Feb 22, 2015, 6:28 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
AA/US Domestic Dining (including Canada, Mexico, & the Caribbean)
Note: this thread is about meals served on AA-US. There is another thread for the contingent that wishes to debate and discuss linens as a primary subject, including related presentation issues: Linens / presentation debate for meal service on AA, US / both.
PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST. /Moderators
Welcome to the 2015 Domestic Dining thread and the resulting discussion/trip reports/photos/shared experiences. Here, in this wiki post, I'll strive to explain what you should expect on AA flights in First and Business, meals-wise. Keep in mind that there are many domestic flights, so there are quite a few parameters to keep track of. This Wiki covers both AA and US flights, but as of September 2014, AA and US offers identical meal service domestically, so that part of the merger has its' harmonization completed.
Basically, in its' best condensed form, you should expect to receive a meal between 4:59am - 8pm on flights longer than 900 miles, which equals about two hours in the air. From that point, there are exceptions, and specific timing parameters.
What to Expect - Mainline:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.
- Up to 699 miles: Light snacks such as a fig bar, cookies, and/or pretzels
- 700-899 miles: Warmed nuts, a snack plate (fruit/cheese, pita/hummus, or spinach dip/pita), and a cookie
- 900-1298 miles: A meal (fruit/breakfast entree; salad/entree) followed by a cookie; no meals between 1:30-4pm
- 1298-2199 miles: A full meal including an appetizer, with cake for lunch desserts and premade ice-cream for dinner desserts
- 2200 miles and above: Same as 1298-2199 miles, but consists of made-to-order sundaes or a cheese plate for both lunch and dinner desserts
What to Expect - Regional:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.
- Up to 175 miles: A light snack mix along with beverage service
- 176-899 miles: Sweet and savory, organic/healthy snack choices (snack basket)
- 900-2199 miles: Warm mixed nuts, two meal options, and dessert. (For flights over 2200 miles, you will receive the same selection of snacks from 176-899 miles as a pre-arrival snack. All regional meal flights leaving after 8:00pm will also receive sweet and savory snacks as the only option. Editor's note: A regional jet for 2000+ miles? Hope that never happens!)
All of the meal flights that fall under the above timing parameters will receive two choices; normally, one meat and one vegetarian.
Longer westbound flights leaving from the east coast (transcontinental; non-premium) are not officially exceptions, but some flights after 8pm receive a full dinner service (such as the 8:05pm MIA-SAN flight, or the 8:30pm PHL-LAS flight). Additionally, non-premium transcontinental red-eye flights will receive snack basket service upon departure, then a continental breakfast box prior to arrival.
Official Exceptions:
The following flights all fall under 900 miles, but will receive a full meal service, with the exception of flights leaving between 1:31-4pm. Despite some of the listed flights being over 900 miles, they are remaining listed here, based on the AA website for documentation purposes.
- Chicago (ORD) - AUS/BDL/BOS/DCA/EWR/JFK/LGA/MSY/RDU
- Dallas (DFW) - BJX/ORD/MEX/QRO/SLP
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - PAP
- Los Angeles (LAX) - DEN
- Miami (MIA) - DCA/IAD/PAP
- New York (LGA) - ATL
- Phoenix (PHX) - MZT
Additional Information:
- JFK-LAX/SFO; MIA-LAX are considered premium transcontinental flights, and as such, receives a more refined service with three meal choices, per-course service, printed menus, and tray/tablecloth linens in both F/J. Those flights now are the only domestic flights in the system to offer special meals as another option (which can be reserved by either preordering online, or calling). Red-eye flights will receive a full "supper/snack" meal service, which is basically a condensed dinner service.
- Hawaiian meal service is very similar to what you'd expect on 2200+ mile flights, but there also will be Hawaiian rolls served, along with a pre-arrival continental breakfast/snack (dependent on the length of the route). Tropical warmed nuts are also currently served.
- All flights over 700 miles, regardless of a meal being served or not, will receive warm mixed nuts and a cookie.
Disclaimer: The editor of this Wiki does not guarantee the information presented above will always be accurate or properly followed by AA, given catering mishaps, irregular operations, rogue crews, or mismanagement. For the best up-to-date information, it would be prudent to check AA's website constantly for any updates, or call AA. The editors of this Wiki will keep this Wiki updated as often as possible.
