Most of the US carriers stopped free food on flights from the mainland to Hawaii several years ago. Some of those can easily be at least as long as a TATL. That said, as an American who flies UA only with a gun to my head, I think it is unpardonably stingy. No free booze was a terrible insult and led me to fly European carriers if I couldn't get an upgrade on a US carrier. No food, even crappy food, just seems to cross a line.

It will be interesting - and maybe horrible -- to see if others follow suit. Just how low can they go?

Moreover, I'll put myself in the penny-pinching category, but there is no way I would choose UA because it was $15 cheaper for a TATL ticket -- I'd rather pay the extra $15 and get my crappy food and not have to think about bringing something or wondering if I'll get anything or if they'll run out (not just of my choice, but of food). Total crap. If you're going spend $1000 to fly to Europe, is another $15 going to break the deal? How utterly ridiculous.