Jan 1, 2018, 1:30 pm
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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.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.
ARCHIVE: 2018 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)
Dec 11, 2018, 7:10 pm
#1051
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Sorry Cloudship, I've only been dabbling with specialty meal options in December, so I cannot comment on the lasagnette. I'm very pleased with that decision for the most part.
Dec 11, 2018, 8:54 pm
#1052
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Denver
Programs: AS, AA, UA, Hilton, Marriott, Caesars DE
Posts: 2,070
Anybody have experience with either:
- Grilled Beef Filet Grilled Beef Filet with cauliflower mash, broccolini and guajillo chili butter
- Southwest Lasagna Southwest Lasagna with poblano corn puree and New Mexico red chili sauce
Dec 11, 2018, 8:56 pm
#1053
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: AA Executive Platinum/Million Miler, Marriott Titanium Elite-Lifetime, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,210
I've had the Southwest Lasagna. It's like every other AA lasagna. It's good but not great. I'd still choose that over the beef filet as it's more likely to be properly cooked.
Dec 12, 2018, 7:22 pm
#1054
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: PHL
Programs: AA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 480
I had the beef a few weeks ago and I was pleasntly surprised. The cauliflower mash was delicious!
Dec 12, 2018, 10:16 pm
#1055
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bay Area
Programs: WN A-List, AA good-riddance, Safeway Club Card Extraordinaire
Posts: 3,851
So just to clarify, it does include dairy? (That's my experience with vegetarian Indian food -- often contains dairy products like ghee and cream)
Dec 12, 2018, 11:19 pm
#1056
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
The Hindu Veg meals are not warranted to be dairy free (and in most cases, they appear to contain dairy). If you're just worried about significant quantities of lactose, you'll probably be fine -- at worst, you'll get a few cubes of paneer cheese in your spinach that you can work around. Typically there isn't that -- it's a rice base with 1 or 2 different vegetable dishes alongside, which might have a little butter or ghee but no major dairy.
Dec 17, 2018, 12:41 pm
#1057
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
CMH-DFW
Lunch
S80
PDB of water/OJ only.....select special requests were granted (I didn't bother).
Cheeseburger or the Asian chicken salad. Lunch on AA with these new menus is just really depressing.
Lazy service with no service whatsoever for the last 50 minutes of the flight. Cookie and even the mint were plopped down all on the same tray. Also what happened to Sir Kensington's condiments.....turned out to be too expensive?
The cheeseburger tasted fine but the buns were the real issue.....the top one was too hard to eat, so I just did an open face burger with my fork and knife but the bottom bun was weirdly mushy but also hard to cut.
Look at this amazing legroom on the S80 in FC!
Lunch
S80
PDB of water/OJ only.....select special requests were granted (I didn't bother).
Cheeseburger or the Asian chicken salad. Lunch on AA with these new menus is just really depressing.
Lazy service with no service whatsoever for the last 50 minutes of the flight. Cookie and even the mint were plopped down all on the same tray. Also what happened to Sir Kensington's condiments.....turned out to be too expensive?
The cheeseburger tasted fine but the buns were the real issue.....the top one was too hard to eat, so I just did an open face burger with my fork and knife but the bottom bun was weirdly mushy but also hard to cut.
Look at this amazing legroom on the S80 in FC!
Last edited by AANYC1981; Dec 17, 2018 at 2:33 pm
Dec 17, 2018, 4:09 pm
#1058
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,829
PHL to SFO
Dinner
A330 First
Not liking the options they had on offer for my flight, and knowing I nee to improve my eating habits, I ordered a Diabetic meal. I got the same meal as Kszary, but very different experience with it.
Diabetic Meal
My steak was terribly overcooked. Personally I think that has to do more with onboard, where they don't know how long they have to leave it in the oven. It's not the flight attendants fault, just luck of the draw I guess. The chicken was cold, btw, as it is technically part of the salad I think. The FA was going to offer e a regular roll but stopped before even offering me one, so I had to cope with the one on the plate. I did get an ice cream sundae though afterwards (so much for the eating better).
Dinner
A330 First
Not liking the options they had on offer for my flight, and knowing I nee to improve my eating habits, I ordered a Diabetic meal. I got the same meal as Kszary, but very different experience with it.
Diabetic Meal
My steak was terribly overcooked. Personally I think that has to do more with onboard, where they don't know how long they have to leave it in the oven. It's not the flight attendants fault, just luck of the draw I guess. The chicken was cold, btw, as it is technically part of the salad I think. The FA was going to offer e a regular roll but stopped before even offering me one, so I had to cope with the one on the plate. I did get an ice cream sundae though afterwards (so much for the eating better).
Dec 17, 2018, 10:43 pm
#1059
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SNA
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K (until it expires then never again), *wood Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 9,239
CMH-DFW
Lunch
S80
PDB of water/OJ only.....select special requests were granted (I didn't bother).
Cheeseburger or the Asian chicken salad. Lunch on AA with these new menus is just really depressing.
