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Combined 2020 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

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Old Jan 1, 2020, 8:30 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
AA/US Domestic Dining (including Canada, Mexico, & the Caribbean)

Link to The Official American Airlines Onboard Service Policy Guide, by Gary Leff on January 22, 2020. Comprehensive charts and information.

Link to Combined 2020 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PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST.

Welcome to the 2020 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!)
American Eagle flights do not offer pre-ordering of meals.

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.

  • At this time, pre-ordered meals are not available on American Eagle flights.

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.

Thanks to MrAndy1369 for starting the thread and for the guidelines.
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Combined 2020 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

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Old Feb 19, 2020, 11:13 am
  #136  
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Meal (such as they are) Pre-select is coming to Regional First Class (during meal windows on those flights offering cold meals) as of 11 March 2020.

Meal Pre-select comes 11 March 2020 to Regional First
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Old Feb 19, 2020, 1:38 pm
  #137  
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Originally Posted by ryan182
I've never heard of a granola sandwich..doubt very much anyone has. Whoever comes up with these idea needs to stop watching Chopped for inspiration.
On the bright side my E175 has working power outlets....baby steps I guess?
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Old Feb 21, 2020, 8:48 am
  #138  
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LAX-JFK
LAA 321T
Business
Dinner

PDB of bubbles, water or OJ

Burrata starter was delish.

Very nice crew and service....this is the latest beef dish which was tasty.

I still can’t stand these cheap S&P shakers in transcon Biz and Intl Biz



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Old Feb 21, 2020, 3:46 pm
  #139  
 
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Originally Posted by AANYC1981
LAX-JFK
LAA 321T
Business
Dinner

PDB of bubbles, water or OJ

Burrata starter was delish.

Very nice crew and service....this is the latest beef dish which was tasty.

I still can’t stand these cheap S&P shakers in transcon Biz and Intl Biz



That's a lot of green onion on top of the entree. I love green onions so wouldn't be an issue for me but that is quite a lot for the average person.
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Old Feb 23, 2020, 7:20 am
  #140  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Got an upcoming trip DFW to KOA in domestic first. There is no option to choose a "special" meal, i.e. gluten free etc. Perhaps I am just missing it but is there any way to order this via the website or do I need to call?
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Old Feb 23, 2020, 8:30 am
  #141  
 
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Originally Posted by johnbonham
Got an upcoming trip DFW to KOA in domestic first. There is no option to choose a "special" meal, i.e. gluten free etc. Perhaps I am just missing it but is there any way to order this via the website or do I need to call?
It should appear within 30 days of departure. If it does not, call.
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Old Feb 23, 2020, 10:51 am
  #142  
 
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Location: Kamuela, HI
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Flights in/out of KOA

Originally Posted by LCSinTexas
It should appear within 30 days of departure. If it does not, call.
We fly this route often and have never had the option of a special meal selection. LAX/PHX/DFW to KOA does not let us pre-select a special meal online, hopefully you can call and get your desired option.
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Old Feb 23, 2020, 4:56 pm
  #143  
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Originally Posted by hawaii-bound
We fly this route often and have never had the option of a special meal selection. LAX/PHX/DFW to KOA does not let us pre-select a special meal online, hopefully you can call and get your desired option.
Take a look at this thread:

KOA-LAX snack changed to lunch but no pre-order?

Originally Posted by formeraa
IIRC, LIH is the only remaining station in Hawaii where flights are double-catered from LAX/PHX. KOA now receives the locally catered meal service (but no pre-order).
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Old Feb 23, 2020, 7:58 pm
  #144  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hawaii-bound View Post
We fly this route often and have never had the option of a special meal selection. LAX/PHX/DFW to KOA does not let us pre-select a special meal online, hopefully you can call and get your desired option.
Take a look at this thread:

KOA-LAX snack changed to lunch but no pre-order?

Quote:
Originally Posted by formeraa View Post
IIRC, LIH is the only remaining station in Hawaii where flights are double-catered from LAX/PHX. KOA now receives the locally catered meal service (but no pre-order).

Based on our last 2 flights from KOA to DFW, I think the meals may now be double catered - the local caterer is no longer listed on the menu and the menu choices are exactly the same as the HNL/OGG - DFW flights. The ice cream is so hard, it took 45 minutes for it to defrost enough after being served to get a spoon into it. When the meal was locally catered, we would receive a local, fresh dessert.

I should have originally titled as LAX/PHX/DFW to KOA where you can pre-order meals but not special meals. None of the flights from KOA have pre-order available. To get an approximate guess on meal choice, I usually look at the meals available at 30 days from HNL/OGG to LAX/PHX/KOA.
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Old Feb 24, 2020, 4:40 pm
  #145  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Thanks all. For the DFW - KOA flight we have meal options (Surf and Turf and something else) but there is no special meal option. We are flying back from OGG-DFW so hopefully will have meal selection on that flight.
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Old Feb 24, 2020, 4:56 pm
  #146  
 
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My only guess is if they offered special meals to Hawaii, they would have customers upset because they likely wouldn't be available from Hawaii on the return. So, they decided to just remove them in both directions.
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Old Feb 24, 2020, 6:56 pm
  #147  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
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So are special meals to/from Hawaii available on any domestic flights? I can't see this not available, especially at HNL, where I know for sure DL does special meals each way and iirc AA used to. Just wondering as my brother in law is looking at a AA flight to HNL and needs a special meal available. TIA!

Last edited by AeRoSpaceman; Feb 24, 2020 at 8:24 pm
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Old Feb 24, 2020, 7:35 pm
  #148  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kamuela, HI
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Originally Posted by johnbonham
Thanks all. For the DFW - KOA flight we have meal options (Surf and Turf and something else) but there is no special meal option. We are flying back from OGG-DFW so hopefully will have meal selection on that flight.
There are meal options on the Hawaii-mainland flights, you are just unable to pre-select ahead of time. Usually there are 3 options available on a printed menu. Attached is the recent menu from our KOA-DFW flight

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Old Feb 24, 2020, 9:42 pm
  #149  
 
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Anyone had the scrambled eggs benedict breakfast? I have it pre ordered for my upcoming SLC-DFW flight on Saturday.
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Old Feb 24, 2020, 9:54 pm
  #150  
 
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Originally Posted by coke_cans_and_winglets
Anyone had the scrambled eggs benedict breakfast? I have it pre ordered for my upcoming SLC-DFW flight on Saturday.
I've not had it so I perhaps I'm off base here, but Hollandaise sauce made by an AA caterer and reheated on an airplane falls just a notch or two above gas station sushi in my mind.
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