America West FlightFund (Pre-2005 US Airways merger) - FC Meals/Special meals

I am flying to Chicago this week and I was wondering what was being served in FC these days.

I was actually thinking about ordering a special meal. Has anybody done that recently?

Your choices will be:

1. Chicken caesar salad, with bread stick/hammer, brownie or apple cobbler
2. Tri colored cheese tortellini, with same as above

Hopefully you'll get glasses instead of plastic

I've never ordered a special meal and actually not sure if they even have one available for F (?)

Your choices will be:

with bread stick/hammer


LOL I agree!! I am always afraid to break a tooth on these things. Every once in a while (including the other day ORD to PHX) it will be almost soft. I asked once if she could do them this way and she said when they are heated they get hard. There must be some trick to make them softer. The meal is better than a hot pocket, but a softer breadstick would be nice!


By the way, I can't tell you the last time I had plastic in flight (not pre-board) with the exception of a flight in the past week or so when she told us she was running out of glasses and had to switch to plastic.


Jennifer

Thanks for the info...

The website "advertises" the availability of low calorie/low cholesterol, vegetarian, and kosher meals when traveling in 1st class. Basically, the deal is that they must be ordered at least 12 hours in advance except for kosher meals, which must be ordered 24 hours in advance.

So, I decided that I would opt for the low choesterol (surprise).

I just called HP, they pulled up my record, checked and verified that I called with enough advance notice and took the order.

The agent came back to the phone and said that the request was made, but they do not guarantee that it will be on the plane!

It's this kind of thing that gets me all rattled....why offer and then basically say, you have a 50% chance or less of it actually happening. Oh well, I will report back and let you know how it turned out.

Just for the record, either way, I will survive....I just thought this was amusing.

Thanks for the info...

The website "advertises" the availability of low calorie/low cholesterol, vegetarian, and kosher meals when traveling in 1st class. Basically, the deal is that they must be ordered at least 12 hours in advance except for kosher meals, which must be ordered 24 hours in advance.

So, I decided that I would opt for the low choesterol (surprise).

I just called HP, they pulled up my record, checked and verified that I called with enough advance notice and took the order.

The agent came back to the phone and said that the request was made, but they do not guarantee that it will be on the plane!

It's this kind of thing that gets me all rattled....why offer and then basically say, you have a 50% chance or less of it actually happening. Oh well, I will report back and let you know how it turned out.

Just for the record, either way, I will survive....I just thought this was amusing.

You might not survive if you took F last year frequently dining on these culinary treats :rolleyes:

http://www.hotpockets.com/hot/products/products.asp?ID=366#10230


What irks me as well is that they always seem to "run out" of the chix caesar before they get to me. I realize it's cost prohibitive to stock up on two items for each F passenger, but it's just my luck it seems. Perhaps if they took entree orders in order of elite status I might be in luck but for the meantime it's tortellini for me.

Let us know how it goes. I'm dying to hear what it is they actually give you as a "low cholesterol" meal. Let's hope they don't give you a 8 oz container of egg beaters :D

I actually had a special meal boarded in F/C a week and a half ago on a LASORD flight.
It was the lowcal meal. It was plain chicken breast, rice, broccoli medley, and a spinach salad with a roll, low call fat free dressing and margarine.
The orderee no-showed. I had 11 regular meals and would have had to offer this to someone else if I hadn't had 2 turn-downs. Usually, the special meal is boarded above the 12/14 regular meals.
The lowcal meal looked good, if you like bland.
The regular meals on this flight were the chicken caeser or the penne pasta w/roasted veggies and a side salad. Choc/choc chip brownies for dessert, which are sooo good!
I have also had, not too long ago, a couple that ordered vegetarian meals. Those were not boarded, but half the regular choice was vegetarian lasagna.
Don't know if that was the reason. If you were strict vegan, no dairy, that entree would not work for you. This couple had the lasagna and literally cleaned their plates.

I was told some time ago by a FA that food orders in F are taken in a pattern. On west/southbound they start from 1A and go back; east/northbound they start from the last row, D seat and work their way forward. Invariably, I am always the last asked.

Well, tomorrow is the day. I will be aboard my "meal" flight. Will the meal make it? I will let you know when I get back Friday night.

I always order vegetarian meals, and HP has it for me roughly 50% of the time.
Don't know why I have such such a low success rate (compared to DL and CO).

i just arrived (tonite) on HP50 LAS/JFK, in 2B

the meal requests were taken from the front to the back

2 choices: chicken/caeser or chicken/penne

(no tortellini)

but i knew that- if you go to their web site, it actually illustrates the first class meals!

but surprise- the penne is cold, not hot

my seatmate was quite unhappy, i think he expected a hot meal

there was an interesting announcement for coach, in conjunction with the sale of snack boxes:

"we are only serving water now; there will be a full beverage service before landing"!!!!

every seat was taken- and F is no great shakes on their 757- when the person in 1B reclined i almost had his seat top in my chin-no way i could have stowed or taken out the tray

Well, made it back from my trip to ORD which is what prompted me to start this thread to begin with.

