Jan 29, 2017, 11:30 am
Last edit by: Prospero
Special meals and nut allergies and Special meals and dietary requests
AA currently makes a number of “special meals” available on certain flights; they must be requested at least 24 hours in advance. Please see this page on AA.com for current information.
"Special meals are available on select flights with scheduled, complimentary meal service. Similar to scheduled meal service, they are based on departure time, destination and flight length. Menus vary monthly to ensure fresh and seasonal ingredients." See listing of special meals available from AA below.
How to request your special meal:
Contact Reservations (link)
For your interest, airline meal codes for SPML offerings on AA. The list of options may appear extensive but in practice the variety is much reduced due to duplication
From British Airways, definitions of these meals:
Archive of previous posts: ARCHIVE: Ordering SPML / Special Meal - how, what (consolidated)
AA currently makes a number of “special meals” available on certain flights; they must be requested at least 24 hours in advance. Please see this page on AA.com for current information.
"Special meals are available on select flights with scheduled, complimentary meal service. Similar to scheduled meal service, they are based on departure time, destination and flight length. Menus vary monthly to ensure fresh and seasonal ingredients." See listing of special meals available from AA below.
How to request your special meal:
- Make sure your flight has scheduled meal service
- Determine which specialty meal meets your need
- Call to order
- This option is available at least 24 hours before and up to 30 days in advance of your departure.
- Log into your AA account
- Select on Your Trips
- Select View/Change on your reservation
- Go down to Reserve a Meal.
- When you arrive at the airport, advise the gate agent and flight attendants that you ordered a special meal
- Call Reservations if you booked through American Airlines or contact your travel agent if you booked with an agency.
Contact Reservations (link)
For your interest, airline meal codes for SPML offerings on AA. The list of options may appear extensive but in practice the variety is much reduced due to duplication
- AVML - Asian Vegetarian Meal
- BBML - Baby / Infant Food
- BLML - Bland Meal
- CHML - Children’s Meal
- DBML - Diabetic Meal
- GFML - Gluten-free Meal
- HNML - Hindu Meal
- KSML - Kosher (Jewish) Meal
- LFML – Low Fat Meal
- LSML – Low Sodium Meal
- MOML - Muslim (Halal) Meal
- NLML – Non-Lactose Meal
- VGML - Vegetarian Meal (non-dairy)
- VLML – Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
- VVML – Vegetarian Vegan Meal
From British Airways, definitions of these meals:
- Asian vegetarian - Does not contain fish, shellfish, meat, poultry or eggs. It is a meatless meal and spicy in content.
- Baby meal - ?
- Bland - For those with digestive tract and gut disorders. Excludes mustard, pickles, garlic, fried and fatty food.
- Child meal - Contains a combination of familiar and fun foods.
- Diabetic - For those who need to manage blood sugar levels. Foods excluded are sugars, syrups, jams, cakes and chocolate, unless specifically for diabetics.
- Gluten intolerant - Foods excluded are wheat or wheat flour, barley oats and rye, bread, cakes (unless wheat free), pastry, sausages or any flour based products.
- Hindu - Does not contain beef, beef derivatives, veal or pork, it is not a meatless meal.
- Kosher Meal - These meals are prepared to comply with Jewish dietary laws.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarian - Does not contain meat, fish or seafood. May contain dairy products such as milk, butter, cheese and eggs etc.
- Low fat - High fibre meal with reduced amounts of fat.
- Low lactose - Excludes cheese, dairy products and their derivatives and lactose or milk products.
- Low salt - Excludes use of salt, MSG and baking soda/powder, instead herbs and spices are used to flavour the meal.
- Muslim Meal - Does not contain pork, by-products of pork or foodstuffs containing alcohol. All meats come from ritually slaughtered animals.
- Vegan vegetarian - Does not contain meat, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, dairy products or derivatives. If vegan is not specified, then a lacto ovo meal will be provided.
Archive of previous posts: ARCHIVE: Ordering SPML / Special Meal - how, what (consolidated)
Guide: AA SPML - Special Meal (vegetarian, gluten intolerant, child, etc.)
Dec 17, 2019, 7:03 am
#196
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Washington DC
Programs: AA Plt Pro (2MM)
Posts: 199
It was ok. The meal I was offered for LAX-ORD was oatmeal with coconut (provided in a sealed container), a chocolate bar of some kind and if I recall, fruit. I give AA credit for offering the special meals however I would recommend that they update their descriptions to remove the "suitable for low carb diets" since this was far from being low carb friendly. I'm not a big oatmeal fan TBH but there was plenty of food and it was, I would think, ok overall for a diabetic.
Dec 17, 2019, 7:30 am
#197
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: PHL
Programs: AA ExP, Marriott Amb, National EAE, Hilton Diamond, SPG Plat (RIP), US CP (RIP)
Posts: 2,379
It was ok. The meal I was offered for LAX-ORD was oatmeal with coconut (provided in a sealed container), a chocolate bar of some kind and if I recall, fruit. I give AA credit for offering the special meals however I would recommend that they update their descriptions to remove the "suitable for low carb diets" since this was far from being low carb friendly. I'm not a big oatmeal fan TBH but there was plenty of food and it was, I would think, ok overall for a diabetic.
Feb 1, 2020, 1:13 pm
#198
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 128
Any experiences recently with either the Diabetic or Hindu meal for lunch/dinner out of PHL (domestic)? I will be flying SJU-PHL-SFO soon and I don't want the same beef short ribs twice in a row from the regular menu
Last edited by cpmed43; Feb 29, 2020 at 12:16 am
Jun 10, 2021, 4:31 pm
#200
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 12
The AA special meals page says "Special meals are limited to long-haul international flights with Flagship® service." I assume you won't get your veg meal.
