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

Old Dec 31, 2016, 10:45 pm
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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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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.
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2017 Combined AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Old Aug 9, 2017, 3:46 pm
  #826  
 
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Informative reporting, kjm12898. ^

I've got the same two choices in September flying out of DFW.

How were the roasted vegetables in the Chicken dish?
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Old Aug 9, 2017, 3:51 pm
  #827  
 
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Originally Posted by jcatman
Informative reporting, kjm12898. ^

I've got the same two choices in September flying out of DFW.

How were the roasted vegetables in the Chicken dish?
Thank you

Not bad if you add a little salt and maybe some pepper, they were mixed in with the couscous which was bland.
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Old Aug 9, 2017, 4:34 pm
  #828  
 
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Originally Posted by kjm12898
Thank you

Not bad if you add a little salt and maybe some pepper, they were mixed in with the couscous which was bland.
You just convinced me that a quick Skylink trip to Centurion Lounge at Terminal D is the right option.
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Old Aug 9, 2017, 5:10 pm
  #829  
 
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Originally Posted by bdhaliwa
New redeye menu. Choose the Thai Beef Curry which was a good neighborhood Thai restaurant quality level.
Thanks for the info! Interestingly enough, this exact same menu is the business class lunch on the LAX-MIA 77W tomorrow.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 7:31 am
  #830  
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Originally Posted by caimaster
Just got off a red eye SFO-JFK in Business. The lobster roll was delicious with big chunks of lobster. Might be the best J/F meal on AA so far.
Originally Posted by ryan182
I've had the lobster roll on a JFK-LAX and it was actually pretty good. Obviously YMMV.

Wonder if they changed it or if Ben had a bad day/version:

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...-lobster-roll/

You got lucky, we ran out of the business class ones, so thats the first class lobster roll.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 9:00 am
  #831  
 
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Originally Posted by kjm12898
AA211
JFK-LAS
737-800
First Class
Dinner

Choice of:

Grilled Chicken
couscous, roasted vegetables, roasted garlic sauce

or

Cheese Cappelletti.
roasted garlic artichoke sauce

My sister and I both originally pre-ordered the grilled chicken, but switched to the earlier flight when our later flight was delayed 2 hours. We were seated in the bulkhead (3E/F) so by the time the purser got to our row there was only one chicken and one pasta left. I had the chicken. It was not terrible, but bland. It did not have any roasted garlic sauce. My sister had the pasta and said it was decent. Bread basket came with choice of sourdough, cheese, or pretzel. A made to order ice cream sundae was offered for desert with choices of hot fudge, warm butterscotch, fresh berries, nuts, or whipped cream. Snack basket was also passed around about an hour before landing.

(Sorry for the bad images)
Looks delicious! And it's worth noting that a made-to-order sundae on a JFK-LAS flight is actually an improvement over pmAA, because on pmAA, the "sludges" were served on those longer midcon routes - yes, including JFK-LAS, which did not get the pmAA transcon treatment with printed menus, etc. Didn't realize JFK-LAS was eligible for the MTO sundaes, but then again it's a bit over 2200 miles.

Color me impressed. Don't want to jinx anything, but AA meals lately really seem on the up and up. ^
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 9:41 am
  #832  
 
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
Wonder if they changed it or if Ben had a bad day/version:

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...-lobster-roll/



To me this seems like a miscater. My transcon lunch/snack menu a couple weeks ago had the option of a "lobster grilled cheese sandwich," which seems like a more accurate description for that meal. That said, that meal still looks rather sad.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 12:33 pm
  #833  
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Originally Posted by dkc192
To me this seems like a miscater. My transcon lunch/snack menu a couple weeks ago had the option of a "lobster grilled cheese sandwich," which seems like a more accurate description for that meal. That said, that meal still looks rather sad.
I definitely tend to assume you're correct about that!

