Qantas extends free inflight beer, wine service

‘Happy hour’ now kicks off at noon, so cheers to that!

By David Flynn, December 5 2023
Qantas extends free inflight beer, wine service

Fancy a glass of wine or an icy cold beer with your lunch or afternoon snack?

Qantas is now opening the complimentary inflight bar service for economy passengers at noon, rather than 4pm, bringing economy into line with business class.

While a seemingly small change, it’s one that will be greatly welcomed by many travellers, with Qantas offering a selection of Australian red and white wine plus One Fifty Lashes Premium Pale Ale.

The move applies to all domestic and regional flights, and the airline no doubt hopes to draw a contrast with rival Virgin Australia, where such drinks – along with meals and snacks – are sold, rather than offered for free.

It’s also part of a concerted push to improve the passenger experience after a bruising few years of cost-cutting and reduced service levels, while airfares themselves have largely remained high.

As previously reported, Qantas reintroduced spirits in domestic business class in late 2022, along with offering a pre-meal drink on longer east-west routes.

This week also sees the launch of luggage tracking via the Qantas App, with the feature now available on over 60 of the most popular domestic routes.

Aa drive by new CEO Vanessa Hudson to reduce ‘passenger pain points’ has also made it easier to transfer Qantas Points as well as inherit the frequent flyer points of a deceased family member.

Etihad - Etihad Guest

19 Jun 2019

Total posts 21

I think this is great news. I do love a T&C but does anyone know what they mean by select? I looked on the QF website and they advise:

Wine and beer are offered free of charge on select domestic and regional services:

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

04 Nov 2011

Total posts 362

"Icy cold beer" not sure I have ever experienced one of those on Qantas... 

QF

11 Jul 2014

Total posts 962

No Fan of this at all, I've been on to many a flight with to many people who have had to much to drink.

One flight 20 years ago Darwin - Sydney the couple ended up in the toilet and were hopelessly staggering off the plane and the person who was serving them knew he had given them to much during the flight.

25 Jun 2012

Total posts 61

One flight 20 years ago... ?!

Ok granpa Simpson enough of those side splitting stories. 🤣 I bet you wore whole onions as belt buckles as well !

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

09 Feb 2015

Total posts 377

This is the best move Qantas has made in years. Maybe the executive team in the Mascot tower are starting to listen. 

Qantas

22 Oct 2012

Total posts 319

Beware the fine print: "Wine and beer are offered free of charge on select domestic and regional services on flights departing from 12pm....". So don't expect your 11.55am flight to start serving alcohol at 12pm. But if your flight is longer than 2.5hrs and departs after 9am then alcohol will be available.

23 Apr 2022

Total posts 2

In this thread - people who grumble about Qantas not anything for customers grumbling about them not doing enough for customers. 

Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus

15 Jan 2013

Total posts 467

about time.I remembered my mom flying Melbourne to Adelaide and they could not serve wine not even if you paid for it three months ago from memory.she was shocked and to add insult it was on a 737 service.I would understand if it was on a Dash 8 with minimal space for food and drink services but not a proper plane.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

11 Nov 2016

Total posts 47

The on-board service has nothing to do with when you paid for your fare.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

21 Nov 2020

Total posts 3

One would assume they meant their mum offered to pay for a wine on a flight she was on 3 months ago, and Qantas refused. 

12 Aug 2014

Total posts 18

Hopefully it actually materialises unlike the Perth flight pre-take off drink which is a bottle of water about 50% of the time and the pre-lunch/dinner drink which materialises about 20% of the time.

Etihad - Etihad Guest

21 Jul 2019

Total posts 163

See, QANTAS? It doesn't take much to make your customers happy. It'll take time before we can rejoice that era of LCC-mentality is truly over, but this is a nice start (and I'm not even a drinker!!).

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

09 Jun 2017

Total posts 51

So not getting an icy cold beer from noon is a pain point? Thank goodness they are fixing that. Maybe they will need to open up the bar in the lounge a little earlier so that folks can get half a skin full before topping up on that midday flight. 

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

10 Sep 2012

Total posts 37

I was thinking the same thing..why not more similar to most International lounges which have booze 24/7??

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

10 Sep 2012

Total posts 37

Couldn't agree more r.e the lounge times..I'm not advocating for early morning booze fests but most (if not all) International lounges have free flowing alcohol round the clock..whats the difference with domestic flights/lounges???

Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer

20 Apr 2016

Total posts 21

The difference is that international travelers are on a different time zone . That’s what we call Jet lag.

Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer

13 Jun 2013

Total posts 29

Note the word "select".  Probably flights of 2hrs or more, leaving on a Wednesday when the ground temperature is between 22 and 24 degrees. :)  I'd much rather they introduced real cutlery instead, using those crappy wooden knives and forks is awful.


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