Lazy service with no service whatsoever for the last 50 minutes of the flight. Cookie and even the mint were plopped down all on the same tray. Also what happened to Sir Kensington's condiments.....turned out to be too expensive?
The cheeseburger tasted fine but the buns were the real issue.....the top one was too hard to eat, so I just did an open face burger with my fork and knife but the bottom bun was weirdly mushy but also hard to cut.
Lunch
S80
PDB of water/OJ only.....select special requests were granted (I didn't bother).
Cheeseburger or the Asian chicken salad. Lunch on AA with these new menus is just really depressing.
Lazy service with no service whatsoever for the last 50 minutes of the flight. Cookie and even the mint were plopped down all on the same tray. Also what happened to Sir Kensington's condiments.....turned out to be too expensive?
The cheeseburger tasted fine but the buns were the real issue.....the top one was too hard to eat, so I just did an open face burger with my fork and knife but the bottom bun was weirdly mushy but also hard to cut.
Dec 17, 2018, 11:07 pm
#1060
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: AUS
Programs: AA Exec Platinum/MM, DL Gold/MM, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,975
My wife had the lasagna and said it was terrible. I had a small bit and found it tasteless.
Dec 18, 2018, 4:43 am
#1061
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
PHL to SFO
Dinner
A330 First
Not liking the options they had on offer for my flight, and knowing I nee to improve my eating habits, I ordered a Diabetic meal. I got the same meal as Kszary, but very different experience with it.
Diabetic Meal
My steak was terribly overcooked. Personally I think that has to do more with onboard, where they don't know how long they have to leave it in the oven. It's not the flight attendants fault, just luck of the draw I guess. The chicken was cold, btw, as it is technically part of the salad I think. The FA was going to offer e a regular roll but stopped before even offering me one, so I had to cope with the one on the plate. I did get an ice cream sundae though afterwards (so much for the eating better).
Dinner
A330 First
Not liking the options they had on offer for my flight, and knowing I nee to improve my eating habits, I ordered a Diabetic meal. I got the same meal as Kszary, but very different experience with it.
Diabetic Meal
My steak was terribly overcooked. Personally I think that has to do more with onboard, where they don't know how long they have to leave it in the oven. It's not the flight attendants fault, just luck of the draw I guess. The chicken was cold, btw, as it is technically part of the salad I think. The FA was going to offer e a regular roll but stopped before even offering me one, so I had to cope with the one on the plate. I did get an ice cream sundae though afterwards (so much for the eating better).
Dec 18, 2018, 5:59 am
#1062
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
DFW-LGA
Paid FC
LAA A32B
Dinner
PDB - non-existent (AA Twitter is useless as always, and "will pass it along")
Service......lackluster........bring on the ghost riders! Such a lame flight service wise. FC FA (senior mind you) needed help many times from other FA's to do basic job tasks like clear trays in a normal time frame, offer refills (you had to ask), etc. AA's finest is flying DFW-LGA in FC.
Paid FC
LAA A32B
Dinner
PDB - non-existent (AA Twitter is useless as always, and "will pass it along")
Service......lackluster........bring on the ghost riders! Such a lame flight service wise. FC FA (senior mind you) needed help many times from other FA's to do basic job tasks like clear trays in a normal time frame, offer refills (you had to ask), etc. AA's finest is flying DFW-LGA in FC.
Dec 18, 2018, 7:58 am
#1063
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Denver
Programs: AS, AA, UA, Hilton, Marriott, Caesars DE
Posts: 2,070
I had the beef on Saturday evening. The cauliflower mash was indeed very tasty. The broccolini was overcooked, as was the steak (of course), but it tasted OK. The whole thing was swimming in some kind of oily juice. The "chili butter" was kind of pointless. Until I read this description I wasn't sure what it even was.
My wife had the lasagna and said it was terrible. I had a small bit and found it tasteless.
My wife had the lasagna and said it was terrible. I had a small bit and found it tasteless.
Dec 18, 2018, 9:22 am
#1064
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: DFW/PHL
Programs: US CP, UA *G; SPG Plat, Hilton Gold; Natl Exec, Hertz PC
Posts: 623
AA 2539
PIT-DFW
B738
Dinner
Here's what my steak soup looked look. The soup was definitely weird but at least it meant the steak wasn't dry. Served with the world's saddest "salad" (one piece of Bibb lettuce with radish strips and 3 grapes). Nevertheless, I would order this again, and I never order AA steaks.
PIT-DFW
B738
Dinner
I had the beef on Saturday evening. The cauliflower mash was indeed very tasty. The broccolini was overcooked, as was the steak (of course), but it tasted OK. The whole thing was swimming in some kind of oily juice. The "chili butter" was kind of pointless. Until I read this description I wasn't sure what it even was.
My wife had the lasagna and said it was terrible. I had a small bit and found it tasteless.
My wife had the lasagna and said it was terrible. I had a small bit and found it tasteless.
Last edited by flightrisk; Dec 22, 2018 at 10:28 am Reason: Add flight info
Dec 18, 2018, 9:54 am
#1065
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Either way, you're right it's pathetic but I'll take it over a kale bowl.