WineCountryUA

Somewhere else there was the discussion the actual criteria might be 800 or greater miles -- but can not find that discussion.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

UA insider (1st post) states "Please note that we schedule meals based on average scheduled block time for each city pair we serve". Contradicting him is the UA.com meal section, which uses "flight duration" as the condition.

Not mentioned by UA Insider, but noted on website, are the exceptions:
"1 United and United Express serve meals or snacks on flights shorter than 2 hrs. 20 min. only on the following routes:
Between Chicago O'Hare and Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, New York LaGuardia and New York/Newark
Between Denver and Chicago O’Hare, Houston Intercontinental and Los Angeles
Between New York/Newark and Atlanta"

If UA has increased block time (and if block time matters relative to meals) to better the on-time stats, they may have moved that city pair into a meal-qualifying flight but didn't catch it. Be interesting to see what block times were a year ago.

..or if UA Insider mis-spoke, and duration is the condition, no meal.

blueman2

If I were United, I would switch (back) to using miles between cities as the meal metric, not flight duration. Cities do not move. But block times do constantly as they adjust for 'on time' arrival metrics. I do not want to be too harsh on UA for this one, but I just hate to be promised something, and then not have it delivered. Even if I may not have really needed that something!

findark

I also remember this - pretty sure they used to publish it in miles, and when they changed to block times, they actually still cater based on mileage. Generally safest to check the "Meal" listed for the flight, as I tend to find this is accurate pretty often.

UAinAUS

From what I've been able to figure out, United is using block time now as opposed to mileage. However the "average block time for each city pair" that is used for meal planning is not published. For example: If SAT-DEN is blocked at 2:24 in winter going north in a CR7, but 2:06 in summer going south in a E175, then the average block for that city pair is now 2:15. That's the number UA uses for every flight connecting those two cities in either direction. And keep in mind there are countless aircraft, seasonal, and time-of-day differences that are all averaged together. So basically they ARE using block time, but there's no good way to know what block time they use.

Why they changed from the actual mileage I'll never understand.

EWR764

Easy... this model results in overall lower meal service expenditure than actual mileage because fewer flights get meal service, while UA can still tout its improved service guidelines. It eliminates the marginal cases where certain flights may only be a few miles above a cutoff point, or where certain frequencies may exceed block time thresholds where others don't.

Plus, it's more opaque for customers. Always a ^.

NDtraveler

UA 4785 AUS - DEN is listed at 2:20 but shows no meal in first. Shouldn't this have lunch based on the new rules? What am I missing?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Because maybe they're using average flight duration, not blocking? If San Antonio doesn't get lunch to Denver, not sure why Austin would...

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Yes they do, geologically, relative to each other. Asia and the U.S. will be earning less miles in a couple of a million years and U.S-Europe will be earning more. Distances between San Antonio/Austin/Denver ought to be pretty static.

emcampbe

IMO, the actual metric is mileage, but the web site uses time as a guide corresponding to mileage. An 850 mile flight city A to B isn't necessarily going to be the same flight time as city X to Y, or even as a second flight from city A to B, as there are different factors to account for (amount of air traffic, taxi times, winds can be heavier or lighter at different times of the year, etc.).

Those noting the times on the website are missing an important word listed there (unless something has changed fairly recently): approximate. It speaks of approximate flight times. I think that's the way they use it to make it easier for folks, as I bet more folks think in how long does the flight last rather then how many miles is it (FT excepted, of course).

One example of a thread I can remember (on phone now, so too much of a PITA to find), is someone who said they didn't get dinner on their ~7pm IAH-SDF that was blocked at something like 2:24. I had mentioned I did receive dinner on an ~7pm IAH-CVG that was scheduled for 2:30. So what's the big difference - both flights are over 2:20? The mileage - SDF is a 788 mile flight, while CVG is 871. Or it seemed like the most likely explanation to me.

FlyerBeek

+1. This always seems to be the safest and most accurate way to determine meal service on questionable flights instead of worrying about block times that aren't published anywhere.

-FlyerBeek

blueman2

And you are correct, it did list 'drinks' or whatever and not meal. Only issue is that when I called United about a week before the flight and inquired (referring them to the web site page vs what the reservation said), and the said the reservation listing is often wrong and that I will get a full meal.

The bottom line is that their meal policy is so confusing and non-transparent, even their own agents cannot tell when a meal will be served vs chips. Not the biggest issue I have with UA, but certainly a minor annoyance. Very minor.

spin88

I fly SFO-SEA all the time, and Delta gives a HOT meal at meal time. (VX and AS do as well, although AS is usually cold). Was just on the 7:42 pm departure, offered a chicken salid or hot meatballs. Food is also better quality than what UA serves (much better than my 4 1/2 hour ATL-SFO dinner last night.

Yes, its only 687 miles, but when AS, DL, and VX all give food, United sticks out like a sore thumb on this route. Rather than focusting on meeting a budget level, and cutting to it, UA needs to ask what it needs to do to be competitive.

United is consistently a LOT cheaper on this route, and lack of food service is a good part of it.

Plane-is-home

There is something strange going on
YYC-DEN AT 2:35 has snacks on mainline but two choices for breakfast on UAX
DAY-DEN at 3:14 ( UAX) has no Choice of breakfast just cereals or nothing and strangely serves a salty nut mix in the bowl where normally the fruit goes.

parismama

I don't usually fly United and I'm confused about their meal service. Their website says domestic premium cabins serve "A full meal service with two entree choices" on flights over 2hrs 31 mins. My flight is MCO to IAH, 2hrs 43 mins, yet my ticket shows a snack is served. So I'm confused why my flight would not be served a lunch during lunch hours. I'd love to know for sure so I can plan accordingly for my dad who's traveling as well.

I've emailed United twice in the last few weeks, and no response.