Not that this info/correction will help now....
http://nypost.com/2017/08/10/america...-lobster-roll/
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 12:59 pm
  #834  
 
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Originally Posted by dkc192 View Post
To me this seems like a miscater. My transcon lunch/snack menu a couple weeks ago had the option of a "lobster grilled cheese sandwich," which seems like a more accurate description for that meal. That said, that meal still looks rather sad.
I'm all for calling out AA when (yet more) evidence surfaces of its diminishing product quality, but indeed this is clearly nothing more than a miscater, compounded by a flight attendant who offered some very bad guidance about what would appear on the plate. (Arguably, a bigger issue than the original catering problem.) I had the lobster roll for lunch on a JFK-SFO flight last fall, and found it to be one of the best things I've enjoyed on AA in more than two decades.
Attached Images  
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 1:13 pm
  #835  
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Definitely not the lobster roll, it's a lobster grilled cheese:



from:
http://nomascoach.boardingarea.com/t...k-nmclaborday/
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 2:19 pm
  #836  
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Thumbs up

The input of members above who immediately figured out this was a miscater caused that info to be aded to an updated version of The Post story:

UPDATE: Since this story was published, American Airlines has issued the following statement to The Post: We apologize to Mr. Schlappig for his experience. During his flight, he was served the lobster grilled cheese with tomato soup instead of the lobster roll. The meal he was served is not up to our standards and we have shared his feedback with our teams for review.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 7:07 pm
  #837  
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
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Catering issues

Flew this week from LAS-DFW and then DFW-LGA, and both flights had catering issues.

LAS-DFW was breakfast flight with choice of oatmeal or egg biscuit. Catering forgot the bread and the basket, so everyone got a vanilla greek yogurt. FA said it was a short haul under 1299 miles, which usually don't get a yogurt, not terrible.

However, DFW-LGA was a mess. It was 10 minutes prior to departure and the FA said to the gate agent she was not catered yet. She had to call for them. They came and we pushed back a few minutes late. Then in the air, she took orders back to front. Shouldn't of been front-back? Anytime I have taken NYC-DFW, orders have always been taking front to back. I was in the first row. I did not pre-order due to switching my flight the same day. The choices were the Vietnamese Salad with chicken or Pasta Rotolo I ordered the chicken, and she said it was the last one ^. She then came back and said she was short a meal tray, and that happened to be the chicken. She was apologetic, and offered a salad, wrap, or sandwich from main cabin. I asked for a wrap. Well, catering did not load any of the food for sale in main cabin . After checking all the carts, there were 4 sandwiches. I declined. Oh well. Good thing I wasn't really hungry. Ironically, she had enough nuts and 6 extra cheesecakes. I wrote to customer relations and received the following response:

There is no doubt that your flight would have been more enjoyable if you were served your requested meal. We have forwarded a copy of your criticism to our Catering Manager for review.

Also, as a concrete form of apology, I have added two electronic upgrades to your account to help make your future travel more enjoyable. Your goodwill is important to us and we wish to make amends for your unhappy experience.
I assume those "electronic upgrades" are 500 mile upgrades. If that is the case, what a shame because those are useless, especially as a gold. I was expecting miles, what do you think?
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 7:41 pm
  #838  
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AA 660 CLT-SJC 1809-2036 A-320



Full PDB ^^



Choice of Grilled Chicken with couscous, roasted vegetables, roasted garlic sauce or the pictured Cheese Cappelletti. Frankly a one tray affair is pathetic for a five hour transcon. We also didn't get any mixed nuts, maybe because it's an Airbus?



Best part of the meal.

No snack basket before landing, nor was my empty glass collected or touched the last few hours. 5 stickers aren't worth what they once were.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 7:55 pm
  #839  
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
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Originally Posted by CMK10
AA 660 CLT-SJC 1809-2036 A-320

We also didn't get any mixed nuts, maybe because it's an Airbus?
I know LUS A321 only have one oven, not sure about the A320. I would think you would still get the nuts, just not warmed if oven space was the issue.


Originally Posted by CMK10
AA 660 CLT-SJC 1809-2036 A-320

No snack basket before landing, nor was my empty glass collected or touched the last few hours. 5 stickers aren't worth what they once were.
Wow, for a transcon . That flight is over 2200 miles, you should have received snack basket. I would write in to customer relations.
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 9:43 pm
  #840  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
AA 660 CLT-SJC 1809-2036 A-320

Full PDB ^^

Choice of Grilled Chicken with couscous, roasted vegetables, roasted garlic sauce or the pictured Cheese Cappelletti. Frankly a one tray affair is pathetic for a five hour transcon. We also didn't get any mixed nuts, maybe because it's an Airbus?

Best part of the meal.

No snack basket before landing, nor was my empty glass collected or touched the last few hours. 5 stickers aren't worth what they once were.
For non-premium transcon flights, AA now has the weakest offering without a doubt. United is the strongest with DL somewhere in between. Completely unacceptable on the nuts though. These should be provided along with a first-round beverage prior to the full meal service. Sounds like you were served by a poorly trained cabin crew.
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