I know special meal requests are flaky, so I called a few (2-3) days before travel to double-check, and they were fine for all segments of a TPAC itin for both myself and my wife. They showed up on the itinerary online, too, when I went to check in.
Imagine my surprise when on the longest flight of the itin--SFO-NRT--the purser said that they had no meal request for either of us. Should have been the Zen meal for me, and Asian vegetarian for my wife. Purser said we should have checked "the day before the trip" (I did show her the printout of the itin with the meals listed, printed the day before the trip; she still said, "You have to confirm meals the day before travel," as if it was my fault UA had lost the requests.)
Fortunately for me, I still managed the Zen meal (purser had been dubious since as we all know everyone wants them), and really fortunately for my wife, she eats fish, as there was nothing remotely vegetarian-friendly on the menu--not even pasta.
Oddly enough, the next flight (NRT-BKK), the purser came to my wife and said, "Mrs. Exerda, we have your Asian vegetarian meal loaded." The request was fine for that segment.
Here's what UA told me when I e-mailed 1K Voice:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1K Voice
Our records showed there were no meal for requests for flight 837 in either of your reservations, I am sorry. Your email has been forwarded to our Food Services Division for review as we continue to look for ways to improve the services we provide.
When I asked how it could have been dropped, particularly since it showed up on my printed itin from T-24, 1K Voice added:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1K Voice
As you know, back in March we introduced a single passenger service system which combined United's and Continental's previous reservations and ticketing systems, and also launched our new website. While the transitions went as well as expected, issues that prevented some transactions from processing were identified and our IT management teams for the most part have resolved them, but unfortunately, a few minor glitches continued to linger and we apologize.
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Same thing for my wife on our recent Hawaii--in both directions! Didn't show up on either manifest. While it wasn't as long of a flight, my wife has severe food allergies, so the options they did have weren't even an option.
In one direction, the FAs were understanding and said they've been hearing it a lot lately. They did what they could to piece a few side salads together, which was better than nothing, I guess.
The crew the other way could have given a rat's ---.
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Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HumbleBee
Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
But the purser blamed the passenger - that's not in the purser's purview.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HumbleBee
Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
Yep. And never rely on this airline to maintain your seat booking, not mess up award tickets on partner airlines, and do any variety of the sorts of things that most businesses (including many airlines) handle pretty routinely.
OP, sorry about your experience, but glad that parts of it at least worked out ok.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aacharya
But the purser blamed the passenger - that's not in the purser's purview.
Yeah, our case as well. My wife didn't blame the purser. The one crew handled it much better than the other, but never was their blame in either case.
As for bring your own food...Sure, my wife travels with some stuff, but how much can you keep fresh for 10-14 hours of traveling? It's not like the airports are swimming with Gluten-Free options in the concessions.
Can't really keep a chicken sandwich on a GF bun 'fresh' for 10 hours. I'm pretty sure ice packs are out of the question through TSA (not to mention the inconvenience factor), and not sure the F cabin would be all that happy with someone opening a can of tuna (or even canned chicken). When you're expecting a special meal and you're told your getting a special meal, I don't think it's unreasonable to be upset when it's forgotten, lost in the system, computer-glitched out, or whatever.
She did pack some nuts, hummus (which we were worried about getting though security) and some GF crackers. So, when we landed in Hawaii 16 hours after leaving the house that morning, yeah, she was more than a little hungry.
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Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
Ive been lucky many times where my special meal wasnt boarded or as with the OP even on the manifest. I dont complain I just ask for a skykit and Im all when I get the $200 eCert. alot better then any meal especially my favorite vendor KA. But as you know not everyone can purchase their special foods from where they are flying from.eg Kyoto Japan was left off my KIX-NRT-LAX-JFK that was some long day and 3 eCerts came my way, and yes I got the meals on the way over and ordered it for all my flights. Stuff happens
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Quote:
Originally Posted by craz
Ive been lucky many times where my special meal wasnt boarded or as with the OP even on the manifest. I dont complain I just ask for a skykit and Im all when I get the $200 eCert.
