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

ARCHIVE: 2018 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Jan 1, 2018, 1:30 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
AA/US Domestic Dining (including Canada, Mexico, & the Caribbean)


See here for the 2019 domestic meal thread.


Note: this thread is about meals served on domestic AA flights.

Link to Combined 2018 AA International Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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 2018 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

ARCHIVE: 2018 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jul 26, 2018, 2:50 pm
  #631  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Thanks, AANYC1981! I prefer the warmed nuts and hot cookie over the junk in the snack basket. Still, I thought this combination was an impromptu catering effort when I received it. Looks like this might be an authorized catering now.
AANYC1981 likes this.
CHOPCHOP767 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2018, 3:39 pm
  #632  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: IAD/DCA/BWI
Programs: AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 578
Originally Posted by CHOPCHOP767
Are drinks, nuts, and a cookie the new "Refreshments" service? I had this same service the other day on ORD to BOS, omitting the PDB of course...
Personally I find the naming schema confusing... Using the same coding for the LAA after-8:00pm mid-con-length nut and cookie service as the cheese/dip/yogurt plates doesn't seem as clear to me as it could. I wish they would use the "Refreshments" tag for the nuts & cookie service, the "Snack" tag for the small tray service, for example.
BWISkyGuy is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2018, 3:58 pm
  #633  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 652
Dfw-ogg aa 7

777-200 - BE Super Diamond

Bose headsets and bottled water at seat.





PDB - Water, Champagne, Mimosa or OJ
Entree pre-order acknowledged when taking pre-take off lunch orders
Hot Towel
Bloody Mary (FA served a double). - Warm nuts and tropical fruit mix.
Salad with Edamame dip served first and cleared.
Entree served - Macnut chicken was good, perfectly cooked.
Sundae order taken and served from galley
Excellent crew. Constant beverage checks through out flight.
Skipped pre arrival hummus snack
silverthief2 and TSiGirl like this.

Last edited by davesam12; Jul 26, 2018 at 4:06 pm Reason: spelling update
davesam12 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2018, 4:21 pm
  #634  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Originally Posted by BWISkyGuy
Personally I find the naming schema confusing... Using the same coding for the LAA after-8:00pm mid-con-length nut and cookie service as the cheese/dip/yogurt plates doesn't seem as clear to me as it could. I wish they would use the "Refreshments" tag for the nuts & cookie service, the "Snack" tag for the small tray service, for example.
Glad to see I'm not alone! LOL I still can't tell when I'll get the hummus plate or the snack basket or the nuts and cookies. I realize this is asking a lot of AA IT, but I think it would be helpful to put that information on the confirmation page when booking (similar to the Preselect option section).
CHOPCHOP767 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2018, 4:28 pm
  #635  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 652
ogg - dfw. - aa 6

777-200 - BE Super Diamond Suites

PDB - Water, Champagne, Mimosa, or OJ
Pre-order was acknowledged when taking pre-take off dinner orders.
Bose Headsets and bottled water distributed





Hot Towel
Vodka, Seltzer w/ lime (FA served a double) - warm nuts and tropical fruit mix
Smoked Salmon Dip, Salad (I combined the two) and entree served all at same time, one tray. Fine with us, we wanted to sleep asap.
Smoke Salmon Dip, salad (creamy oriental dressing) and Chicken entree, both excellent.
Bread basket
Sundae order taken and served from galley
Skipped pre-arrival breakfast - just had some OJ and coffee.
Crew excellent. Constant aisle checks and if you were awake, asked if you needed anything.
davesam12 is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2018, 11:03 pm
  #636  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,670
Originally Posted by TSiGirl
My return menus from HNL to ORD are:

#1135 DFW-ORD
Split Buttermilk Biscuit: Topped with scrambled eggs, and chicken chorizo gravy.
Continental Fruit Plate: Granola and Vanilla Greek Yogurt.

What are your opinions on any of these?

I've had the chicken chorizo gravy thing twice recently. Once it was terrible -- dried out biscuit, dried out clumpy egg pieces, sausage stuff, caked remnants of evaporated gravy. Once it was great -- I didn't eat much of the biscuit, but the eggs + gravy + chicken chorizo worked well together, and then I got one of the biscuits from the basket and had some of that with jam and it was a fairly good airplane breakfast. So, YMMV.
TSiGirl likes this.
platbrownguy is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 9:16 am
  #637  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
IHG Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,453
Originally Posted by kahdgar
I posted this over the flagship dining thread, but curious to know if the flagship dining would be the preferred option to eating on the plane. I'm flying BOS-JFK-LAX-LAS in F, (5pm out of JFK), with enough time to eat at either JFK, LAX or both. Is the in-flight meal on flagship first transcon comparable to the FFD at either location?
As i posted in the other thread, what you get in the FFD will be miles ahead on what is served on the plane, even in transcon F. So eat in the FFD at JFK, and pick what you want on the plane, you won't miss much on the plane. Then have a snack at the FFD in LAX.
SFO777, kahdgar and wrp96 like this.
FlightNurse is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 9:19 am
  #638  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
IHG Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,453
Originally Posted by platbrownguy
I've had the chicken chorizo gravy thing twice recently. Once it was terrible -- dried out biscuit, dried out clumpy egg pieces, sausage stuff, caked remnants of evaporated gravy. Once it was great -- I didn't eat much of the biscuit, but the eggs + gravy + chicken chorizo worked well together, and then I got one of the biscuits from the basket and had some of that with jam and it was a fairly good airplane breakfast. So, YMMV.
Is this what you were served?