Dec 26, 2021, 5:29 am
#203
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 50
ORD-LHR
AA86
Business Class
Gluten-free meal
Starter was a salad and a plate of fruit. Also served was a package of gluten free and vegan cookies. Dinner was a tasty chicken (it looked dry but was not), served with carrots, a mysterious purée, and some dry mashed potatoes w/ corn made better with butter.
AA86
Business Class
Gluten-free meal
Starter was a salad and a plate of fruit. Also served was a package of gluten free and vegan cookies. Dinner was a tasty chicken (it looked dry but was not), served with carrots, a mysterious purée, and some dry mashed potatoes w/ corn made better with butter.
Jan 4, 2022, 4:08 pm
#204
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NC
Programs: AAConciergeKey/1MM, DL DM/2 MM, UA Gold,Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 11,967
Jan 6, 2022, 8:39 am
#205
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: STL
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 504
AA Special Meals
I always used to order the AA Hindu meal and it was really good. Last time I tried it, just before Covid, it was awful. Around that time I read that AA changed from preparing special order meals freshly to a system where the Asian/Muslim/Hindi meal was all the same thing just given different labels, and frozen in advance with a shelf of up to one year.
So, curious to see if anyone has tried a special meal recently, and how they rated it.
So, curious to see if anyone has tried a special meal recently, and how they rated it.
Mar 7, 2022, 5:02 pm
#206
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 6
As a point of reference, I pre-ordered AVML on the flagship JFK-LAX last week and it was the same meal I remember before COVID. Very happy with it. Was always good out of JFK and still held true for me this time.
Apps/sides were plated first
Main was given after apps/sides were cleared
Apps/sides were plated first
Main was given after apps/sides were cleared
May 31, 2022, 12:07 pm
#207
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium (Plat Life), HH G, Amtrak, B6, MR
Posts: 1,548
I finally found the "correct" thread so apologies if this counts as double-posting as I already asked the question on the int'l meals thread...
I have an upcoming JFK-LHR flight (morning departure from JFK) in PE and trying to figure out what the "bland" (BLML) or "children's meals" (CHML) options might be. Does anyone have any recent experience?
Thanks.
I have an upcoming JFK-LHR flight (morning departure from JFK) in PE and trying to figure out what the "bland" (BLML) or "children's meals" (CHML) options might be. Does anyone have any recent experience?
Thanks.
Jul 15, 2022, 5:24 pm
#208
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I made the mistake of ordering the AVML on a domestic flight.
First, it was not remotely Asian. It was plain white rice and vegetables, that's it. No sauce, no spices. The part about it being "spicy in content" is apparently a joke.
Second, the vegetables were disgusting. I have no idea how they manage to make vegetables taste so bad. I just ate the white rice and left the veggies.
I suggest ordering something else, or just not eating. It really was that bad.
First, it was not remotely Asian. It was plain white rice and vegetables, that's it. No sauce, no spices. The part about it being "spicy in content" is apparently a joke.
Second, the vegetables were disgusting. I have no idea how they manage to make vegetables taste so bad. I just ate the white rice and left the veggies.
I suggest ordering something else, or just not eating. It really was that bad.
Last edited by VegasGambler; Jul 15, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Jul 15, 2022, 9:17 pm
#209
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium (Plat Life), HH G, Amtrak, B6, MR
Posts: 1,548
I recently flew on the daytime JFK-LHR flight and also on LHR-BOS, in premium economy both ways. I ordered a children's meal for my youngest on both flights. I apologize for not remembering to capture the details of the second meal, but the primary meals were:
10am JFK-LHR departure: pancakes with some sort of sausage, cheese and crackers, bread, salad and tiramisu for dessert. The pancakes were a bit like cardboard. My kid refused to eat anything after taking one bite of the pancakes.
The 10am LHR-BOS flight had chicken nuggets, smiley face potatoes, fruit, ham and cheese, a salad and a large Kit Kat for dessert. My kid ate the chicken nuggets.
LHR-BOS
JFK-LHR daytime flight
10am JFK-LHR departure: pancakes with some sort of sausage, cheese and crackers, bread, salad and tiramisu for dessert. The pancakes were a bit like cardboard. My kid refused to eat anything after taking one bite of the pancakes.
The 10am LHR-BOS flight had chicken nuggets, smiley face potatoes, fruit, ham and cheese, a salad and a large Kit Kat for dessert. My kid ate the chicken nuggets.
LHR-BOS
JFK-LHR daytime flight
Jul 15, 2022, 10:55 pm
#210
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
I recently flew on the daytime JFK-LHR flight and also on LHR-BOS, in premium economy both ways. I ordered a children's meal for my youngest on both flights. I apologize for not remembering to capture the details of the second meal, but the primary meals were:
10am JFK-LHR departure: pancakes with some sort of sausage, cheese and crackers, bread, salad and tiramisu for dessert. The pancakes were a bit like cardboard. My kid refused to eat anything after taking one bite of the pancakes.
The 10am LHR-BOS flight had chicken nuggets, smiley face potatoes, fruit, ham and cheese, a salad and a large Kit Kat for dessert. My kid ate the chicken nuggets.
LHR-BOS
10am JFK-LHR departure: pancakes with some sort of sausage, cheese and crackers, bread, salad and tiramisu for dessert. The pancakes were a bit like cardboard. My kid refused to eat anything after taking one bite of the pancakes.
The 10am LHR-BOS flight had chicken nuggets, smiley face potatoes, fruit, ham and cheese, a salad and a large Kit Kat for dessert. My kid ate the chicken nuggets.
LHR-BOS