Originally Posted by
Ace71
We did not order a special meal, more a special requirement of no beef meal, if there was a beef meal (which there wasn't) on the menu for that flight I would expect my mother to be asked 1st what would she like from the 2 other options available but that did not happen, she was given a meal that Cathay thought was suitable.
Maybe I was going over the top to suggest an extra of each meal but...
There has been occassions when travelling in business/premium/economy where I and others have been in the middle of the cabin and they had run out of 1 of the 3 choices of meals and/or desserts, now I understand that if I was asked or served last. Also I've seen passengers turn down the meal or go straight to sleep (and what about the no shows) so surely that would increase the chance of the meal or dessert that I or my mother or passengers would want or even allowed to have 2 meals or desserts?
I'm confused, You just said you requested a "No Beef Meal" but didn't order a special meal?
If you were to look at your booking on your Manage My Booking page, under "Seat/Other Services" you can find a subpage under "Special Meal" the drop down menu will let you select "No Beef Meal." So technically you did order it...either by yourself (since you did try to go online to unselect that option) or through a travel agent. By doing this, you are asking the airline to prepare a meal for your mother with no beef in it. So to be sure that your mother will get a no beef meal, the airline did prepare her a special meal. This is identified to the crew to avoid any mix ups on board.
Like I said, I never felt I had to make this request option although I have given up beef for over 6 years. The Senior Purser actually comes around after take off (or while on the ground) to give out menus, I normally just tell him/her of my special request so they could set aside the entree with no beef in it.
Airlines save on costs doesn't load 100% meals on red eye flights, this is because like you have mentioned, some passengers prefer to sleep. So I think the crew are just watching out for the other passengers on board as they might not have enough meals left when they reach the end of the cabin. Let's put it thus way, what if I was seated on the last row, and they ran out of no beef entrees, and I found out that there was a no beef special meal, but the passenger requested to have the regular chicken meal instead? How do you think I would feel?