This was on a SAN-DFW last year, it needs more "gravy" as it was pretty dry, it had lots of flavor though.
FlightNurse is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 10:00 am
  #639  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Last night on AA2687, BOS to CLT, at 18:20 departure, FAs offered a choice for the Refreshment service: traditional three cheese plate or prosciutto and salami. Went with the cheese to go with the wrap I grabbed at the pop up AC in BOS. I kind of miss the edamame hummus, but the options at the pop up AC more than make up for it. Heck, they’re more substantial than what’s on offer at the line AC in BOS now.
CHOPCHOP767 is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 3:51 pm
  #640  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
I saw that AA is getting rid of the bbq chicken sandwich for BOB main cabin because of all the complaints and how it never looked like the picture.

I almost ordered that one time but after seeing some photos am thankful I didn’t.......yuck!

are any of the BOB fresh meals good besides the fruit plate?
AANYC1981 is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 9:24 am
  #641  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Originally Posted by AANYC1981
I saw that AA is getting rid of the bbq chicken sandwich for BOB main cabin because of all the complaints and how it never looked like the picture.

I almost ordered that one time but after seeing some photos am thankful I didn’t.......yuck!

are any of the BOB fresh meals good besides the fruit plate?
I saw that article--I've never seen that sandwich on the BOB menu for what it's worth.

I've had the chicken wrap (asian?) and it was very good.
enviroian is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 9:45 am
  #642  
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Miami, Florida, USA
Posts: 213
It seems the poblano pepper is on permanent rotation for my domestic flights as of late - no surprise this past week, pre-order choices were the pepper or chicken meatballs and for whatever reason, I just can't bring myself to order "chicken balls", something rather unappetizing about the whole idea. So I decided to go the special meal route, which as others have eluded to, I'm thinking AA has opted for a one size fits (almost) all option being that the Muslim meal I received appears the same as the Asian veg (and I believe Hindu) others have gotten.

Truth be told, it was actually one of the better domestic meals I've had in quite some time - granted it was far from gourmet dining but in terms of flavour and quantity, I was very pleased with it and would say this will become my go-to option moving forward.

I will say, the FA seemed a little caught off guard with my pre-order and stumbled a bit trying to confirm it - to the point it felt like she assumed the pre-order details were incorrect... after a few seconds I just smiled and told her no worries, the order is correct... which I think she was quite relieved by as it appeared she couldn't bring herself to mention "Muslim meal". Don't get me wrong - she was quite pleasant but I can't quite understand the discomfort surrounding anything Muslim in the US... eh, suppose it's all par for the course with the political climate these days here.

chrisny2 likes this.

Last edited by pmanchuk; Jul 29, 2018 at 9:51 am
pmanchuk is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 9:48 am
  #643  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
Originally Posted by pmanchuk
It seems the poblano pepper is on permanent rotation for my domestic flights as of late - no surprise this past week, pre-order choices were the pepper or chicken meatballs and for whatever reason, I just can't bring myself to order "chicken balls", something rather unappetizing about the whole idea. So I decided to go the special meal route, which as others have eluded to, I'm thinking AA has opted for a one size fits (almost) all option being that the Muslim meal I received appears the same as the Asian veg (and I believe Hindu) others have gotten.

Truth be told, it was actually one of the better domestic meals I've had in quite some time - granted it was far from gourmet dining but in terms of flavour and quantity, I was very pleased with it and would say this will become my go-to option moving forward.
Can you give us a description of the entree, and that dish at the top left corner? Also, is the red bell pepper stuffed with something?
jcatman is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 10:13 am
  #644  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Originally Posted by jcatman
Can you give us a description of the entree, and that dish at the top left corner? Also, is the red bell pepper stuffed with something?
I was wondering too. I see the strawberry there so it must be dessert?

That whole tray looks good.
enviroian is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 12:11 pm
  #645  
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Miami, Florida, USA
Posts: 213
Originally Posted by enviroian
I was wondering too. I see the strawberry there so it must be dessert?

That whole tray looks good.
Originally Posted by jcatman
Can you give us a description of the entree, and that dish at the top left corner? Also, is the red bell pepper stuffed with something?
What I suppose would be considered the appetizer (being that AA does not offer a 1st course on mid-con length flights with regular meals) was the red pepper filled with an Israeli salad - or if one wants to keep things consistent to the Indian theme throughout the meal, kachumber - basically cucumber, tomato, red onion and pepper in a vinaigrette, topped with the asparagus... quite a nice fresh dish. The salad was mixed greens with tomato, carrot and asparagus - a decent blend compared to most bland side salads these days. The main was a combination of okra bhaji and I'm fairly confident spinach bhaji (don't think it was AA's attempt at palak paneer but we are talking about airline food, so one never knows!) so basically a mix of curry items, a samosa along with rice and, well whether they were small naan vs pita rounds is also up for debate. Finally, dessert was gulab jamun (best way I can describe it is donut consistency pastry in sweet syrup) which let's just say beats the pants off of a cookie any day of the week!

If you like Indian flavours, it really is a nice alternative and while it's a lot of food, I found it to be considerably less "heavy" than the usual protein or pasta heavy dishes on offer. I would say though if AA is in fact utilizing the same meal to cover multiple special meal requests, they should probably note online that the Muslim and Hindu meals served onboard are vegetarian since neither are required to be as such.
pmanchuk 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.