Ryanfozzie

TITLE SHOULD BE CHANGED. SQ Meal Mess Up or something along those lines. Sorry for offending anyone!

Morning all,

Wondering if you can help. I recently took 2 flights with SQ from MEL - SIN - LHR and had ordered the kosher meal. It was an embarrassment to say the least....

SQ208 - First meal service came around and I was served Breakfast. When they served it to me, I asked them to check if this was correct I was being served breakfast. The FA came back and said this is correct. Odd, but no worries. Went to eat it and it was frozen. Unfortunately due to the laws of kashrut, I could not have them heat it up. Called FA over and she was sorry and then explained that the meals had been loaded in the wrong order and I could have dinner now, but I would have no breakfast. No problem I thought as I would get more food on my next flight. 45 minutes later, I am brought 2 main meals (one meat and one fish, with one set of cutlery which again goes against kashrut). No problem, I only need the one anyway, so tucked into the meat meal. Low and behold, it was not cooked. Main was cold and the starter / desert was frozen. This time the senior on board came over, very sorry and gave me a $75 in flight voucher. Very nice of them, but I was still hungry. No problem though as I would have food on the next flight.

Upon leaving the aircraft, the DNATA manager came over and said 'Food on next plane good' and walked off. At my gate, a SQ manager came over, very sorry and said crew of previous flight asked for me to be upgraded to PE, but they could not do this. An hour into SQ306, my meal is served. Dinner this time which was fine (or so I thought). You've guessed it, it was frozen. The senior came over and was very sorry they could not offer anything else, nor upgrade to PE. They offered me a banana and that was pretty much it until breakfast came around. Breakfast came around and again, the same thing.

I mean, was I just very unlucky? What sort of compo should I go for here? I pretty much didn't eat for around 36 hours (flight time + to / from the airport either end and getting food).

Sorry for the rant too, but it was just an embarrassment.

Guvner067

Maybe I'm naive but how do you expect a meal to not be cold if they can't heat it up?

Ryanfozzie

.....

Ryanfozzie

Sorry, what I mean is if they incorrectly cook it, I can not have it cooked again in the oven as the seal is broken.

rcr416

a bacon sandwich!

anaggie

I am not trying to take the side of the airline, but more of common sense.

If I have certain requirements in my diet, going to be on a long trip and in Y, I would pack my own snacks. I wouldn't expect an gigantic company to worry and fulfill my needs.

Now, I also agree that the airline offers special meals and should deliver on them, but that doesn't mean they gaurantee they will be tasty or healthy or even cooked properly. Why take the risk?

Even when I am in J or F, I still carry snacks. Never know what they will offer on the plane or whether it is even palatable.

They gave you a $75 voucher which I think was more than fair.

A question -- why didn't you grab something to eat at SIN ?

lokijuh

I'd hazard a guess kosher food is not that common at Changi Airport.

Phaze

You have already received compensation. In terms of entitlement, you do not have any. The $75 voucher is relatively generous and typically indicates the end of this kind of matter on the spot. If you are hoping to email them and gain something more, you can certainly try but they will more than likely send a template response. It was unlucky, nothing more.

TA

I apologize in advance for probably sounding a little bit pointed or insensitive, but if this is the requirement / restriction of your religion, it seems kind of silly to blame the airline for trying but not being allowed to fix the mistake because of a broken seal.

zebranz

Passengers are entitled to get their requested meals- whether it is dietary reasons or religious. If not- blame the passenger? Sounds like an airline response. "We failed to provide the requested meal in an edible fashion but it is your fault."

I do agree about compensation for going hungry but do not think there is a guideline. I believe class of service and status will be considered by the airline.

mapleg

Just googled a site with all kinds of information on Kosher meals and airlines.

At the end of all the discussion, they do add this suggestion:

5) It is always advisable to bring your own brown bagged meal on the airplane “just in case”.

Can't argue with that.

SK AAR

The laws of kashrut?? Some rules stating that you can't eat heated food??

Sir/Madam, it is really your own problem that you can eat the same food as the majority of the pax on the flight. Try to imagine if all pax asked for customized food.

Anyway, IMO you received a fair compensation. I would have skipped a Y class meal any day in return for USD 75.

Ryanfozzie

Didn't know there were people on Flyertalk who would stoop that low...

Ryanfozzie

I have only recently started to keep Kosher, so I thought I could trust the airline. I did not think they would mess up, and if so this badly.

Whilst I eventually had 90 minutes at SIN, there wasn't anything I could easily find.

Ryanfozzie

No worries, I will explain

To cook a kosher meal in a non kosher oven, it need to be double sealed which these meals are sealed in foil and plastic. Only when I open the meal from the plastic and foil can I find out if if it is cooked or not. Unfortunately once I found out it was not cooked, should they heat it up further in the oven, the meal would no longer be kosher as it is not sealed and is being cooked in an oven that non kosher food would have been cooked in, such as pork.

Hope this clarifies slightly.