Last updated: 7/26/2015 2:33pm, MrAndy1369
2015 Combined AA/US Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (Consolidated)
Feb 18, 2015, 3:24 pm
#301
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Not even the crAAp lite bites?
Feb 18, 2015, 3:51 pm
#302
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Wanting First. Buying First.
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Catering error? Last domestic red-eye I took was a much shorter flight (midcon to DFW) and it received the light bites basket.
Feb 18, 2015, 3:53 pm
#303
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
AA2413
767-300ER
LAX-DFW
Lunch
By far the best crew and flight of the week/end. Nuts were served warm as they should have been, there were 3-4 crew working the F cabin for the entire flight.
Choice of Chicken Thai Curry (really chicken breast with a weird brown peanut sauce, nothing curry about it) or a Tortellini in Roasted Garlic Alfredo. Having hit my chicken quota on AA for the quarter it was back to pasta. This is one of the better ones IMO although the sun dried tomatoes on top are not very attractive:
Cookie was seemingly baked on board, but still did not taste as good as they were in years prior. I'm guessing it's a different dough:
As stated before, the crew was fantastic on this flight. An unfortunately rare occurrence on AA these days. The purser was especially brilliant and he seemed very happy to work with customers. He greeted the entire 767 J cabin by name, took orders, explained the seat operation to those who needed it, and offered connecting gate information and directions on how to get there at DFW. The team of F FAs also ensured drinks were full and empty plates removed quickly throughout the flight.
Thankfully, wine glasses were also placed in the tray with the meal and FAs came through the aisle with wine bottles shortly after distributing meal trays to offer wine in addition to whatever drink was leftover from the mixed nuts service. This used to be common practice on AA and now rarely seems to happen for some reason. It was nice to see some crews continue to follow this procedure.
767-300ER
LAX-DFW
Lunch
By far the best crew and flight of the week/end. Nuts were served warm as they should have been, there were 3-4 crew working the F cabin for the entire flight.
Choice of Chicken Thai Curry (really chicken breast with a weird brown peanut sauce, nothing curry about it) or a Tortellini in Roasted Garlic Alfredo. Having hit my chicken quota on AA for the quarter it was back to pasta. This is one of the better ones IMO although the sun dried tomatoes on top are not very attractive:
Cookie was seemingly baked on board, but still did not taste as good as they were in years prior. I'm guessing it's a different dough:
As stated before, the crew was fantastic on this flight. An unfortunately rare occurrence on AA these days. The purser was especially brilliant and he seemed very happy to work with customers. He greeted the entire 767 J cabin by name, took orders, explained the seat operation to those who needed it, and offered connecting gate information and directions on how to get there at DFW. The team of F FAs also ensured drinks were full and empty plates removed quickly throughout the flight.
Thankfully, wine glasses were also placed in the tray with the meal and FAs came through the aisle with wine bottles shortly after distributing meal trays to offer wine in addition to whatever drink was leftover from the mixed nuts service. This used to be common practice on AA and now rarely seems to happen for some reason. It was nice to see some crews continue to follow this procedure.
Feb 18, 2015, 3:56 pm
#304
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: DFW/LAX
Programs: HH Diamond, AA EXP
Posts: 534
in F or Y?
Feb 18, 2015, 3:57 pm
#305
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NYC, USA
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 10,967
Any chance you happened to fall asleep and missed it when the FAs came by offering items? That has happened to me before on redeyes...
Feb 18, 2015, 5:09 pm
#306
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,453
When one is working with a certain budget things get cut, there is no getting around this. But it comes down to the crew working the cabin, we all been on flights in which the FC FA went above and beyond what most crew members do these day (just like what happened on your 767-300 flight) to the FA on your MIA-SAN flight who didn't care how the food was presented or if the nuts where warm. I wish the airlines really do care how the passengers are treated so crew members like the lazy FA would have to go through remediation training on the proper procedure on food service. I think consistency is the real problem in the domestic airline industry.
