Air France Frequence Plus - Unavailable meal choices and seat selection

So here I am in F-GSQE, the powerful Boeing 777 that brings me back to real life in the French capital. Comfortably installed in seat 6L and listening to the pleasant IFE music selection, the bad surprise comes at meal time when my first two meal choices (bulgogi and vegetarian dish) are not available. I'm not fussy about it as 1/ it was a promoaward and 2/ at least I try foods that I wouldn't have picked otherwise (i.e. healthier ones :p) ; but considering that on the outbound my choice was also unavailable on both meals (the Korean speciality at lunch and then two out of the three breakfasts), I would be quite disappointed would I have spent 3975 EUR for a business class ticket.

I still pretty much enjoy the AF experience, especially following the amazing DO they have put up. But I'd like to ask fellow FTers three questions:
1/ How often is your meal choice unavailable? Is it more frequent on AF vs. competitors?
2/ Which seat should one select to be served first?
3/ Should AF offer an option whereby a few Euro you would be served first? I know this would be quite controversial but at least it removes all uncertainty.

To you third option, I would say absolutely not.

Did the crew start to take meal orders from front or back? And did you see them turn to 'random' people first? Sometimes, a good crew would take meal orders from Elites first.

It is very possible (not surprising) AF may have reduced J meals loading to reduce waste and thus save money, but if they do, I think it is urgent that they move to 'BA type' allocation (i.e. take meals orders from everyone, reconcile against actual availability, go back to people whose first choice cannot be satisfied privileging explicitly Plats, Golds, ST Elite +, Silver, ST Elite).

I must say despite I didnt like my AF experience I was able to get my meal choice on both sectors and they gave me both desserts as well! They took meal orders from the front to back

Would it not be possible to introduce pre-flight meal orders (for instance at OLCI)? If you didn't you would be left with whatever there was on offer otherwise. I'm also sure menus are prepared months in advance so no surprises there...

Pos:

1. It would reduce food waste,
2. You would be served what you would want to eat.

Neg:

1. You might change your mind on the actual day
2. The menu might have changed slightly due to unforeseen circumstances.

At least you would be guaranteed a meal you could/want to eat.

Of course this could add costs to the process of getting the correct food to the correct flights BUT they seem to handle this with special meals (again, only a fraction of the total meals that goes out)...

I have never had any problems with meal choices on other airlines, but the few times I have used AF, my first choice meal was not available.. Kinda a bummer. I am 1/3 on AF flights.

It very rarely happened to me. In general, if you are at the back of the cabin, you increase your chance to not have your 1st choice available. The only notable exception to this "rule" is the large J cabin of the 77W (behind the front J mini-cabin) where they start the service from the back (don't ask me why).

Did the crew start to take meal orders from front or back? And did you see them turn to 'random' people first? Sometimes, a good crew would take meal orders from Elites first.

The crew started from back to front (I was in the large 77W J-cabin). They didn't turn to 'random' people first.

Would it not be possible to introduce pre-flight meal orders (for instance at OLCI)? If you didn't you would be left with whatever there was on offer otherwise. I'm also sure menus are prepared months in advance so no surprises there...

Pos:

1. It would reduce food waste,
2. You would be served what you would want to eat.

Neg:

1. You might change your mind on the actual day
2. The menu might have changed slightly due to unforeseen circumstances.

At least you would be guaranteed a meal you could/want to eat.

Of course this could add costs to the process of getting the correct food to the correct flights BUT they seem to handle this with special meals (again, only a fraction of the total meals that goes out)...

Actually it wouldn'treally sort the problem out. The issue is that Servair (or their local equivalents) prepare set quantities of everything and would not be able to adapt at the last minute to changing order quantities. As a result, people could conceivably be even more disappointed not to get their meal choice (if, for instance, too many people ordered the fish on that day). Airlines which offer book the cook such as SQ (specific dishes) or CI (actual meal choice on the day/flight) effectively ask for earlier notice (but that would be an option indeed). It would also make things a bit harder for the crew in case of seat changes etc. My guess is that it is easier to sort it out within the plane.

Would it not be possible to introduce pre-flight meal orders (for instance at OLCI)? If you didn't you would be left with whatever there was on offer otherwise. I'm also sure menus are prepared months in advance so no surprises there...

