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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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)
#826
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
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?
I've got the same two choices in September flying out of DFW.
How were the roasted vegetables in the Chicken dish?
#829
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: SFO, formerly BOS
Programs: AS Gold 75K and Delta PM, former AA EXP
Posts: 68
#830
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
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.
#831
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,153
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)
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)
Color me impressed. Don't want to jinx anything, but AA meals lately really seem on the up and up. ^
#832
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,354
Wonder if they changed it or if Ben had a bad day/version:
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...-lobster-roll/
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...-lobster-roll/
#833
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Not that this info/correction will help now....
http://nypost.com/2017/08/10/america...-lobster-roll/
#834
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Programs: AA ExecPlat/2MM, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist. PA WorldPass
Posts: 154
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.
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.
#835
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Definitely not the lobster roll, it's a lobster grilled cheese:
from:
http://nomascoach.boardingarea.com/t...k-nmclaborday/
from:
http://nomascoach.boardingarea.com/t...k-nmclaborday/
#836
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
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.
#837
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: NYC/BOS
Programs: AA Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 54
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:
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?
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.
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.
#838
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 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.
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.
#839
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: NYC/BOS
Programs: AA Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 54
Wow, for a transcon . That flight is over 2200 miles, you should have received snack basket. I would write in to customer relations.
#840
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
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.
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.