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Y meals in J today on OS 87 [reduced service in OS longhaul flights in December 13]

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Y meals in J today on OS 87 [reduced service in OS longhaul flights in December 13]

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Old Dec 2, 2013, 2:31 am
  #1  
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Exclamation Y meals in J today on OS 87 [reduced service in OS longhaul flights in December 13]

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Everyone in J was given a letter upon boarding OS 87 today stating that OS was "unable to offer the full extent of our usual first-class service on this flight."

The letter went on to apologise for the fact that today's flight will have Economy Class meals in Business, offering me €100 in an OS voucher, or 7,000 M&M miles, both of which are useless to me as a United flyer.

I'd heard about OS's great Business class offering, and was happy to pay up at check-in for the experience, but on my first OS flight, this leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 6:55 am
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Things like these are unfortunate, but they do happen - on any airline.

I am curious though: Did OS flog Business Class upgrades for $ at check-in, at which point they should have known about the catering issue? And is this what you bought? If so, I'd say you'd have a very good point to ask for your upgrade money back.
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 7:05 am
  #3  
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Agree with the other poster that if you paid at checkin and were not advised at time of payment that there would not be the correct meal service then they should at least refund a portion of your upgrade costs (the 100 EUR offered sounds fair but it should be in cash/cheque/credit card credit/bank transfer).
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 7:08 am
  #4  
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It's due to staff shortages...
The number of FAs per flight has been reduced, as in the month of December a lot of the FAs seem to be over the maximum number of hours they are permitted to fly per year.
OS even had a press release on this issue.
Quite embarrassing if you ask me...
A €100 voucher would not keep me quiet especially on this background.
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 7:10 am
  #5  
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http://kurier.at/wirtschaft/unterneh...ter/37.080.722

http://www.austrianwings.info/2013/1...in-der-kabine/
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 7:47 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by Rambuster
It's due to staff shortages...
Hmm... the announcement of the reduced service for staff shortages said the C pax would get reduced service, but not Y meals?
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 9:12 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Hmm... the announcement of the reduced service for staff shortages said the C pax would get reduced service, but not Y meals?
I read everything was going to be placed on one tray.
This is probably what the op got?
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 9:14 am
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Originally Posted by Rambuster
I read everything was going to be placed on one tray.
This is probably what the op got?
If this is the case and staff shortage is at the root of this how could they be selling upgrades at checkin? Very strange?
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 9:15 am
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I was on this flight yesterday and also received the letter. For me, they handed out the normal C menus but the selection was very limited. No trolley and no coffee menu, but at least it wasn't a Y meal.

I would be very upset if I was served a Y meal as you were.
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 3:41 pm
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Thanks for all of the replies - I'm now safely ensconced at my hotel in New York.

So, after takeoff, it turned out that the meals were "DO&CO meals" - which I gather are premium meals for Y pax. All served on one tray and on proper china, but a far cry from what I'd expect in a premium cabin. And, yes, there was also no coffee menu, which was the number one reason I went for J class.

Reading what I've seen here makes me even more upset, though - I had assumed that some catering snafu had happened, something that couldn't reasonably have been anticipated. OS must have known this well ahead of time - certainly before they offered my wife and I a €599 upgrade (each) to J class at check-in, and there was no indication when I checked in that the J service would be diminished.

I'd like to ask for a full refund of the €599 (per person) upgrade cost, given that everything was entirely under the control of the airline, and that I was misled into believing that I was purchasing a full J class offering. I have no idea what my chances of success are, though, given that I have no standing at all with OS (I'm *G with UA).
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Old Dec 2, 2013, 9:12 pm
  #11  
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You probably got the tray served on longer regional flights. The Doc&Co premium meals that can be pre-ordered in Y look like this: https://alacarte.doco.com/
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 1:15 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by PeaSouper
Thanks for all of the replies - I'm now safely ensconced at my hotel in New York.

So, after takeoff, it turned out that the meals were "DO&CO meals" - which I gather are premium meals for Y pax. All served on one tray and on proper china, but a far cry from what I'd expect in a premium cabin. And, yes, there was also no coffee menu, which was the number one reason I went for J class.
While I do sympathize with you it is stretching credibility to say that the number one reason you went for J class is for the coffee menu- I would leave that part out of the letter as it will be quite difficult for the reader to believe that the lie flat bed seat on a long-haul flight is not as important as the coffee menu....
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 3:39 am
  #13  
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
You probably got the tray served on longer regional flights. The Doc&Co premium meals that can be pre-ordered in Y look like this: https://alacarte.doco.com/
Yes, that's what we were served.

Anyways, I'll write the airline and see what they will do. I always have the option of charging back the upgrade(s) from my credit card issuer, but they do insist that cardholders at least attempt to resolve issues directly with the merchant first.

We'll see where this goes - it sounds like there are going to be a lot of problems over the month of December on OS. I'll keep everyone posted.
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 5:46 am
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Originally Posted by TRAVELSIG
While I do sympathize with you it is stretching credibility to say that the number one reason you went for J class is for the coffee menu- I would leave that part out of the letter as it will be quite difficult for the reader to believe that the lie flat bed seat on a long-haul flight is not as important as the coffee menu....
+1

It gives the impression that whatever that had not worked was the most important factor to buy the upgrade.
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 8:40 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by PeaSouper
Yes, that's what we were served.

Anyways, I'll write the airline and see what they will do. I always have the option of charging back the upgrade(s) from my credit card issuer, but they do insist that cardholders at least attempt to resolve issues directly with the merchant first.

We'll see where this goes - it sounds like there are going to be a lot of problems over the month of December on OS. I'll keep everyone posted.
Chargeback ? You've got to be kidding ...
You got to enjoy the business class seat and all that was missing was a bit of catering and some coffee.
Their offer of €100 is perhaps on the low side and you should perhaps try to get some more if it really bothers you that much.
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