United (and AA) no longer provide the expenses for catering in their quarterly results, but Delta will spend about $900 million this year for food and beverages, and that's in line with AA's spending before the merger (and the disappearance of the passenger service line item in the P&L). If UA is spending something like $750 million to $850 million this year, an upgrade to the coffee won't break the bank.

This is a very positive sign that UA wants to attract dollars of revenue instead of constantly looking for pennies and nickels in cost cuts. Lousy coffee is immediately noticed by everyone who tastes it. Broken cashews, while revealing cheapness, at least taste the same as whole cashews (provided UA stayed with the same vendor and type of cashews).