Abyssmal food on board
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,033
OP I hope you didn't pay for that F ticket as in pay with $$.
Yes the mid flight snacks they used to have (sandwiches, desserts, snack basket, etc) are all gone due to "covid". In my opinion you will never see them come back. Covid will always be with us and AA will milk it for all it's worth. The same can be said for pre-covid meals, PDB, etc .
Yes the mid flight snacks they used to have (sandwiches, desserts, snack basket, etc) are all gone due to "covid". In my opinion you will never see them come back. Covid will always be with us and AA will milk it for all it's worth. The same can be said for pre-covid meals, PDB, etc .
#17
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold but PlatPro thanks to LPs
Posts: 4,439
Why not just pay that $25 for some kind of portable meal of your choice in the airport, then bring it on board?
#18
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SE Wisconsin
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond for Life
Posts: 337
I guess I just don’t expect much from airplane food, although I agree it has gone downhill considerably. Even the good meals can only go so far, though. A steak or a roast beef on a plane will never compare to what you can get in a decent restaurant or perhaps even at home.
Honestly the best food item I’ve ever enjoyed on an AA flight was the cheeseburger they had a few years ago. (Or at least I haven’t seen it in a few years.) It was a meal choice on some flights, and it was a snack item on a flight to Sydney. I really enjoyed it!
Honestly the best food item I’ve ever enjoyed on an AA flight was the cheeseburger they had a few years ago. (Or at least I haven’t seen it in a few years.) It was a meal choice on some flights, and it was a snack item on a flight to Sydney. I really enjoyed it!
#19
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Programs: AA: CK
Posts: 2,230
I guess I just don’t expect much from airplane food, although I agree it has gone downhill considerably. Even the good meals can only go so far, though. A steak or a roast beef on a plane will never compare to what you can get in a decent restaurant or perhaps even at home.
Honestly the best food item I’ve ever enjoyed on an AA flight was the cheeseburger they had a few years ago. (Or at least I haven’t seen it in a few years.) It was a meal choice on some flights, and it was a snack item on a flight to Sydney. I really enjoyed it!
Honestly the best food item I’ve ever enjoyed on an AA flight was the cheeseburger they had a few years ago. (Or at least I haven’t seen it in a few years.) It was a meal choice on some flights, and it was a snack item on a flight to Sydney. I really enjoyed it!
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Wanting First. Buying First.
Programs: Lifetime Executive Diamond Platinum VIP with Braniff, Eastern, Midway, National & Pan Am
Posts: 17,492
I guess I just don’t expect much from airplane food, although I agree it has gone downhill considerably. Even the good meals can only go so far, though. A steak or a roast beef on a plane will never compare to what you can get in a decent restaurant or perhaps even at home.
I would say that meals like the carved-at-seat roast beef on UA transcon F ("Ocean-to-Ocean Service") and rack of lamb on UA SFO-Hawaii (Royal Hawaiian Service) flights up to the late 1980s were generally restaurant quality. Not Le Bec-Fin quality, but certainly up to the standards of a good middle market steak house.
Heck, I even had a steak in AA Y EZE-MIA in the early 1990s that was outstanding.
#22
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SE Wisconsin
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond for Life
Posts: 337
I should clarify my prior comment by adding that: 1) I am not presenting excuses for anyone - just relaying my personal expectations; and 2) I only really started flying in the early 2000’s.
oh… and I really liked the cheeseburger!
oh… and I really liked the cheeseburger!
#24
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
I've never expected fine dining onboard an airplane. Those days are well over. My biggest gripe is if the food doesn't meet the meal period-like a turkey sandwich for breakfast? Given I'm sitting up there for free or for a cheap upfare I should not expect anything more than a cold meal.
Now if the booze goes in F (time of day appropriate) that's another matter.
Now if the booze goes in F (time of day appropriate) that's another matter.
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Wanting First. Buying First.
Programs: Lifetime Executive Diamond Platinum VIP with Braniff, Eastern, Midway, National & Pan Am
Posts: 17,492
Sure. And apparently also for crowdsourcing the most mundane decisions in life. I was simply pointing out that if one's goal is something better than abysmal food on AA, complaining to AA is more fruitful than ranting here.