Feb 18, 2015, 8:30 pm
#307
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: SAN
Programs: AA-EXP; US-Silver; Marriott-Platinum; Starwood-Platinum; Hilton-Gold
Posts: 1,260
In F. No there is ZERO food service. None. I just flew it. I can't sleep in those 737 torture devices and I asked. Trust me. Even the AAngels in the AC warn people to buy food.
Feb 18, 2015, 8:32 pm
#308
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Programs: UA Premier Silver, AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 813
Feb 18, 2015, 8:37 pm
#309
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This flight is suppose to have the Lite Bites basket and that breakfast-in-a-box thing. 
Feb 18, 2015, 9:10 pm
#310
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: AA, WN, UA, Bonvoy, Hertz
Posts: 2,491
Felt it would be appropriate to provide some articles from the main caterers and design partners for AA.
LSG Sky Chefs new leadership talk about the latest happenings. As a group originally part of AA and in close proximity to DFW, I suspect this group does a lot of the leadership in developing AA's menus and processes. Once the menus are decided, LSG helps support the implementation with the various airport catering partners.
http://www.dmagazine.com/publication...s-airline-food
Gate Gourmet is another major leader for the market (see pages 19 to 25), but I suspect is not an actual designer of the AA/US food (just fulfillment).
http://issuu.com/globalmarketingcomp...537808/9291603
Again, what is clear in the articles and spoken by many folks here is how the food is not representative of the caterer, but of the airline design. When it is obvious the same major caterers do airlines known for "world class" cuisine like EK and others, it is the airline who has to decide how much effort, quality or style they put into their menus.
Rasheed
LSG Sky Chefs new leadership talk about the latest happenings. As a group originally part of AA and in close proximity to DFW, I suspect this group does a lot of the leadership in developing AA's menus and processes. Once the menus are decided, LSG helps support the implementation with the various airport catering partners.
http://www.dmagazine.com/publication...s-airline-food
Gate Gourmet is another major leader for the market (see pages 19 to 25), but I suspect is not an actual designer of the AA/US food (just fulfillment).
http://issuu.com/globalmarketingcomp...537808/9291603
Again, what is clear in the articles and spoken by many folks here is how the food is not representative of the caterer, but of the airline design. When it is obvious the same major caterers do airlines known for "world class" cuisine like EK and others, it is the airline who has to decide how much effort, quality or style they put into their menus.
Rasheed
Feb 18, 2015, 9:17 pm
#311
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
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This is where the bigger problem really lies. The reality is that most US consumers are pretty oblivious to the product, and do not command much better than what is being offered unfortunately. Because of this, the airline industry has been allowed to steadily decline its overall product for more than a decade with little to no uproar. It will only end when the consumer shows financially that they have had enough, and when competition increases back to pre-2010 levels.
Feb 19, 2015, 12:06 am
#312
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,159
Exactly! It's so ridiculous and makes me feel angry that Doug isn't willing to invest more in AA's product, especially during this vital time when customers need to be convinced that AA's worth sticking with, despite being merged! Just makes no sense.
Feb 19, 2015, 12:31 am
#313
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Francisco
Programs: DL DM, 1MM AA PLT 2MM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, and...Smiles Diamante
Posts: 2,783
AA2413
Thankfully, wine glasses were also placed in the tray with the meal and FAs came through the aisle with wine bottles shortly after distributing meal trays to offer wine in addition to whatever drink was leftover from the mixed nuts service. This used to be common practice on AA and now rarely seems to happen for some reason. It was nice to see some crews continue to follow this procedure.
Thankfully, wine glasses were also placed in the tray with the meal and FAs came through the aisle with wine bottles shortly after distributing meal trays to offer wine in addition to whatever drink was leftover from the mixed nuts service. This used to be common practice on AA and now rarely seems to happen for some reason. It was nice to see some crews continue to follow this procedure.
Anyway, on the wine front, I noticed the bottles didn't appear on three of four segments. In one case when a fellow passenger asked about the wine, and the flight attendant brought a single serve mini out. Do you think they're not bringing the bottles out because they're being provisioned with the minis and they are (justifiably) embarrassed?
Feb 19, 2015, 4:42 am
#314
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southern California
Programs: United MileagePlus Premier 1K, Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion
Posts: 1,150
Chicken Thai curry
This midcon entree has been referenced several times, but why has not a single photo of it been posted?!