After being closed for several months due to the state’s COVID-19 regulations, students over 21 can finally return to Tigerland. Now, the bars are using an app called LineLeap to ensure they don’t exceed maximum capacity.
LineLeap is an app that originated in the Midwest at the Big 10 schools’ local bars and is now used at bars all across the country.
Users of the app must be at least 21 because users can order drinks through the app. However, the creators of the app are finding a way to make the app available to those who are 18, according to co-creator of LineLeap Max Schauff.
“Starting this in the Midwest and in the Big 10, policies are completely different for these bars. 99% of them are all 21 and up so that’s why we do that,” Schauff said. “We are searching for ways to navigate that through the 18 and up bars at LSU and, for that matter, across the country.”
Under normal circumstances, many bars in the Baton Rouge area permit patrons over the age of 18. Louisiana’s Phase 3 reopening plans ban those under 21. Along with the new age restrictions, bars can only provide table service and operate at 25% capacity up to 50 patrons.
The idea of the app came to creators Max Schauff, Nick Becker and Patrick Skelly when they were still in college and were tired of the long lines that came with going to the local bars. They soon realized the app could also help bars with reopening during COVID-19.
“We wanted to be the solution to this problem and basically allow customers to be as safe as possible while still having fun at their favorite bars,” Schauff said. “This was actually born from one of our Minnesota venues that were forced to eliminate their lines.”
The original features of the LineLeap app were paying cover in advance, skipping the line and ordering drinks without flagging down a bartender. With COVID-19, now the app is used for contactless payments, reserving spots in the bar and letting users know when the bar is at capacity.
“Each location is different, each city is different and all the guidelines are different so they each use it in their own way,” Schauff said. “The whole goal is to, with their limited capacity, get them to reach that capacity so they are still operating and able to operate but more importantly keep all the customers safe and all the staff safe.”
Sports administration senior and LineLeap LSU campus representative Gavin Assavedo likes that Reggie’s is taking advantage of the drink ordering through the app and thinks other bars in Tigerland will soon follow suit.
“The way it works at Reggie’s is that everyone has to sit socially distanced away from each other,” Assavedo said. “It isn’t standing like it used to be. One feature of the app is that you can order a drink through the app. You just show the server you paid and they bring it out to you.”
Users never have to enter any card information into the app. A Venmo or PayPal account can be linked to the app to pay on the spot.
“My favorite part about the app is that you can link it to your PayPal or your Venmo,” Assavedo said. “You don’t have to type in any card information and you can pay cover and reserve your spot.”
Anyone who wants to go to a bar in Tigerland is required to have the app.
“I think all LSU students should download the app and reserve their spots in order to keep everyone safe and also return to some normalcy,” Assavedo said.