krich

Good luck from one GGL to another

Irubi

Thanks ^^ - I understand that my chances aren't too high though

Robt760

You're already in Business Class, and you're hoping for an upgrade to First? If it happens last minute, they will likely be able to bring your meal from the J cabin. The menu/catering differences on the 3 class transcons is minimal. Often times the entrees are the same, with one additional choice added (on the standard menu). Not sure how much of a difference there is with a VGML for J as opposed to F.

Irubi

That's right - looking to keep at least the chance of an F updgrade open. Not really a big deal, just have never flown AA "proper" F as opposed to domestic F (757's, MD-80's, etc). Not concerned with the meal differences between the classes, just anything edible. Was just to see if it blocks the chances completely as on BA.

beachfan

Very good to know about BA, thanks!

Antarius

My experiences does not mirror this on BA. Then again, the aircraft was pretty full, so maybe an op-up factored into it (although this has happened multiple times).

Was flying Y on MH right after they joined OW and was upgraded to J ( 2 class). Purser, crew chief and someone from MH management team all stopped by to profusely apologize that my special meal was not available due to my upgrade I was just happy to get the flat bed

bdemaria

Just curious to know why you would consider an op up to F even a "chance"?

Irubi

Working to the theory that on a busy flight airlines look to op-up. I have had a quick read through a few of the threads here and see that AA give priority to their elites first (which also makes perfect sense to me), but after that One World Elites should be next if I read correctly. As it is a weekend flight, I am figuring that there may be fewer elites in business.

Apart from that, just to keep some interest on a very boring weekend of travelling.

ijgordon

Yeah, the chance is so low that it isn't worth thinking about it, let alone typing about it. Why am I still typing?

sdsearch

Which type of meal service is it (in terms of what AA class it)? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack?

If it's lunch, at least one of the meals is likely to come with pita chips and one variety or another of hummus. In the past the hummus was in a plastic container, but on my most recent lunch flight it was served in a real dish! (The pita chips were still in a bag, though.) But they don't serve hummus and pita (with an entree) on entree "snack" flights. ("Snack" means you don't get much more than just the entree, plus nuts and a cookie. "Lunch" or "Dinner" means you do get more than the with a "snack". And btw "Dinner" and "Breakfast" tend to have vegetarian entree choices, while "Lunch" and "Snack" aren't likely to IME.)

Also, the meal that isn't a salad is more likely to have a salad with it, though again that might not be explained in the pre-order. Ie, if you don't eat either chicken or beef, but the beef is not a salad and the chicken is a salad, you want the beef (minus the beef), as it's likely to have a separate salad. (The chicken salad will have the chicken already in the salad.)

Nevertheless, those are strategies more for midcon flights where there is no special meal option. Since you're talking about a transcon flight where there is a special meal option, that makes total sense to order. Just make sure that your order doesn't get cancelled depending on when you get upgraded! (If you're upgraded at the gate, no problem, just alert the FA that you had a special meal in a lower cabin and you still want that special meal. But if you're upgraded well ahead of time, but too late to re-order the special meal for the new cabin, I'm not sure what happens...)

Irubi

Thanks for that.
I would imagine it's lunch - 11:00 departure from MIA.
Anyway, have ordered the meal and will see what happens,

sdsearch

By the way, in case you're not aware, the same special meal is used for both vegetarian lacto, vegan, low sodium, and several other categories (it's one meal that fits all those standards simultaneously). That'll explain why, for example, you'll get margarine instead of butter, even though all you may have asked for is "vegetarian".

Btw, that makes for extremely wimpy breakfasts, since they exclude eggs and dairy but don't have much imagination (so the vegetarian breakfast is mostly just lots of fruit!). Unfortunately, on a longhaul international flights that have multiple meal services, you can't special order a vegetarian dinner but then have a normal ceral-and-yogurt breakfast. If a flight has multiple meals, your special meal order applies to all those meals.

1/4MM@20

As others have said, the special meal will have zero effect on the upgrade.

One point to note, if you do get the upgrade, your meal request will disappear from the passenger manifest. If you get upgraded at the gate, the special meal will still be loaded in your original cabin and you will need to ask the FA to look for it in the original cabin.

This has happened to me many times (both J to F and Y to J and both with requested upgrades that clear last minute and op-ups).

Irubi

Just wanted to update you all as I just got off the flight.

Indeed - as all those who said the chances were impossible - well - you were absolutely right!! I even asked at check-in and the lady looked at the screen and just said no as I was a BA frequent flyer

Also, the vegetarian meal was indeed awful, but for the rest of my flights now, there were options that I could eat, so no problem.

Thanks again for all the advice here

ijgordon

The fact that you asked for an upgrade probably reduced your chances to even lower than they were originally.