hotelbreakfast

My wife and I were traveling from DFW to GRU via MIA in F this past weekend for her birthday. I would post pictures of the menu but as a new member I'm not yet allowed. As an interesting side story, after a rather average flight service wise from MIA to GRU, as we were about to get off the plane, the flight attendant came over and asked if I was "my name", EXP, and I said yes, and he asked if it was my wife's birthday, and I said yes, and he handed me a bottle of the Charles de Cazanove champagne they were serving in F on the flight wrapped up tight in one of those thick gray plastic bags that they have and said "tell her happy birthday". Ha, it was a little strange but appreciated and we drank it tonight and it wasn't bad. It was in fact a 2007 vintage so that triples the price all the way into the $30s..

DMPHL

I'm usually a forgiving customer, but yesterday's AA107 in Flagship First from LHR-JFK was just laughably bad. Absolutely nothing first class about it, and AA should be embarrassed.

FAs were nice and friendly, but the service and food were just not very good. Some highlights:

1. Tiny salad and appetizer portions, the same size you would receive on a mid-con. All brought out at once on a single tray, with cold, watery soup.
2. Main of "gnocchi primavera" was then served, after the appetizer tray had been sitting in front of me for a good 15 minutes. Gnocchi dried out and burnt to a crisp, and yet also completely cold. It was clear they had been scorched in the oven, and then just taken out and left out until the FA was ready to serve them.
3. Bread served at this point, while eating the main.
4. Halfway through the entire cabin's main course, flight attendant brought out salt and pepper shakers, all on a tray, asking passengers if they wanted them.
5. This is not to mention the cheap cheap cheap wine list and overall low-quality food.

On the way over, I'd flown in Delta One, and I have to say catering is night and day between Delta's business class product and American's "first" class product. Really, honestly, an embarrassing showing for AA. I've actually had some really good experiences with AA in First...But it seems like they just don't actually care about the product at all.

happiest_at_40000

Does DL have both sundaes & cheese course back? Lack of storage on 763, 764, A350, A330 just drive me nuts with DL. And more than that I cant ever recline right as the seats lower too much instead of reclining back.

Bummer about your AA experience. I really enjoy their F seats despite them getting a lot of heat for lack of privacy (in 2J i dont need anything to give me privacy really, no one pasts me) I will say having to sometimes manually get that seat in the right spot is annoying but I like it. Service & food just so hit and miss with them.

SkyTeam777

When will Flagship First go back to fully-coursed rather than all on one tray (app/salad, then main, then dessert). It should be five separate servings, and I thought that had returned? I have an F flight (using SWU from paid J) for DFW-LHR at the end of the month and I will rescind it if F is gonna be the same service as J with just a bigger seat and pajamas (no time for Flagship Dining due to short connection).

happiest_at_40000

Wondering the same thing myself. Last month i did at least get the entree as a separate course after app/salad/soup on 1 plate. Its annoying. I dont want my soup getting cold while I eat my app. I want 6 diff courses..App, soup, salad, entree, sundae & cheese.

DMPHL

My soup was brought out cold lol. Not to harp on the differences between AA and DL, but in D1, the FA had a thermos of hot tomato bisque (not watery soup), poured it at the cart right there and dressed it.

To answer your previous question, no Delta didn't have the cheese course back, but they did have a sundae of sorts. I believe it was vanilla ice cream with a berry compote. I've had that before and it was nice and refreshing. The other option was an opera cake, which was very good.

I'm overall fine with AA most of the time, but I'm just finding recently, to my surprise, that Delta's business class catering is, overall, in almost every way, better than AA's first class, both international and transcon. It's like they have a completely different philosophy of food...more simple, fresh, modern, clean, emphasis on good ingredients and flavors (and visually, colors), as opposed to AA, which seems stuck with bland, brown and yellow, low-quality heavy ingredients and an emphasis on heavy gloopy sauces.

happiest_at_40000

Too funny I just commented in the domestic thread how my last soup was served cold. Thats awesome to hear on DL., I think b/c my experience with them is 95% Transcon I lose out on a lot, i.e. cheese course & soup. I did just fly them out of BOG and was impressed with the food service, at least given that the AA flight just the month before, at the same time, serves absolutely no food. Also out of LAX I am not a fan of J & V so that sort of kills the DL experience for me. From reviews & pics I really think their Asian & Euro flights do look more inventive and interesting than the AA food, which is essentially no diff than what they do for Transcon.

DL just doesnt do it for me also with the seats & not having a premium lounge. If they had better seats for my back/reclining/storage, a premium lounge & got rid of J & V I would use them for sure.

