Dec 31, 2016, 10:45 pm
Last edit by: JY1024
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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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 2017 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.
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.
2017 Combined AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)
Jul 3, 2017, 1:53 pm
#646
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,162
I'm loving the new grey linens. Looks great!
Jul 3, 2017, 5:18 pm
#647
Senior Moderator and Moderator: American AAdvantage & TravelBuzz
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 10,420
Jul 3, 2017, 6:17 pm
#648
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Jul 5, 2017, 11:08 am
#649
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Another dinner flight and another pic of the chicken and risotto
MIA-JFK
757 (24FC version - don't think there are many of these left in this config)
MIA-JFK
757 (24FC version - don't think there are many of these left in this config)
Jul 5, 2017, 12:22 pm
#650
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Jul 5, 2017, 1:35 pm
#651
Join Date: Feb 2012
Programs: DL GM, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, AMEX Plat
Posts: 256
New menu format on Transcon flights.
No more glossy books. It's a one sheet now, much classier imo.
Sadly the menu choices are the same.
No more glossy books. It's a one sheet now, much classier imo.
Sadly the menu choices are the same.
Jul 5, 2017, 4:27 pm
#652
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: AA
Posts: 5
DEN-ORD breakfast
apologies for any errors in formatting, this is my first time posting here...
DEN-ORD
FLT2312 at 7:20am
737-800
PDB: not offered (not even greeted on boarding actually, more on this later)
Offerings: Yogurt with granola or egg/turkey bacon sandwich with cheese
Warmed biscuits and cinnamon rolls offered
Post-meal mint: not offered
I went with the egg sandwich, which looked sorry, but tasted just fine. It came with a single leaf of lettuce under it and three cherry tomatoes (side note: Anyone know why they just don't do a slice or two of tomatoe to add to the sandwich?).
the plate of fresh fruit wasn't substantial, but fine. When the biscuit/cinnamon rolls came around, I opted for the cinnamon roll which was disappointingly, but not surprisingly, dry.
As for the service, mediocre would be a compliment to our cabin attendant. She forgot what I had asked for a drink the second go-around. I asked for tea for a drink before food was served, when she came back she asked if I'd like another, I asked for OJ instead. She served a couple other trays and had to ask again what I wanted to drink.
Normally, I'd pass it off as an innocent mistake, but frankly, I already had a bad impression after being ignored upon boarding (obviously her conversation with her fellow flight attendant was more important than responding to my "good morning"). Upon de-planing in ORD, her conversation with her co-worker continued, with no "thanks for flying." Maybe one of two people in the front cabin were wished a nice rest of their day. This seemed more of a case of just not caring more than a brainfart.
this was my first breakfast flight in a while, and while the food was adequate, the service was embarrassing. The coach crew on my ORD-DCA leg was better. I opted to fly standby to get home earlier, and frankly, a bag of pretzels and soda with a smile was just fine.
no picture because I can't figure out how to from my phone right now, apologies
mj
DEN-ORD
FLT2312 at 7:20am
737-800
PDB: not offered (not even greeted on boarding actually, more on this later)
Offerings: Yogurt with granola or egg/turkey bacon sandwich with cheese
Warmed biscuits and cinnamon rolls offered
Post-meal mint: not offered
I went with the egg sandwich, which looked sorry, but tasted just fine. It came with a single leaf of lettuce under it and three cherry tomatoes (side note: Anyone know why they just don't do a slice or two of tomatoe to add to the sandwich?).
the plate of fresh fruit wasn't substantial, but fine. When the biscuit/cinnamon rolls came around, I opted for the cinnamon roll which was disappointingly, but not surprisingly, dry.
As for the service, mediocre would be a compliment to our cabin attendant. She forgot what I had asked for a drink the second go-around. I asked for tea for a drink before food was served, when she came back she asked if I'd like another, I asked for OJ instead. She served a couple other trays and had to ask again what I wanted to drink.
Normally, I'd pass it off as an innocent mistake, but frankly, I already had a bad impression after being ignored upon boarding (obviously her conversation with her fellow flight attendant was more important than responding to my "good morning"). Upon de-planing in ORD, her conversation with her co-worker continued, with no "thanks for flying." Maybe one of two people in the front cabin were wished a nice rest of their day. This seemed more of a case of just not caring more than a brainfart.
this was my first breakfast flight in a while, and while the food was adequate, the service was embarrassing. The coach crew on my ORD-DCA leg was better. I opted to fly standby to get home earlier, and frankly, a bag of pretzels and soda with a smile was just fine.
no picture because I can't figure out how to from my phone right now, apologies
mj
Jul 5, 2017, 6:19 pm
#653
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,162
I also hope they didn't remove the word, "traditional", next to the ice-cream sundae. For some reason, I love seeing that line item: "Traditional ice cream sundae." It feels and screams classic pmAA, reminds me of the pmAA days before the USification of AA meals, and is a vestige item that survived the merger (so far). Yes, very meta, but that's just me.
Jul 5, 2017, 6:50 pm
#654
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PDX
Programs: Marriott
Posts: 26
On my afternoon TPA - DFW flight today we got mixed nuts and a choice of snack plates -
either cheese, crackers & grapes or buffalo chicken cheese dip with celery and pita rounds. Went with the cheese plate and it was fine. No PDB or desert.
either cheese, crackers & grapes or buffalo chicken cheese dip with celery and pita rounds. Went with the cheese plate and it was fine. No PDB or desert.
Jul 5, 2017, 6:54 pm
#655
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,162
This was one of the best meals we have had on an AA flight. Everything was fresh, perfectly cooked and very tasty. Island Thyme Gourmet did an excellent job preparing for the entry in AA catering. Not really sure where the Sam Choy influence came from.
On a side note, the Sam Plunkett Booroola Vineyard Zinfandel was not drinkable. Left it in the glass and opted for a glass of Port after the meal.
On a side note, the Sam Plunkett Booroola Vineyard Zinfandel was not drinkable. Left it in the glass and opted for a glass of Port after the meal.
Jul 5, 2017, 8:07 pm
#657
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kamuela, HI
Programs: AA-Plat
Posts: 462
There is not AA catering in KOA. Island Thyme Gourmet caters this specific route. On any other flight out of KOA to LAX or PHX, it is double-catered and there is no sundae offered on either of these flights.
Jul 5, 2017, 10:59 pm
#658
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,162
Jul 6, 2017, 12:32 pm
#659
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kamuela, HI
Programs: AA-Plat
Posts: 462
Got a picture? I'm having a hard time imagining how an one-sheet menu can be classier than the previous menu booklet?
I also hope they didn't remove the word, "traditional", next to the ice-cream sundae. For some reason, I love seeing that line item: "Traditional ice cream sundae." It feels and screams classic pmAA, reminds me of the pmAA days before the USification of AA meals, and is a vestige item that survived the merger (so far). Yes, very meta, but that's just me.
I also hope they didn't remove the word, "traditional", next to the ice-cream sundae. For some reason, I love seeing that line item: "Traditional ice cream sundae." It feels and screams classic pmAA, reminds me of the pmAA days before the USification of AA meals, and is a vestige item that survived the merger (so far). Yes, very meta, but that's just me.
Jul 6, 2017, 12:53 pm
#660
Join Date: Feb 2012
Programs: DL GM, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, AMEX Plat
Posts: 256