amartin1979

Looks like the mid-flight snack on the long TPAC flights is gone.

Not looking forward to that change on my CTU-SFO flight on June 1.

PVDProf

This is great news! I especially appreciate the return of complimentary wine. I got so annoyed every time I reached for my wallet that I moved my transoceanic business to other *A carriers over this. Be nice to be back in E+.

mherdeg

Cool, how does the UA economy meal service now compare versus SQ, EK, or TK transatlantic? Does this make the UA product better?

UA1K_no_more

I'm not a big fan of overly dry wine.

ZZYZXROAD

What defines long haul Europe from USA?

JBord

Nope, it's replacing 312. This was discussed in the Goose Island thread a couple weeks ago.

Either way, it's better than a warm Heineken.

channa

Looks like we found the first one. Keep hunting, folks!

EWR764

Seems like the mid-flight ice cream/gelato snack from transpacific flights is now to be served as a separate dessert course on all flights. So the net loss is a brownie... and shorter flights (like TATL) will have a net gain.

I think, on balance, like the North American premium cabin food revamp, this is not a budget-neutral decision and reflects increased spending on dining, despite cuts to certain, limited aspects of the service.

I'm interested to see how this plays out. Overall, I'm a fan of the new service, based on the announcement, but can envision a longer main service with the multiple passes down the aisle (bar cart +starter, main tray, bar cart, trash cart, dessert, trash). This may result in more time with the lights on, which may not necessarily be desirable on short redeye flights like EWR-LHR.

All that said, the changes are certainly welcome.

halls120

^^ for the refresh/upgrade.

State of Trance

I only have experience with SQ, but it still isn't even close. My SQ Y meals have been some of the best Y-class meals I've had in quality (especially their curries), even beating out many of the domestic F meals I've had (when they're actually offered...). SQ also offers a full liquor menu for Y passengers, as well as desert service following the main course.

Here's a meal that I had ex-DME, which is supposed to be one of their weak points for catering.



For comparison, my last TPAC UA meals reminded me of sad microwavable TV dinners:

Phoenixtinct

Yes, the meal choices are more but out of the 3 options listed, I would pick neither:

2 of the 3 appear to be vegetarian: ravioli and noodles. The 3rd - turkey meatloaf - I can maybe go for but I don't like sweet potatoes, so don't see that as an improvement over what they offer currently.

I last flew transatlantic 2 months ago and the meat option was chicken and I was extremely pleased - the chicken portion was pretty big and the meal overall was tasty. The other 2 options were vegetarian I believe, so no real change there after June 1st.

When they announced going from 2 to 3 meal choices internationally, I thought it would be the other way around 2-to-1 in favor of the meat options. I doubt that there are that many vegetarians on board that they require 2 meal options. Having a combination of beef, chicken and/or turkey and a vegetarian option should be sufficient.

I don't drink alcohol, so the return of complimentary beer and wine has 0 effect on me. In fact, I view the meal options as a downgrade, so don't see this announcement as a positive.

channa

Curries work extremely well on airplanes -- they're high on flavor which helps with diminished taste buds, they're wet, so they reheat well without drying, and stews/curries can me made cheaply in bulk. Whenever I see one, I order it.

While it's nice to see United Continental Holdings looking at this stuff, I think there are smarter things they can do with the budget to get more points. When their highlighted dishes are ravioli (which will get its edges dried out in reheating) or meatloaf (which is generally bland and can dry out as well in reheating), they don't seem to be optimizing the food for the environment.

SQ is probably spending less on food cost for that curry than UA is spending on that meatloaf, and SQ is getting more points for it.


I don't think we have enough information to determine that. If it's more, it's possibly very close. In the North American example, hundreds of flights had food removed. That's a lot of money to shuffle around to other flights.

drewguy

I found those to be a bit dry.

drewguy

+1. About time, given all the negatives.

Now, what to do with my drink coupons . . .

rittenhousesq

I agree with a previous poster; I think this is a fair trade off for the better quality main meal and free wine/beer. If you are really hungry, you can still BOB.