Outbound, LASORD: initially the FA told me that she did not see any special meals. However, when it came time to serve, she came to me and said that they put my lo-cal "set-up" on the plane, but there was nothing that resembled a main course. So, I had the penne and as a bonus got some sliced fruit which was on the set up tray.

Returning ORDPHX: no special meals were boarded. The FA said that the plane was doubled catered in PHX. I opted for the chicken caesar salad without the dressing. Somebody across the aisle from me ordered a vegatarian meal, which was also not on the plane. He was really upset.

The special meal thing or lack thereof is not really that big of a deal. Anybody can survive 3 or 5 hours for that matter without special food. The problem that I have is that this is something that is advertised as available. I was always taught to under promise and over deliver. If boarding these meals is routinely a problem, stop offering them rather than ticking off passengers.

BTW, an announcement was made on my return flight regarding the "water" service in coach. Strange.

BTW, an announcement was made on my return flight regarding the "water" service in coach. Strange.

What type of announcement? :confused:

I wonder if HP has any plans to bring hot meals back anytime soon. How often does one change their menu's and/or catering? I suppose nothing will be done with the upcoming assimilation of US DM. Then again, from what I've read on that board it sounds like HP is BA CW compared to US F (did I read correctly when someone on that board said they serve snack boxes?)

. . . BTW, an announcement was made on my return flight regarding the "water" service in coach. Strange.


What type of announcement? :confused:

I suspect he's talking about the "we will be coming through the cabin with a full beverage service. That will be followed by our 'In-Flight Cafe' (buy-on-board food), which will have a water service only -- no additional beverages." So, the point is, if you plan to buy something to eat and want something to drink with it other than water, save it from the first beverage service or you'll be out of luck. In my experience there is typically a considerable time lag between the two, which means that beverage has to sit there for quite a while, while you hope that they still have some of what you want to eat when they get to you.

Personally, I think this is pretty low class. (Though I recognize that this is HP SOP, as they've done it on every flight I've been on, so I'm not slamming the FA's here.) They've got decent buy-on-board options for you to have a meal, but then won't offer you a beverage that you'd like to have with it. How hard would it be to do the initial beverage service, then the buy-on-board food, then swing through with one more beverage service. This is the way it used to work when meals were provided for free. In reality, a large portion of people won't want anything on the second service, but if you're buying food, you could have something to eat.

On the flights that are long enough that they're serving food at all, it's not as though the FA's have anything more to do but sit or stand in the back and read, chat, or whatever for most of the rest of the flight. They could do something that provides value to the customer -- like give them an option other than water.

What type of announcement? :confused:

I wonder if HP has any plans to bring hot meals back anytime soon.


They actually do offer both cold and hot meals. It seems to depend on the time of day. I believe if it is lunch or dinner time, you get the salad with warm chicken and the warm pasta meal. If it is in between, then your "snack" is a cold version of the same. In the past few months I have had more of the hot meals than the cold.

I think that from Vegas it is typically cold due to the departure times, but I am not totally sure.

Jennifer

They actually do offer both cold and hot meals. It seems to depend on the time of day. I believe if it is lunch or dinner time, you get the salad with warm chicken and the warm pasta meal. If it is in between, then your "snack" is a cold version of the same. In the past few months I have had more of the hot meals than the cold.

I think that from Vegas it is typically cold due to the departure times, but I am not totally sure.

Jennifer

Interesting. So they nuke the tri colored tortellini after 4, but serve it cold before? I guess now that I'm thinking about this further I see your right.

Do you make frequent trips to ORD? I used to, but my region has changed and I'm Houston most of the time, i.e., "gourment mix" :(

I'm flying F tomorrow PHX-CLE at 9 am. It's been a while since I've taken a morning F food flight on HP. Does anyone know what the offerings will be? Please don't tell me it's going to be chicken caesar salad with orange juice :D

Breakfast for August looks like Granola and fruit or 3 cheese omlet.

Breakfast for August looks like Granola and fruit or 3 cheese omlet.

First Class Food Service

America West serves complimentary meals to customers in First Class on domestic flights greater than three hours that depart between 6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. For a complete list of cities with First Class meal service, please review our map below.


Just saw this on their site. My flight leaves a 9 am, later than their apparent cutoff of 7.30 but certainly not lunch time. So I guess I'll be having lasagna at 10 am high over Colorado somewhere?? :confused:

7.30 PM My bad ^

Re: the water service w/the BOB cart.

Please keep in mind, on a full A320, there are 138 coach pax and 2 FAs to serve them.
Before service begins, the service flow is clearly explained. If a pax chooses to suck down their entire can of soda before the meal cart comes around, they have only themselves to blame.
Water (and sometimes coffee) is available on the food cart as a courtesy to these people or anyone else who is still thirsty.
In order for the service to work in any reasonably organized manner, there has to be a standard "service flow".
This is what distinguishes service on an airplane from service in a restaraunt.
The 'water only' announcement is reiterated for the passengers who ignored the initial service flow announcement.
Its an attempt to curtail the inevitable requests for beverages not available.

