Sep 24, 2019, 9:23 am
Last edit by: michab
The following website seems to allow you to preview the menu options ahead of time: http://cloud.o.delta.com/fltInfo
The Delta App lets you pre-select meals 7 days prior to departure. You may or may not receive an email around the same time (it's inconsistent whether you even receive an email). On the "MY TRIPS" tab, any eligible trip in the list will have a SELECT YOUR ENTREE button; this also appears if you tap on a trip and are viewing the individual trip details. The app is able to handle selections for multiple passengers traveling on the same record (i.e. you will be able to make selections on behalf of traveling companions)
Sample screenshot:
PRE-COVID: If you don't get the email, or only one of multiple passengers receives the email*, you can ask a phone or Twitter/FB agent for the choices, and they can make your selection up until T-24h (not all agents are sharp about this, so you may need to explain that you want to pre-order a regular meal, *not* one of the special vegetarian/Kosher meals etc. HUCA as needed) Nowadays it is unclear if agents can even still do this (or if just the average phone/chat agent does not know how to do so anymore)
*If this happens, double check that you have an email address (for each passenger) in the reservation. (But this can happen at random anyway even if you do have an email address listed.)
The Delta App lets you pre-select meals 7 days prior to departure. You may or may not receive an email around the same time (it's inconsistent whether you even receive an email). On the "MY TRIPS" tab, any eligible trip in the list will have a SELECT YOUR ENTREE button; this also appears if you tap on a trip and are viewing the individual trip details. The app is able to handle selections for multiple passengers traveling on the same record (i.e. you will be able to make selections on behalf of traveling companions)
Sample screenshot:
PRE-COVID: If you don't get the email, or only one of multiple passengers receives the email*, you can ask a phone or Twitter/FB agent for the choices, and they can make your selection up until T-24h (not all agents are sharp about this, so you may need to explain that you want to pre-order a regular meal, *not* one of the special vegetarian/Kosher meals etc. HUCA as needed) Nowadays it is unclear if agents can even still do this (or if just the average phone/chat agent does not know how to do so anymore)
*If this happens, double check that you have an email address (for each passenger) in the reservation. (But this can happen at random anyway even if you do have an email address listed.)
Pre-ordering Meals on Delta, the Definitive Thread
Sep 1, 2016, 6:38 pm
#226
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Alright, alright; LOL! Fair enough. I'm just saying if an operationally pAAthetic carrier can offer this, I would think DL could too.
Sep 1, 2016, 8:42 pm
#227
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Wayne, PA USA
Programs: DL MM, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, HHonors Gold
Posts: 7,242
Given that, on my last flight DTW-SFO both myself and the diamond next to me did NOT get our special meals (VGML) and I asked the purser about them while we were still on the ground, and they were indeed listed on the paperwork, and when delta ground ops contacted gate gourmet (or whomever) to try to fix it before departure, apparently the response was "tough sugar", I can see that THIS will be a resounding success :-/
Sep 2, 2016, 5:39 am
#228
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,151
I'm not an IT person by any stretch of the imagination, but if DL can implement the bag tracking feature on the app; I don't see where the difficulty is in allowing pax to pre-select a meal which would be done ahead of time, rather than in real time. If any-thing, it would save on food costs once implemented. Execution aside, even AA offers this...
I imagine the catering logistics changes are more challenging to implement than the IT elements.
Also, I wouldn't expect pre-selection to save on meal costs, since the pre-selection won't be compulsory. That is, Delta will still provision a meal for each passenger even if they don't choose a meal in advance.
Also, I wouldn't expect pre-selection to save on meal costs, since the pre-selection won't be compulsory. That is, Delta will still provision a meal for each passenger even if they don't choose a meal in advance.
IT has little to do with this - it's 1 mile on a 100 mile journey.
It's getting the catering houses the data on time and getting them to actually follow it.
