff Writers