Also, be aware that a FA is not allowed to be more than 3rows away from a service cart, that is why usually there are 2 FAs on a cart together, so one will be free to step away and assist pax/answer call buttons.
We fudge on this occasionally, but if a ghost rider or 'secret shopper' sees it, it means a visit to the supervisor and a letter in the file.

Flights w/a scheduled block time of less than 4 hours are two beverage service flights. One initial full beverage, and the BOB/water service. The FAs do not have to perform an additional full beverage service unless they want to. Over 4 hours, you should get an additional full service appx 1hr to landing.
Late or night flights are adjusted depending if pax are sleeping, so as not to wake everyone.

If you require more service than that, please ring your call button.

. . . Flights w/a scheduled block time of less than 4 hours are two beverage service flights. One initial full beverage, and the BOB/water service. The FAs do not have to perform an additional full beverage service unless they want to. Over 4 hours, you should get an additional full service appx 1hr to landing. . .

That's my issue: "They don't have to perform an additional full beverage service unless they want to." In my experience, most don't want to, so they don't.

As an example, on an east coast to PHX flight, they did exactly what you described. Full beverage, followed by BOB w/ water only. That was it. Almost five hours. This was during dinner hour -- not a late night flight. People rang call buttons and got what they requested. Others, like me, won't ring the button unless it is something truly important.

I still submit that on a flight as long as this, it would not be very difficult for the FA's to come back around after the BOB to refill beverages, of particular interest to those who just bought food. In my case, it was a full 90 minutes after I got my first beverage until I received the BOB food. They really expect me to sit there with that one beverage for an hour-and-a-half? Or, settle for water? I think that's poor form.

Fully more than 50% of the flight, the FA's were standing or sitting, essentially doing nothing. In my view, they could be less stringent about the "water only" service and spend a few more minutes taking care of customers.

People rang call buttons and got what they requested. Others, like me, won't ring the button unless it is something truly important.


Please feel free to ask for what you want while onboard the aircraft and give the crew a chance to make you happy.
If you want another drink, but don't want to ask for it, it does neither party any good to complain about it after the fact.
If enuf call buttons go off for beverage requests, the cart will most likely be brought out again, even if it is not part of the prescribed service for that flight.

I still submit that on a flight as long as this, it would not be very difficult for the FA's to come back around after the BOB to refill beverages, of particular interest to those who just bought food. In my case, it was a full 90 minutes after I got my first beverage until I received the BOB food. They really expect me to sit there with that one beverage for an hour-and-a-half? Or, settle for water? I think that's poor form.


On a full A320, there are 138 passengers and 2 FAs. The FAs work as quickly as possible, but , it does take a certain amount of time to go once thru the cabin with a full beverage service, put that cart away, one FA then picks up trash while the other sets up the food cart, then start the process over again with the food cart, put it away, then another trash run.
The process takes even longer depending on how many pax ask for hot tea, or pillows, or blankets, or if someone spills and we have to clean it up, or a particular beverage is popular on that flight and has to be continually restocked, or if the 'C' FA is new, or any number of other things that are out of our control.
But, honestly, we go as fast as we can, I swear!
The third beverage service on a flight scheduled over 4hours is to be performed appx 1hr prior to landing. Sometimes this is adjusted by FAs due to the situation/time of day/sleeping pax etc.
To answer your question, yes we really expect you to pace yourself with your beverage if you want to drink it w/your meal, if you can't resist drinking the entire thing before your food arrives, then water is what is available on the food cart.
These are the 2 options available with our service standard. A third option would be to bring additional beverages with you if you are a very thirsty person. A fourth option could be to be pro-active and order yourself two beverages on the initial service. Then you could suck one down right away and still have one left over for when you get your meal.
Which of course brings us to a fifth option, which would be to bring food onboard with you, then you could eat it whenever you were ready. This is a VERY popular option that many people take advantage of, including the FAs.

Double-post, sorry!

To answer your question, yes we really expect you to pace yourself with your beverage if you want to drink it w/your meal, if you can't resist drinking the entire thing before your food arrives, then water is what is available on the food cart.
So you really expect someone to sit and sip a can of soda (and not have the ice melt) in 1.5 hours? Sounds pretty unrealistic to me. Yeah it would be nice if we all had extra hands to hold some food and some time to get it when we are racing for connections but sometimes it doesn't work that way. I do agree you can ask for an extra can if you can stand the evil eyes you sometimes get from FA who seem like they get a percentage of their pay cut by the number of cans they give out. Some are great some are extremely stingy with the soda.

I usually won't ring the call button unless it is something serious. I never believed that needing a refill of soda was that but it's nice to know that FAs expect us to do so.

Lance