Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

2017 Combined AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Dec 31, 2016, 10:45 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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.
Print Wikipost

2017 Combined AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jul 30, 2017, 4:31 pm
  #766  
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
AA 1559 RDU-ORD 1451-1607 MD-80

No PDB





Choice of fruit and cheese plate or the buffalo chicken plate. Not bad for this off hours flight, RDU-ORD still gets full meals at meal time.
CMK10 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 12:51 am
  #767  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: BA Gold, QF Platinum, SQ Silver
Posts: 282
Originally Posted by CMK10
Choice of fruit and cheese plate or the buffalo chicken plate. Not bad for this off hours flight, RDU-ORD still gets full meals at meal time.
Boah- that cheese plate looks uninviting. Or is it a vegetable thing? I see some lone carrot there lurking...
Sydneyberlin is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 1:56 am
  #768  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: IAD/DCA/BWI
Programs: AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 578
Originally Posted by Sydneyberlin
Boah- that cheese plate looks uninviting. Or is it a vegetable thing? I see some lone carrot there lurking...
That is the buffalo chicken dip... Hence the celery and carrot. Personally I prefer the dip, but as reported there is a cheese plate option if you'd prefer something less adventurous.
BWISkyGuy is online now  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 2:57 am
  #769  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: BA Gold, QF Platinum, SQ Silver
Posts: 282
Originally Posted by BWISkyGuy
That is the buffalo chicken dip... Hence the celery and carrot. Personally I prefer the dip, but as reported there is a cheese plate option if you'd prefer something less adventurous.
But isn't there a slice of blue cheese also in the upper left corner?

I probably must apologies because I am starting to think that my confusion is simply because I'm not from the US- 'buffalo chicken dip' is something I hadn't heard of before so it's probably less weird to your ears!
Sydneyberlin is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 6:57 am
  #770  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 652
Originally Posted by Sydneyberlin
But isn't there a slice of blue cheese also in the upper left corner?

I probably must apologies because I am starting to think that my confusion is simply because I'm not from the US- 'buffalo chicken dip' is something I hadn't heard of before so it's probably less weird to your ears!
"Buffalo chicken dip with blue cheese, paired with crudités and pita rounds" as described on the menu. This was one of the pre arrival snack choices #123 DFW-HNL four weeks ago.
davesam12 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 8:52 am
  #771  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,159
I find it odd that the snack tray isn't covered by the grey linen like the other meal trays.

Other than that, the snack tray looks good! A big improvement over the old Lite Bites (do AA even serve them anymore?).
MrAndy1369 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 9:58 am
  #772  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SF + PHX
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1k, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, X Elite+
Posts: 262
Before I forget to post this again.

SFO-ORD (11:59pm)
Nuts & cookies (no snack basket)

ORD-SFO (8:30pm)
nuts and choice of Cheese or charcuterie
Kreative03 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 12:06 pm
  #773  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: IAD/DCA/BWI
Programs: AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 578
Originally Posted by Sydneyberlin
But isn't there a slice of blue cheese also in the upper left corner?

I probably must apologies because I am starting to think that my confusion is simply because I'm not from the US- 'buffalo chicken dip' is something I hadn't heard of before so it's probably less weird to your ears!
I appreciate you saying that, because that definitely helps explain some of the confusion. Buffalo chicken (usually wings) are an American tradition of spicy chicken wings that are usually served with some combination of celery sticks, carrot sticks, bleu cheese or ranch dressing, depending on preference. The theme has broadened to both using the same method for other flavors of hot wings and cool sauces, as well as the traditional Buffalo style influencing dishes besides wings -- like dips, pizzas, calzone, salads, etc.. The items on the dish AA serves are all classic elements of the Buffalo-style flavor profile -- odd as they may be to the world outside the US.

Originally Posted by MrAndy1369
I find it odd that the snack tray isn't covered by the grey linen like the other meal trays.

Other than that, the snack tray looks good! A big improvement over the old Lite Bites (do AA even serve them anymore?).
I'm ok with the paper liners on the snack trays, as they really are an odd size. I'm sure I'd end up more inconvenienced by caterers trying to keep an additional inventory of linens in stock and straight in all of these cities than I would get benefit from covering those trays in linen. They have a hard enough time keeping the paper ones straight. The snack trays are just big enough to be hard to manage the spillover of the existing tray linens, especially in the carts. I put that in the "nice to have in an ideal world, but more trouble than it's worth in the real world" bucket.

I haven't seen the lite bites in well over 2 years now, but not sure when they officially met their demise.
BWISkyGuy is online now  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 12:13 pm
  #774  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Flying a CR9 () phx-iah lunch time in a few weeks. Since there are no ovens do they still offer a rather substantial lunch meal?
enviroian is online now  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 12:32 pm
  #775  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
are Mesa flights still not serving drinks in real glassware in-flight?
AANYC1981 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 12:52 pm
  #776  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
Originally Posted by AANYC1981
are Mesa flights still not serving drinks in real glassware in-flight?
That's been my experience....
jcatman is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 6:17 pm
  #777  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: BA Gold, QF Platinum, SQ Silver
Posts: 282
Originally Posted by BWISkyGuy
Buffalo chicken (usually wings) are an American tradition of spicy chicken wings that are usually served with some combination of celery sticks, carrot sticks, bleu cheese or ranch dressing, depending on preference. The theme has broadened to both using the same method for other flavors of hot wings and cool sauces, as well as the traditional Buffalo style influencing dishes besides wings -- like dips, pizzas, calzone, salads, etc..
Thanks for explaining this to me! Luckily, I'll be off to the US in two weeks time so I will definitely have to try somewhere. Though I might try to find it with actually proper wings- spicy chicken wings itself sounds tasty!
Sydneyberlin is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2017, 10:31 pm
  #778  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Originally Posted by jcatman
Have you been to a Centurion Lounge? Their greens and salad offerings make it easy to eat healthy and smart.
Centurion lounges yes, but AA lounges are a far cry from those.
fly747first is offline  
Old Aug 1, 2017, 7:52 am
  #779  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: PDX
Programs: AA Ex Plat, Alaska MVP Gold 75K, Hertz Gold 5*
Posts: 197
Originally Posted by Sydneyberlin
Thanks for explaining this to me! Luckily, I'll be off to the US in two weeks time so I will definitely have to try somewhere. Though I might try to find it with actually proper wings- spicy chicken wings itself sounds tasty!
There are plenty of chain restaurants for you to explore:

Wing Stop
Buffalo Wild Wings
Hooters

and most chain pizza delivery joints offer wings
PDXAA is offline  
Old Aug 1, 2017, 8:08 am
  #780  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Originally Posted by PDXAA
There are plenty of chain restaurants for you to explore:

Wing Stop
Buffalo Wild Wings
Hooters

and most chain pizza delivery joints offer wings
Not to mention pretty much any sports bar in any city these days.

Or, you could take a side trip to Buffalo NY for the real deal
rjw242 is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.