Originally Posted by
adam.smith
You're contradicting yourself. Earlier you were saying the only differentiator was international vs domestic/TB. Now you're agreeing that length of route matters. So if length of route matters, it's perfectly legitimate to expect better service on a 6-7 hour flight to Hawaii than a 4-hour domestic flight., just as there's different service on a 1.5-hour domestic flight. End of story.
What I said was that AC differentiates service on domestic vs. international, meaning that the service could be different on a 6 hour domestic/NA flight from a 6 hour International flight. What I said was that it's the primary (first) differentiator, and length of flight is second. I didn't say that was the ONLY differentiator - otherwise a 5 hour YYT-LHR would get the same service as a ~15 hour YVR-SYD.
Originally Posted by
gcashin
AC differentiates Business Class for domestic flights from their International Business Class product, as do most other carriers. YYT-LHR is shorter than some domestic routes, but is sold as International Business Class and has the international meal spec.
Originally Posted by
gcashin
The main differentiator for meal service is whether the route Business Class (for NA/caribbean destinations/Hawaii), or whether it's International Business Class (overseas). Length of flight is second. Equipment doesn't matter for mainline flights.
Think of it like a flowchart:
Is your flight International Business (overseas)? If so, go to A. If not, go to B.
A. International Business Class
- Flights < x hours - meal spec
- Flights > x hours - meal spec
- Flights > y hours - meal spec
B. Business Class (domestic)
- Short Haul - meal spec
- Medium Haul - meal spec
- Long Haul - meal spec (Hawaii fits here)
- Premium Long Haul - meal spec
It's two different streams. Thus, a domestic flight of 6-7 hours wouldn't necessarily have the same meal service as an international flight of 6-7 hours, as the cutoff points are different.
Can you find any US or Canadian carrier that treat Hawaii similar to Europe for meal service? Any I've been on treat it as a long haul domestic (and generally price their F/C/J cabin accordingly).