Pos:

1. It would reduce food waste,
2. You would be served what you would want to eat.

Neg:

1. You might change your mind on the actual day
2. The menu might have changed slightly due to unforeseen circumstances.

At least you would be guaranteed a meal you could/want to eat.

Of course this could add costs to the process of getting the correct food to the correct flights BUT they seem to handle this with special meals (again, only a fraction of the total meals that goes out)...

KLM had this like SQ (trial seems to have gone?) for some set dishes out-of AMS. But as indeed menus are often prepared months in advance, I can't see why it wouldn't be possible with the regular food, certainly out of big outstations.

My guess is that it is easier to sort it out within the plane.

But that means that the crew needs to know all pax preferences before they start serving; if all other pax are already served, there is nothing to sort out anymore. Many times, I would not really care which food I get, but there are combinations, where I would rather decline to get served than to take a remaining choice.

But that means that the crew needs to know all pax preferences before they start serving; if all other pax are already served, there is nothing to sort out anymore. Many times, I would not really care which food I get, but there are combinations, where I would rather decline to get served than to take a remaining choice.

That's why I'm suggesting BA type (or for that matter KE, CI, and OS) solution. Take all orders first a few minutes after you have handed out the menus. That way, you know exactly who wants what, reconcile with available numbers, and if there is a mismatch, you can apply the set priority (FB Club 2000/Plat/Gold should always get their top choice, paid pax should get priority over opups or non-rev, etc). Again, on the four airlines that I mention it all seems to work rather well. Also avoids big embarrassments like unnoticed discrepencies between menu choices and actual loadings (e.g. once from SCL, I asked for the Pastel de Choclo which was a local special, only to be given a dish of vegetarian ravioli which was not on the menu. When I pointed out that it wasn't what I ordered and I really didn't fancy that, stewardess turned all grumpy said that I had made him plate it now and he couldn't serve it to anyone else...)

That's why I'm suggesting BA type (or for that matter KE, CI, and OS) solution. Take all orders first a few minutes after you have handed out the menus.

No argue with this. That's a good and easy solution and would certainly work.

That's why I'm suggesting BA type (or for that matter KE, CI, and OS) solution. Take all orders first a few minutes after you have handed out the menus. That way, you know exactly who wants what, reconcile with available numbers..)

To be fair, not true. I was on a BA flight to GRU around 3 weeks ago and in the BA sacred cow seating of, J UD, B747 400. It took around 1,5 hours after takeoff for the CC to bother to venture out of the UD kitchen, and a further half an hour to arrive with the aperitivos trolly and to take the food order. The crew were clueless, feckless and useless. And as it was almost 02.00 in the morning fuseau d'horaire du depart by the time they bothered to take the food order I was no longer interested in eating, more interested in sleeping.

And of course when the meal is offered you have gone past wanting food so decline.

Maybe that was the ploy but (again) it soured the BA experience.

And slightly off topic, said crew were first out of the gate at GRU and beat me out of the terminal. From that you can draw your own conclusions and for BA, that reflects my own experiences of service and what BA judges as acceptable service for pax.

Allez~

To be fair, not true. I was on a BA flight to GRU around 3 weeks ago and in the BA sacred cow seating of, J UD, B747 400. It took around 1,5 hours after takeoff for the CC to bother to venture out of the UD kitchen, and a further half an hour to arrive with the aperitivos trolly and to take the food order. The crew were clueless, feckless and useless. And as it was almost 02.00 in the morning fuseau d'horaire du depart by the time they bothered to take the food order I was no longer interested in eating, more interested in sleeping.

And of course when the meal is offered you have gone past wanting food so decline.

Maybe that was the ploy but (again) it soured the BA experience.

And slightly off topic, said crew were first out of the gate at GRU and beat me out of the terminal. From that you can draw your own conclusions and for BA, that reflects my own experiences of service and what BA judges as acceptable service for pax.

Allez~

Indeed, put a bad crew and they will mess the whole exercise (or indeed it is not unheard of to have crews who ignored the priority lists and denied its existence) but at least the procedure exists officially, and when implemented well by a competent crew, I must say it works well (on BA and on all the other airlines I mentioned in my experience). I also find it more pleasant to have the crew coming to talk to you about your food choice beforehand and then delivering everyone's meals as if implemented correctly again, it speeds up the food serving process (one crew member can come take orders at a time when few other things can be done and that's usually what they do, also avoiding the mess of plating things at the last minute from the trolley when serving you which is just not very tempting)