Second helping on F or J
 

Has anyone requested for two mains courses when flying in F or J?
I don't think they would have a problem if the cabin wasn't fully booked?

Not a problem with getting a second main meal when I flew with them in J earlier this year.

Depends on the loading. For F, you are virtually guaranteed seconds if you want - they significantly overstock entrees. I sometimes order two "entrees" (usually a Chinese thing, which comes with a lot of accompanying dishes, plus a western main). Although if the cabin is full (9/9 or 6/6) you may not get a second of the exact entree you want, it is a virtual lock that they will still have seconds of some of the others. Plus many of the appetizers, soups and snacks are rather large - you can easily do a salad and a soup and count that as a meal.

For J class, it is more load dependent but they're not as overstocked as much as F. If F overstocks 200% (2 meals for every pax) J might be 110%. Just ask. Won't hurt.

Why not? I sometimes ask for seconds in J and they're usually fine with it. Not everybody eats and so they often have extras. I usually ask for another salad or one more dessert. I flash my big smile :D and ask nicely.

I even did it on my way back from Hangzhou over the weekend on KA - I was in Y - but the spicy chicken noodles were great! I was really hungry and asked for one more when the crew were nearly done with their tea/coffee round - they were very nice and got me another noodle.

Normally, one meal would be sufficient for me. But after seeing pics of the lobster on F.. I might actually get a second helping of that if it tastes as good as it looks!

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Usually not a problem on CX
 

Cathay usually has overstock as there is always someone who doesn't eat or they have just loaded a bit too much. In J, I have had to take my second choice of what was left sometimes. In F, I once had NO leftovers as a flight of competing airline canceled and they offloaded their F into our 1/2 catered cabin...that was a mess. Usually in F they give you whatever they have left....Once on one of the JFK-HKG flights they ran out of the snack noodles! That was trouble ;) Overall though Cathay is great with this.

Qantas runs out of food and snacks repeatedly in both F&J....AND then they look at you like why are you eating so much? I have been on flights when we are 6 hours in and they have no snacks but nuts....They are always "sorry".

American and United Airlines are the WORST with this. The flight attendants eat all the leftovers as soon as the main meal is served and then tell you their planes are catered exactly to the number of passengers. I once asked a flight attendant for some extra lobster claws and she said they didn't have any....on my trip to the lav, there were 4 of them eating the leftover tray!

Cathay is GREAT with this far better then the other partners.

Happy flying.

This past March the UA flight got cancelled and they put most of their F pax on SQ and CX (imo a nice upgrade!). Since UAs flight leaves in the afternoon, not sure why they didn't cater for a full cabin on the evening flights on CX. They ran out of just about everything and had to mix and match. They were quite apologetic as there was a couple who kept eating and asked for food from any cabin. They didn't care about the Krug as I think the FA was pouring the J cabin champagne to them.

Sounds like CX is good and any other airline is hit or miss.
I'd imagine that after charging $10-15k per F ticket they would at least have some extras on the flight. Each meal probably costs them less than $20 to prepare. To be honest, I'd thought that you would be served japanese dried abalone and kobe beef in F given the price that people pay but I guess that would be too much.

I was the sole passenger in F on my last flight from HKG and the FA told me they were catered for everything on the menu and I could eat one of everything if I wanted to. I didn't.

That must have been nice, if you wanted to :D I have like 4 servings of caviar and 2 mains, on my last F flight on CX. I dont think you will have any issues, if in F.

I can't speak for all stations, but ex-LHR, AA caters the precise number of meals. Extra meals are on- or off-loaded just before the doors close based on pax load.


I was the sole F pax once, several years ago, on 884 HKG-LAX (744, old F). I'll never forget it. Pretty much unlimited caviar (the minimum load is one tin, and it's a fairly large one). Drank about a half-bottle of Krug, then the FA's gave me the other bottle as I was deplaning.

I was in F, HKG-LAX about 10 days ago and had two main courses (the meat and the pasta). I'm not such a glutton; very small servings. F was full but absolutely no problem, in fact the FA told me she had heated up both dinners in case I didn't like one of them.

Same experience on CX. When i don't finish my main course they usually even ask if i did not like it and want something else.
It seems that CX and the other Asian airlines always have enough spare meals that everybody can get his choice. Same on LH or LX. Only the US airlines often run out and don't even have enough to give everybody a choice. AA seems to be the worst in that respect.