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I was just talking to some American flyers and realized that not everyone knows that some US Airways domestic flights have free beer and wine in coach.  The benefit to being in first class on these flights is the access to liquor as well (in addition to the bigger seat, of course.  But priorities, priorities.)
On US Airways’ Shuttle service, the entire plane can drink for free (aside from the hard liquor). Â The only caveat is you cannot drink in coach before 10am. Â So, sorry for those hoping to hit a few drinks before their morning meetings.
The shuttle flights, believe it or not, were once owned by Donald Trump, and originally owned by Eastern Airline. Â And while they are considered fully integrated into US Airways (well, now American), they retained the quirk that was unique to these flights–free wine and beer for everyone!
These flights also deplane from the front and back, so I suppose if you give people enough booze, they’ll leave through any door they tell you to.  (Though, I’ve yet to deplane from the back door despite probably flying these routes 30+ times).
You can only encounter these flights in the Northeast and between La Guardia, Boston Logan, and Washington-Reagan. Â These have always been the easiest flights for me and the most flexible, in terms of rules. Â I’ve been able to board earlier flights that have almost completely finished boarding by presenting my later boarding pass. Â They quickly print me a ticket, usually in first class, and I hop right into the plane. Â There’s rarely a standby list you have to wait for.
I’ve looked at booking these shuttle flights a few times but they always seem very overpriced to me. Good to know that they have free beer though 🙂
If you are a fast drinker, you might be able to make it worth it!
Though I’ve found the DCA-BOS route to be pretty affordable sometimes.
The free booze is nice, flew the shuttle DCA-BOS a couple weeks ago. Although I’m generally a DL flier, but they have free booze also on shuttles.
My only US Airways experience was October 2013 when I flew the BOS-DCA shuttle as part of a multi-city itinerary booked through United. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the drink list and saw alcohol was free (in fact, when the flight attendant took drink orders, I think I confirmed because I thought it was too good to be true). The other nice thing about the shuttle is free flight change; I got to BOS early, and the computer let me get on an earlier flight.