Have you tried Mint? The type of food you described when describing DL is really what Mint is all about. Unfortunately, I find it fails on my many levels. I dont like eating all at once which is how they do it, they do No sundaes ever and no special desserts (cake, pie, etc). Just a scoop of gelato. Also, no cheese course is a huge issue for me. I also dont think the food, all 3 x I flew Mint, was anything special. But what you said about DL is exactly what B6 is going for.

I am really starting to wonder about if good food can be done on an airplane. They dont have a kitchen, they have to reheat. How good can it be? I had a QR Q Suites, CX F & QF F trip all set for April 4 2020. Missed it by 2 weeks. Maybe that trip would have shown me good food exists on a plane. I'd love to try LH F, SQ F or AF F but I have nowhere near enough points for them. Got to be OW for me to use miles and score some F flights.

Kimmitzi

Lots of options (ORD - ATH, May 11)

• Herb Roasted Chicken Breast
  sweet potato mash, green beans, pomodoro sauce
• Crab Cakes
  broccoli chipotle slaw, lemon chive cream sauce, blistered tomatoes
• Herb Grilled Beef Filet
  twice baked potato, bordelaise sauce, wilted spinach, roasted squash
• Created and inspired by our partnership with the James Beard Foundation and Chef Sarah Grueneberg
  Artichoke ravioli served with blistered cherry tomato sauce and green olive pistachio pesto

• Asian Vegetarian
  Spicy vegetarian meals with limited use of dairy products
• Baby
  Selection of commercial baby food for children 2 and younger. Attached to the parent/guardian Passenger Name Record (PNR).
• Bland
  Simple cooking methods used specifically for passengers with digestive sensitivities
• Child's
  Meals for children 2-5 years old
• Diabetic
  Suitable for reduced sugar, hyperglycemic, hypoglycemic and carbohydrate controlled meal requests
• Gluten intolerant
  This meal eliminates all foods prepared with wheat, rye, barley and oats
• Hindu
  Prepared according to Hindu dietary practices and may include dairy, curries and spicy flavors
• Kosher
  Prepared to comply with Jewish dietary laws
• Low Fat/Low Cholesterol
  High fiber, low fat meal
• Low Sodium
  No added salt, MSG or baking powder/soda
• Muslim
  Does not contain pork, by-products of pork or ingredients containing alcohol
• Non-Lactose
  Does not contain cheese, dairy products and their derivatives, lactose or milk products
• Vegetarian/Vegan
  Does not contain meat, fish, fowl, eggs, dairy products or derivatives
• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian
  Vegetarian meal that may include eggs and dairy products

happiest_at_40000

I've just selected Asian Veg foro DFW-LHR. Had it with AA's normal options. Outside of an occasional good fish dish its pretty bad. Absolutely everything that is listed from Sara G. in partnership w/ James Beard is total mediocre no seasoning and bad pasta dishes. Hoping for a really good Asian Veg this weekend. The more Indian it is the better.

Spanish

I'm pretty forgiving, too, but I think we have an issue with consistency of AA's onboard product. Discussed many times here on the Flyer Talk. My last Intl business class was fantastic, with exceptional FA's and a nice meal that was served quickly after boarding for proper sleeping services on the way-too-short JFK-LHR routing. Then again, my last Intl First on MIA-LHR was laughable. What in the world is going on with this situation?

Bummer, because so many of the FA takes the pride in their job and work and they want you to have a great flight that you'll remember.

DMPHL

Completely. And yes, I have had some really wonderful crews and service in Int'l J and F on AA...HKG, GRU, etc. But as F service has ramped back up, I think it's become clear to me that AA is not interested in actually spending any money to differentiate F service, and in terms of catering quality, really is just trying to get by as cheaply as it can.

Spanish

And this is such an unfortunate fact. For those of us who travel a lot, an F flight can be a great way to get into "vacation mode," or for business trips to have a relaxing and productive flight prior to hitting the ground running. AA's got a "pocket ace" in the USA market, I believe they could drive significant revenue premiums. I don't mind shelling out the extra cash Business vs First for long distance trips on airlines that provide an exceptional experience consistently. AA could totally do this. I'm rooting for them! But my wallet looks elsewhere when booking international First. Mind you, this is just a few times a year, but represents a solid revenue opportunity for their company.

TravisMT81

FRA- DFW

DFW-FRA

JY1024

This is the 2022 International Meals thread; off-topic discussion has been removed. /Moderator

tstauck

Hello - please move this post if there's a more appropriate thread. Flying international to Mexico which is "business class" technically.

LAX - PVR, lunch, 3 hour flight. Only two options for pre-order for the flight next week: charcuterie plate or humus croissant. Is this normal?...I would have thought it would be a more substantial lunch.

TIA!