The best analogy I can think of is right now the postman brings all your mail that is available every day. In the new system, you would send the mailman a different list of what mail to bring (or not) every day. It's a lot more time for the mailman now and an easy opportunity to make a mistake 365 new times a year.
Because right now, if your choice isn't available, oh well -- sh!t happens. But if you preselect your meal, and it shows on your phone what you picked, and then they don't have it -- people are going to be pissed and see this as 'broken' and 'incompetent', "I _TOLD THEM_ what I wanted!!! OMG"
Sep 2, 2016, 4:20 pm
#232
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,884
Sitting in 3A on a 737-900 this evening - by definition the middle of the pack. FA comes to take my meal order and says that they are down to just one "choice".
Given that she started at the front, and that my neighbor in 3B also didn't get a choice, that means that a maximum of 10 orders could have been taken before ours. Does that mean that everyone in the first 2 rows *and* 3C&D all picked option A? And that us, and everyone behind us only had option B if they wanted to eat?
Mathematically, that seems really unlikely.
Given that she started at the front, and that my neighbor in 3B also didn't get a choice, that means that a maximum of 10 orders could have been taken before ours. Does that mean that everyone in the first 2 rows *and* 3C&D all picked option A? And that us, and everyone behind us only had option B if they wanted to eat?
Mathematically, that seems really unlikely.
Sep 2, 2016, 4:31 pm
#233
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: DL Diamond, HHonors Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,363
Sitting in 3A on a 737-900 this evening - by definition the middle of the pack. FA comes to take my meal order and says that they are down to just one "choice".
Given that she started at the front, and that my neighbor in 3B also didn't get a choice, that means that a maximum of 10 orders could have been taken before ours. Does that mean that everyone in the first 2 rows *and* 3C&D all picked option A? And that us, and everyone behind us only had option B if they wanted to eat?
Mathematically, that seems really unlikely.
Given that she started at the front, and that my neighbor in 3B also didn't get a choice, that means that a maximum of 10 orders could have been taken before ours. Does that mean that everyone in the first 2 rows *and* 3C&D all picked option A? And that us, and everyone behind us only had option B if they wanted to eat?
Mathematically, that seems really unlikely.
Sep 2, 2016, 5:36 pm
#234
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,884
And naturally, on that occasion I had a 30 minute connection at DTW where I came in on A8 and departed from A68 - so no time to explore other food options.
"Hey, it's a dinner flight - how bad could it be?"
Sep 2, 2016, 6:59 pm
#235
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,239
Frankly, I'm not sure if AA even incorporates catering logistics and adjusts meals supplied based on the preorders. Obviously that's the best way, but they could still get it done without.
Sep 7, 2016, 3:45 am
#237
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: OKC
Programs: DL DM/2.768MM, Global Entry, Titanium_Marriott, GHertz
Posts: 6,752
I am currently in Brazil and would be delighted to pre-select for my GRU-DTW run next week.
Sep 7, 2016, 5:41 am
#238
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
I have a feeling what you are seeing is the ability to pre-order the Korean meal, which has been around a while (and e-mails have been coming for a while) for this, Japanese, and Chinese meals.
Sep 7, 2016, 6:41 am
#239
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,417
Some foreign carriers such as SQ have been doing this for over a decade. In fact, business class passengers even on MH could preorder their meals from a long list of choices before MH became part of oneworld, which was more than about five years ago.
Sep 7, 2016, 8:32 am
#240
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: DL Diamond, HHonors Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,363
Catering logistics doesn't really even *have to* get involved. Take catering out of the picture altogether, and then what you have is the FA with a list of pre-selections. Then the remaining pax can order based on the # of remaining meals. AA requires meal selection at least 24 hours in advance, which means anyone whose upgrade clears after that can't be on the list. I suppose there could be times when the # of preorders for choice A are more than provisioned for, and they could just (1) warn people up front when they order that it's not guaranteed, or (2) program the IT so that the meal options are tied into the catering provision, so if there won't be any steaks left then you're only offered one choice on the preorder.