brewdog11

Had to provide this reference to (perhaps willfully) ignorant crews multiple times throughout the pandemic. Usually once documentation of service standards are provided, it results in getting the drink of choice. Highly recommend bringing it because it may be the difference between you getting a drink or not.

This made me LOL. So funny and so true!

AANYC1981

its the same BOB fruit and cheese plate in the long rectangular box shape. Grapes, strawberries and a good amount of cheese slices and crackers.

I personally don’t eat a lot in general and would actually be fine picking at that for a few hours as long as the wine and cocktails kept flowing lol.

enviroian

This is it. It's delicious and I would always order it via BOB in Y or offered gratis is F (back in the old days). My only "complaint" was it was normally too cold and the cheese was hard and not soft enough to fully enjoy but that's 3rd world problems so I don't want to get yelled at.

MarkOK

I bit the bullet and flew this last week. On the DFW-RNO flight (3 hours, 1300 some miles), I easily upgraded to domestic F with a flying partner. FA crew never came by. I called them a few times to get some water brought though, which was done, but otherwise the FAs hid in the front the entire flight.

Out the return flight yesterday, I same day changed to a later flight after they (I am guessing) upgraded all of the elites who requested because I and my partner were the only ones on the upgrade list. Only 1 F seat left, which I upgraded into (flying partner, aka my kid, sat in the back with my wife who for whatever reason didn't want my F seat). Once up in the air, everyone in F was promptly offered beverage service -- I got two Woodford reserves and a plastic cup -- and they gave out cheese/grapes package, and came by a few times to make sure everyone in F was happy. On my regional connecting flight, the FA came straight to me (only ExecPlat on the flight, I am guessing) just to ask me if I wanted anything (though, she apologized that they don't get catered alcohol) and to thank me for flying.

I know it is COVID times and everything, but without any onboard service in F, it really, truly, 100% feels like MCE (actually, not even, since preCovid we could get drinks in MCE), and I'd feel very disappointed if I paid an upgrade into F. The return flight was so much more pleasant, just for the simple fact that the FAs were proactive, served drinks (even if in plastic) and at least offered -something- to eat. (and I thought the cheese and fruit were nice -- cheese was room temp and soft, fruit was all grapes on my tray but all were ripe and good to eat, and the little chocolate square tasted very nice with the Woodford).

enviroian

I honestly do not know who or why someone would pay for an upgrade or buy one outright these days.

CLT

Way too much dairy in that plate for me sadly. It's too bad they couldn't offer a choice of that or a hummus plate. But that is a sad, definite downgrade from the hot meals served on flights +2200 mi before. Pathetic.
Because AA is selling upgrades for around $40 more than MCE T-24 before departure. Cost to upgrade on my PHL-LAX/LAX-DCA flights was something around $140-150. Granted they were still doing a meal back then, but that's a pretty good deal IMO considering you got a meal, alcohol, checked bags, priority boarding.

enviroian

Well then that is a good deal for a (non oasis) F seat. Considering true MCE doesn't exist anymore (no alcohol in coach period) the buy up makes more sense.

Hey Doug:
"thank you sir may I have another!"

jljones78

I've been in J on 8 flights this month, 3 AE and 5 mainline. As you would expect, there's no consistency in FA service. It has run from OJ/water PDB (on an afternoon flight)/walking through the cabin regularly, to FAs on phones or hiding in the galley/on their phones the entire flight. I even had one intrepid FA bravely give the credit card pitch.

IMO there was little consistency in service levels before COVID, and it all boils down to the same thing -- there is no method to hold FAs to service standards, no in-flight accountability, and a lack of training on service. COVID or no COVID, YMMV with each crew and their personal standards.

CLT

JonNYC is reporting that the company basically believes their that their product offering is still better than DL/UA and they are "NOT removing all meals" from the F cabin and the are reportedly looking to offer a "better breakfast offering", whatever that is.

Confused as to why they would say they are not removing all meals from F, when in fact, they did. If AA is pointing to only catering JFK-LAX/SFO as evidence for "not removing all meals" then they need a serious reality check.

cmd320

Maybe Doug is clueless again, just like when they dropped meals the first time.

Honestly, an Egg McMuffin would be an upgrade to the current breakfast offerings.

AANYC1981

I saw JonNYCs post too and didn’t understand what they meant by a better breakfast offering....it’s actually good as it is on the few domestic flights they are serving breakfast on like NYC-SF/LA.

Or do they mean breakfast for the 99% of their other domestic flights where there is either nothing or a biscoff and all airport dining options are closed?

Hope I’m answering my own question here lol

CLT

The whole thing was confusing, although I found it amusing the answer AA provided was directly in response to an employees question as to what differentiates them from Spirit.

I'm not sure why they can't just provide an elevated Bistro Bag service for F if they are so concerned about health/safety. Maybe a fresh fruit cup, yogurt w/ granola, and pastry for breakfast, and then a chilled sandwich/salad with fruit and a cookie for lunch/dinner. Downgrade? Absolutely. But it is better than the current offering.

standbyalldtime

I believe there is a "permanently" missing in that sentence somewhere.

I can see "better breakfast offering" being perhaps the former BoB breakfast platter, with the English muffin, hard boiled egg, almond butter, etc. Or it may be a banana, muffin/granola bar, or something more "breakfasty." Whatever it is, it will mostly likely be served chilled/room temp (wouldn't bank on a hot Egg McMuffin LOL), and unlikely to require any utensils (wouldn't bank on yogurt/granola either) to avoid the need to pick up used utensils.

AA has made it clear that they are cost cutting while still trying to stay competitive with UA/DL. Can anybody come up with an example where UA/DL's F&B offering is unequivocally better than what AA has available (whether proactively or upon request)? If I'm following the updates correctly, DL still doesn't have liquor in premium cabins within the US (beer and wine only with the latest update, right?) nor does DL serve any hot food including on transcons. UA's offering I believe is comparable to AA's, except I don't believe they offer meals on the flights to Hawaii though I may be mistaken.

thunderdeacon

I agree. I would pre-order this any time it was available in Y.

FlyDeltaMD88

Does anyone known what I can screenshot to show the “official” policy? Flying HVN-MSP via PHL in F in a week and don’t expect anything on the first short leg but would like a drink on the second leg.