Originally Posted by
bluepig1
I've read the past 40 pages of this thread, and had read the domestic First catering website you reference BEFORE my original posting, and honestly I'm still not clear. FLL-IAH, at 2 hr 51 min, clearly falls into the 2 hr 31 min-3 hr 59 min range, but the description references only breakfast flights under 3 hours as getting a snack - should I interpret a noon departure as a breakfast flight? Furthermore, I'm traveling 2 days later on IAH-ORD, a 2 hr 42 min flight, and it shows dinner being served.
So in the past 40 pages of this thread - all I take away is that UA is cutting catering offerings, but this still seems quite inconsistently applied.
Also just emailed GS Customer Care to inquire. Will update.
So, post-flight update:
12:00pm departure - The flight attendant initially only offered a "cheese plate with grapes" as a snack, but then came back around (in order of status off the manifest) to indicate there was indeed a second choice, an Asian noodle salad with roast beef. Having had the Asian Noodle Salad dinner option with grilled chicken (which I rather like), I picked this. It was not good. Noodles were pre-dressed with some soy/cilantro/sesame oil thing; the ramekin had a wedge of lime and pickled ginger in it. The dish was better with the addition of the squeeze of lime, but still not great. The beef was ok, lightly marinated with a supposedly "asian" marinade. The Boston lettuce underneath was soggy from the pre-dressed noodles having sat on it for a while. And, as with "snacks" - no bread, no dessert, no nuts - just the Ghiradelli chocolate. Thank goodness I had just enough time arriving at the gate to grab & go a salad otherwise I would still have been hungry. For the future, I'll probably just ask for a Tapas box from the back.
When inquiring with GS customer care after the flight indicating I was disappointed with the cut to First Class catering service, their response was:
Thank you for your reply.
We are constantly evaluating our menu offerings to best reflect the tastes of our customers. Beginning Sept. 1, we will be testing new meal offerings on select flights. One of the changes the discontinuation of the full breakfast.
I will make sure that your feedback is shared with the catering team during this meal testing phase.
So it's just great that they gave me a form response that was clearly copied/pasted - the response was on Dec 7, and uses future tense for a Sept 1 change.
One O/T silver lining - this flight had one of the best Captains I've flown - he passed out business cards with handwritten "thank you for your business" messages (I've only had this happen on international flights, and only for GS passengers), shook each First Class passenger's hand, and gave the flight information announcements to the First Class cabin in person, standing in the front aisle. Really friendly, and definitely above and beyond. Too bad the catering was so disappointing.
Separately - UA1967 IAH-ORD dinner on Dec 6 had a choice between Buffalo Mac & Cheese with grilled chicken, and the peppered grilled salmon salad. I've had this salad a number of times before, and as usual it was great. Baby greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, sliced fennel, and sliced granny smith apples on the salad.