cerealmarketer

Took a peek at the 2014 menu

https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/tra...sWineMenu.aspx

Not that it was outstanding, but last year Global First had $20-$30 a bottle range wines in the selection, on par with what you get in Business on the better non-US carriers.

This year...

$15 range wines.

BusinessFirst remains the domain of $10-$15 'value' wines.

Delta manages to sneak in a $20+ bottle of red in its Business Class selection (i.e. Estancia Meritage).

Would make a world of difference to stock just one good red in the assortment. People who care can pick it. People who don't get the luck of their draw.

Plane-is-home

It's amazing what UA can get away with in GF. Food, wine, other drinks, service attitude and now even the seats fall apart. You'd think they like to keep people that pay 15-20k for a return flight. Great food and drink might be a $100 a person per leg investment. Of course changing service attitude will cost a little more.
I have moved all my international first flying away from UA, only using them when the schedule is more than 2-3 hours better.

ksingh0311

why are you surprised?

u600213

Thanks for the info. to UA
Given the selection, of the various red's, is there one you'd recommend over the others?
Thanks

bldr1k

I really don't think anyone buys Global First on United. Many of my recent flights were full of non-revs. On my last flight from PEK to SFO I sat next to the husband of a flight attendant. He doesn't work so he travels to Asia with his wife every week - in Global first. In this case there were too many other employees in Global First so he couldn't get a seat.

Personally I think they should get rid of Global First and focus on making business first competitive with Delta and American.

mikel51

it looks like there is no longer a "real" difference between wine quality in GF and BF, except for the Champaign selection.

UAkls

Remember that this is the same Global First that offers just one dessert selection -- ice cream sundaes! Do you want nuts with that? I can just imagine someone who actually paid $10,000+ for that. UGH! Yellow Tail is coming....

BE-58

The $2B in cost savings has to come from somewhere...

Unfortunately this just devalues a struggling product further. No one flies for the wines, but if there is a choice then I'll pick the airline that serves a decent bottle.

I wonder if Jeff & his management team ever bother to sample the competitors' products - if they did, they would understand just how far behind they've fallen.

demkr

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+1

cfischer

BF champagne got downgraded as well. The stuff they had on 1/1 was barely drinkable. GF champagne is also downgraded from a $100 to a $60 bottle

JSlo

+1!!!

I'm also DEN based. The new DL Diamond program looks like some great benefits, I am looking through their schedule to try and see if a switch can be made to accommodate my travel needs. It actually has gotten so bad to the point that it may be worth a stop in SLC to get to LAX to get away from the poorly run UA. It's gotten that bad! I'm a many year 1K, and I'm a UA "loyalist". Been flying them for overseas C/J class since 1993....my how things have changed lol! wow. Now what to do...

The other day in F on a 3 hr flight, my choice of meal was a "burrito" that was like a stale reheated version of taco bell, or a salad that consisted of .25 cents worth of head lettuce and 1 cherry tomato lol. Seriously? It's just gotten pretty bad IMHO. (I got the salad, I observed my seatmates "burrito").

entropy

Well, the could get the 'french' special selection which is a whopping $7.95 on wine searcher...

I find the selections to be very similar to the usual plonk they have been serving, and it is certainly not a good sign.

The F selections have gotten so bad of late, I think they would be better off simply offering the BoB meals complimentary in F.

mahasamatman

That would be an upgrade from the totally undrinkable stuff they've been serving. It has more use as a disinfectant for the tray tables.

bldr1k

I keep hoping Delta expands their DEN-based flights. A few more non-stops and it would be practical to switch to Delta. Since I travel about 250K I can get to both 1K and Diamond.

cerealmarketer

I corresponded with the United master sommelier not long ago, and pointed out what some of the Delta business elite wines cost at retail.

He seemed surprised and thankful for the information ammo.

Unfortunately this stuff is long-lead time so we're stuck with this for a while...