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
I thought long and hard about starting this thread. I decided I wanted to ...../voice my opinion. Traveled on AA from LHR to LAX in F recently. The service on board was great. Friendly staff and attentive to my needs. Just what one hopes for when traveling. The food however in the BA club in T3 and on board was TERRIBLE. Inside the club, I had a choice of prepacked Tuna fish or some other unrecognizable food. I fully understand the need to keep people's including my own grubby hands from touching food. So if you're going to do that, give me a menu to order food from. On board, FC passengers were given the same food choices as those in Biz Class. The exact same menu. Not right IMHO. Then for midflight snacks, the choices were worse than a vending machine. In fact if I could monetize it, I'd contract with AA to put fresh vending machines on board. No fruit. No cookies. No sandwiches of any kind. No cheeses. No cookies. I wondered if mid flight they didn't change the paint on the plane to read SPIRIT airlines.
I understand that we are in a pandemic, but on our outbound flight on IBERIA we had many more choices and much better quality food. Why has AA sunk to the lowest level of food service?
I understand that we are in a pandemic, but on our outbound flight on IBERIA we had many more choices and much better quality food. Why has AA sunk to the lowest level of food service?
#27
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: DL DM/2MM, UA Gold/1MM, AS MVP 100K, BA Gold, TK Elite
Posts: 1,425
whats so odd is the LHR lounge situation.
with no BA flights out of T3, but the BA lounge open, it smells of AA cost cutting because that is not the same BA T5 lounge experience which is online order from a limited menu. why AA did not open their lounge is odd if they were the only one of the two to operate flights from T3 but imagine it would be cheaper to use BA given they already were staffing across T5, and AA chose the "lounge lite" package that BA offered which is like the normal set up but more akin to holding the wedding in the backyard. much much cheaper.
with no BA flights out of T3, but the BA lounge open, it smells of AA cost cutting because that is not the same BA T5 lounge experience which is online order from a limited menu. why AA did not open their lounge is odd if they were the only one of the two to operate flights from T3 but imagine it would be cheaper to use BA given they already were staffing across T5, and AA chose the "lounge lite" package that BA offered which is like the normal set up but more akin to holding the wedding in the backyard. much much cheaper.
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Los Angeles& Telluride
Programs: UA1K, 1MM,AA Exec. Platinum, Global Entry, Nexus
Posts: 731
I did not pay for FC. I did use one of my SWU's. While that is not a true currency, it is an instrument that I had to earn by BIS travel. And since AA cut them to four, they do have a value.
As I've read this thread, people seem to think its ok to accept mediocrity. Or that since I"m not paying for it (corporate travel) then its ok to offer your premium customers terrible food.
I know that I have a choice with where my $$$ go. I choose AA because for my location in the world( LAX) they offer me the best service for where I need to go both for work and play. That said, is it too much to expect some level of decent quality? Is it too much to expect a different menu in FC vs BC? Is it too much to have food choices that are not pre-packaged in a lounge?
As I've read this thread, people seem to think its ok to accept mediocrity. Or that since I"m not paying for it (corporate travel) then its ok to offer your premium customers terrible food.
I know that I have a choice with where my $$$ go. I choose AA because for my location in the world( LAX) they offer me the best service for where I need to go both for work and play. That said, is it too much to expect some level of decent quality? Is it too much to expect a different menu in FC vs BC? Is it too much to have food choices that are not pre-packaged in a lounge?
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Los Angeles& Telluride
Programs: UA1K, 1MM,AA Exec. Platinum, Global Entry, Nexus
Posts: 731
Snarky reply??? Its not a class thing. Its a quality of food thing. Whether I was in FC or BC (I paid out of my pocket, no corp travel here) I expect better quality. Also, over my lifetime I"ve flown over 3.5 million miles so I"m not a first time flyer asking for Michelin 3 star quality. And it appears that you sir post a lot on this forum, so what's the point you are trying to make?
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Los Angeles& Telluride
Programs: UA1K, 1MM,AA Exec. Platinum, Global Entry, Nexus
Posts: 731
Snarky reply??? Its not a class thing. Its a quality of food thing. Whether I was in FC or BC (I paid out of my pocket, no corp travel here) I expect better quality. Also, over my lifetime I"ve flown over 3.5 million miles so I"m not a first time flyer asking for Michelin 3 star quality. And it appears that you sir post a lot on this forum, so what's the point you are trying to make?