ManchesterBAFlyer

As a dairy eating vegetarian, I get royally miffed when pre-ordering a VLML to get some unidentifiable rice dish and a tired looking fruit plate for dessert, only to find that there is often (but not always) a delicious vegetarian option on the main menu, served with a proper dessert.

As the main choices cannot be guaranteed, I need to opt for the VLML time and again. It's clear that it is exactly the same as the vegan meal and whilst the quality of these vegan meals is terrible, I'm not a vegan, hence why I've ordered VL rather than VG.

Years ago I flew on a competing airline, pre-ordered my VLML and was pleasantly surprised to get the same tray as every other passenger, with the same starter and dessert and just a different main course - all were delicious. It also seemed to be a cost effective way of doing things - either guaranteeing that the standard starter and dessert will be veggie (which they often are anyway) and switching just the main course to a special meal, or simply keeping back veggie options on the main menu for anyone who's pre-ordered.

Why can BA and other mainline carriers not do this? It's incredibly frustrating, particularly in business class. It's less of an issue on premium long haul flights - there is always a veggie friendly choice in First and it looks like the new Club World menu is heading the same way - but for Club Europe flights and long haul economy (whatever that is ) it's still an issue.

Anyway, rant over. Explanations welcome. Does anyone with any influence at BA reckon they could bring this up and see whether it is a feasible option? As an outsider it seems like a cost-neutral change and may even save money.

LCY8737

I had the vegetarian option on one of the longer club Europe sectors last Friday. The main was dreadful as always (dry pasta with some vegetables) - but the rest of the meal was the cheese & desert from the regular meal service and was quite tasty.

As for vegan, completely agree with you. I'd rather not eat than have that.

In BA's defense: They are not the worst airline when it comes to this. Iberia recently served me a vegetable rice that I took one bite and then decided to live of gin & tonic for the rest of the flight.

Jimmie76

The VLML friendly option in F was normally on the now 'enhanced' Bistro menu. In my experience now there isn't always a VLML friendly option on the F menu at least on the BOS route. You also get the same main course and afternoon tea as Club. It really annoys me when they serve Afternoon Tea in F. Everyone else (who hasn't ordered an SPML) is tucking into finger sandwiches with a variety of fillings. You've got two slices of bread cut diagonally with the same filling, or as happened to me last year one side VLML friendly and the other meat . The crew were both horrified and excellent in finding me replacements from the main menu.

Jagboi

I live in the heart of ranching country; chicken is considered vegetarian

cpdc1030

Have you tried the AVML (Asian Vegetarian Meal)? I'm not vegetarian but sometimes order that on overnight flights so I can eat sooner and (try) to get to sleep earlier. Usually the quality of those is pretty good. Although of course the side dish and dessert are different than the regular meal options.

jday

Yes this often frustrates me as well. I usually travel WTP and have just resorted to having the veggie option from WT which is there 95% of the time.

frenzie01

Try to eat at least chicken.
They don't mind.

trooper

The frustration is understandable...especially in a Premium cabin..but so is the airlines approach. A Vegan meal meets the requirements of a Vegetarian meal (and I'm sure other SPML are grouped together similarly) reducing the number of different meals required...
One would assume that it is the dietary requirement that is most important?

onylon

Chickens arent vegetarian; they will eat pretty much anything

corporate-wage-slave

I'm a livestock farmer so I'm not exactly a neutral observer here. But looking at it from an airline perspective, they will have about 5% of their passengers who are vegetarian, 1% vegan, and another 5% or so on other restrictive diets due to religion, allergies or intolerances, of which there about a dozen well known ones. So perhaps 10% of their passengers going down say 6 different food channels. Understandably the airline will want to keep this complexity as simple as possible on shorthaul routes, where business class fares are often cheaper than they were 20 years ago, and so rice plus fruit is often the lowest common denominator. If it was as simple as "Vegetarian" and "Everyone else" then I suspect it would be a lot easier to simply put a suitable vegetarian option open to all, but the world - or the First World at least - is more complicated...

squawk

Those of us who eat certain meats but not others face similar problems. It is frustrating when there is (for example) a meal you're perfectly able to eat, but you pre-booked something else because you can't be sure what you'll get on the day. Such is the reality of commercial operations at scale. I've not tried the 'pre-book a specific meal' option I've seen mentioned on here, which may well improve matters.

There's actually a thought provoking article on this kind of thing by sociologist Susan Leigh Star, called "on being allergic to onions", where she explores how standardisation and commercial imperatives impact on the lives of people with 'unusual' needs - such as an onion allergy. She compares it to, for example, vegetarianism - which decades ago was seen as very eccentric, but now is (more or less) widely catered for - or a Kosher diet.

If you don't fit into a societal norm - through allergy, religion, or whatever - you end up spending a lot of time 'working around' the (often commercial) system that is in place that caters for a majority. In her case, it meant a lot of time asking waiters about onions, and having to repeatedly insist that yes, onion allergy is indeed a thing…

LCY8737

While that may be the most important it is not saying that the enjoyment factor is unimportant.

There are plenty of reports on this forum of people complaining about overcooked steak when surely that meets the dietary requirements as well.

1flyer

I think you're way off there. It may be true those numbers are in the right ballpark for those who follow a specific diet strictly.

But you got to add--perhaps slightly discounted--the large number of semi-vegetarians or flexitarians. There have been numerous scientific or semi-scientific rankings (e.g., US World and News Report in the US) which put the number of flexitarians ahead both of strict vegetarians as well as strict vegans.

As a livestock farmer, you of all people should know that this is no short fad, but a seminal trend. Meat consumption in the industrialized world is on the decline. Vegetarian cuisine, meat analogues and such stuff are on the rise, whether you look at the UK, mainland Europe or even many developing countries.

Furthermore, vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians are over-represented in demographics particularly relevant to airlines: the young, the wealthy, and the well-educated.

It's not an accident that standard meals usually have a veggie option for (almost) every course.

With that in mind, I completely agree with the OP's rant. Why not improve those special meals, considering decent vegetarian options are available within the standard catering most of the time?

awestphal

What usually works for me (on particular busy daytime CW flights like LHR BKK): A very friendly request at boarding that I would prefer (not even "like" or "demand" or "request") the vegetarian option. Has worked every time. On night flights, BA hardly ever runs of of options.

CCayley

True but the two cases are not identical. When a passenger orders the chicken curry/steak/lasagne/whatever off of the main menu they have a legitimate expectation that the food will be competently prepared and reasonably tasty. If someone says "I want the airline to take some steps to ensure what I eat complies with my moral/religious views or excludes foodstuffs that may harm me" they are putting the airline to the expense of a special procedure for their benefit and it is not unreasonable for the airline to assume that the passenger's priority is to receive a meal that is kosher/vegan/gluten free or whatever has been requested. If the airline can cater to many of the categories of special meal requesters by bundling them up and offering something that complies with several sets of special requests at once (e.g. a vegan meal) then so be it. I'm not sure why an airline needs to go to great lengths to cater separately for vegans, vegetarians, vegetarians who think fish is acceptable (never understood that one!), etc. etc.