I'm going PHL-MCO on a 737. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif The flight lists a FC dinner. The return MCO-CLT lists a FC snack. What are they these days? Has anyone ordered special meals lately?

Also, will there be IFE on the PHL-MCO flight on a 737? It is 2+ hrs. I was hoping the plane would be sent to the desert and swapped for an Airbus, but no luck.



[This message has been edited by mileshound (edited 09-08-2002).]

I flew PHL-MCO-PHL last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to get both lunch (on a 1:30 flight) and breakfast (on a 6:15 flight). The breakfast had yummy chicken sausage. I forget the details of the lunch... but it was quite tasty. No IFE, though both flights were on Airbii.

Andy

As for the IFE...

As a general guideline for IFE implementation on US Airways, no flights shorter than a mid-con (PHL-DEN) will have a movie or short subject due to time limitations.

However, one note worthy exception is PHL-SJU on the A330-300.

As for the special meals question, here's my in-flight experience. If you truly have a nutritional need for a special meal (vegan, diabetic), I would tend to avoid them, particularly in Main Cabin. The airlines are no longer providing "extra" meals should you change your mind and prefer the pasta over your grilled tofu.

First class special meal requests can vary in quality depending on the city of origination and the catering company contracted. I've seen "Seafood" special orders range from ***amazing*** platters of crab and lobster to a bed of lettuce with half-thawed shrimp in a soup of mayo. Transatlantic special meals are generally a cut above, particularly out of Europe.

Best to stick to the menu, with the standing procedure that meal orders are taken from forward to aft. As a rule of thumb, the shorter the flight, the fewer the choices.

Glad to see to see you will be joining us in First Class.

Best,

USSky

"Hoping to save the sanity of the frequent flyer ... ."

1. No entertainment up and down the coast, though most of the 737's have the safety video if that entertains you.

2. Dinner service to Florida from PHL/PIT/DCA is a one-tray affair, with a salad, entree, roll and butter, and a little dessert as a kind of cylindrical waifer filled with chocolate. It's actually quite good and filling, especially compared to when there was no food at the end of last year.

3. The CLT-FLA snack service is usually a one-tray affair also with a small sandwich (ham typically) and crackers. I always pass.

4. Most meal flights to FLA still carry the snack basket. This is far better than the CLT snack, and a nice complement to the NE meal.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BizJet:


2. Dinner service to Florida from PHL/PIT/DCA is a one-tray affair, with a salad, entree, roll and butter, and a little dessert as a kind of cylindrical waifer filled with chocolate. It's actually quite good and filling, especially compared to when there was no food at the end of last year.


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The little round chocolate stick is VERY yummy!

I really like the spinach pizza entree.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Alysia:
The little round chocolate stick is VERY yummy!

</font>

The chocolate stick is good, but I sure miss the pre 9/11 cheescake!

I figured as much for the IFE. I've flown so many short flights that I forget what a headset looks like.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Alysia:
The little round chocolate stick is VERY yummy!
</font>

I once found the chocolate stick in the standard snack basket. Once. But it was quite a treat.

My brother was on 1638 yesterday from FLL-PHL at 2pm. He told me all they got in FC was the snack basket on this 757.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by phllax:
My brother was on 1638 yesterday from FLL-PHL at 2pm. He told me all they got in FC was the snack basket on this 757.</font>

Florida-Northeast flights outside of meal times just get the snack basket. The noon flight FLL-PHL does get a lunch service in First.

Don't complaint folks! Remember that it wasn't too long ago when a snack pack (not even the basket!) was the routine for NE to Floirda and Texas, let alone DEN and PHX!

I don't know about anybody else, but we had this AMAZING duck appatizer on 29 from PHL to LAX on Labor Day night. It is apparently new, because even the senior crew hadn't seen it before and even raved about it.

Yes, they have changed the appetizers this month. I had duck one way, and fried goat cheese on the return. Same entrees as always. It also seems like the cheesecake is gone, now it is chocolate chip cookies on both flights. I saw someone ask for a knife and fork to eat the cookie on Saturday! The FA was quite amused.

About those yummy chocolate hazelnut sticks...

I noticed that they're not designed for distribution in the US. They only have metric weight information on them, and some packages I've seen don't even have any English--only German.

I'm not complaining, but I thought it was interesting. Although, I did prefer the cheesecake. Anyone had any cheesecake recently on US?

I can't believe anyone enjoyed that awful cheesecake! Those little cookies are so much better ...

I fly MCO &gt; PHL every week, and there is a meal in FC on every flight except the very last, at 9:15 PM. It's almost always pizza or chicken. Recently the pizza changed from a wonderful spinach and garlic to a watery zucchini. Too bad.

Stay away from the special meals - I have not had a good one since 9/11. The worst was a vegetarian breakfast - frozen mini spring rolls!

All the 737's I've seen have their headphone jacks plugged up, so there will never be IFE on those jets.

What I don't understand is why they don't play the short programs tape for the 2-3 hours flights!? I realize there is an additional element of time and effort associated with handing out and collecting the headphones, but this could be a way to gain some incremental revenue (headphone charge) to coach pax.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by la2clt:
It also seems like the cheesecake is gone, now it is chocolate chip cookies on both flights. I saw someone ask for a knife and fork to eat the cookie on Saturday! The FA was quite amused. </font>

That doesn't surprise me because in my exeperience the chocolate chip "cookie" is not very "cookie-ish" and would be much easier to eat with a knife and fork than with your hands ...