Not these days! Wife got 15,000 miles as compensation for both special meals being left off (as a 1K on her own in 2012, but dropping to 'spouse' 1K of a MMer since she's given up on UA).
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Lost meal requests--UA blames SHARES
Happened to my wife as well going to BKK.
We did ORD-NRT on ANA metal in Y, booked through UA on UA flight number and they had the request and boarded the meal just fine. NRT-BKK and no apparent record of my wife's asain veggie meal - flight was upgraded to BF about a month before - figure it went wrong either there, or perhaps when UA split the record at checkin (despite my specific instructions not to).
FAs in BF at least prepared a plate of the sides, and then found some veggie pasta. She checked the Y manifest to in case they had it noted there still. I would have thought there was a veggie option on the menu at least, but no such thing. Pretty unacceptable to me that they can't figure out how to board a veggie meal for a BF pax.
Just called the UA BKK office about the return, and she claimed it was not on her record at all and needed to be added. Clearly it was at some point, as UA was able to pass the request to ANA, but got dropped somewhere. Didn't think of requesting a skykit, but will definitely write to UA about this when we return.
On another note - I see some of the above posts mention you can see special meals on the record online - granted most of my flying is domestic - but where do we look for this so I can at least see the request is in there?
Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
Why not? The OP put in a request for one and it showed as confirmed... Requesting and receiving prior to takeoff is hardly a "specific dietary requirement", its good customer service...
Why not? The OP put in a request for one and it showed as confirmed... Requesting and receiving prior to takeoff is hardly a "specific dietary requirement", its good customer service...
But not worth staking your life on if you can't eat anything else.
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But not worth staking your life on if you can't eat anything else.
My wife is when we go out to a 5 star dinner and we ask if there is anything she has an allergy to in the dish she orders... Why should it be any different for a $5k+ plane ticket for dinner?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trekwars2000
My wife is when we go out to a 5 star dinner and we ask if there is anything she has an allergy to in the dish she orders... Why should it be any different for a $5k+ plane ticket for dinner?
The flight attendant will happily tell you what's in the meal that your wife is not eating, but that won't make food appear out of nowhere. It shouldn't be that way, but it is--adjust your life accordingly.
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Not sure why you'd try to blame the purser s/he is definitely not at fault.
Never rely on an airline Special Meal. They're nice when they come, but things don't always work out. If you have very specific dietary requirement it is your responsibility to bring food with you.
I do not wish to be unpleasant, but this is one of the stupidest damn things I have ever read.
First off, there is no suggestion that the purser was blamed.
The second point is the substantive one. It was an airline stuff-up, not much of one, but it was a stuff up. If UAL is going to offer special meals, that is what they do. They do, and when they do not deliver, it is not some "discretionary" thing that has failed. This is a failure in particular on a transpac flight.
The point of the original contribution was here was (yet) another failure of the SHARES system. These are now legendary and will be a burden that the current senior management will take to their grave.
The flight attendant will happily tell you what's in the meal that your wife is not eating, but that won't make food appear out of nowhere. It shouldn't be that way, but it is--adjust your life accordingly.
The sensible thing to do is realize Continental's new United doesn't want you to fly them internationally and just take your $5-$10k x 2 for C or higher to an airline that cares and seemingly can figure this thing out that the Old UA could do across it entire system. There are plently of alternatives out there.
If your special meal in C/F goes missing, ask the purser if they loaded a Y one as that seems to be another change you should like. They often find it surprisingly.
when I get the $200 eCert. alot better then any meal especially my favorite vendor KA. But as you know not everyone can purchase their special foods from where they are flying from.eg Kyoto Japan was left off my KIX-NRT-LAX-JFK that was some long day and 3 eCerts came my way, and yes I got the meals on the way over and ordered it for all my flights. Stuff happens
