WeekendTraveler

I have a trip on Amtrak coming up, and it�s in first class. I�d get a free lunch and free drinks. However, I don�t find the food or drinks on Amtrak to be that great, and some employees are unpleasant. So I am stopping at Chick-filA and buying lunch and drinks from Chick-filA to bring onboard instead.

Anyone else reject free first-class food and drinks and instead buy you own from another vendor? If so, why?

gaobest

All the time - I want to choose my meal esp if I know it tastes better. If the meal in F is great then I’ll eat my carryon later. At Sfo I try to get a chicken bahn mi at T3 (UAL) before the flight. I’ll eat it on flight or later that day. And sometimes the Sfo offer in T2 isn’t great for the plane - in hindsight I should have done it yesterday and instead enjoyed pork ramen at 9:15a lol - I’m definitely not boarding any flight with soup.

Annalisa12

I am not a fancy pants eater and a non drinker. I will take a few snacks in my bag in case I don't like the offerings. On a SQ Suites flight the attendant expressed surprise that I didn't want any of the alcohol. She said it is all free and I said I still didn't want any. She then said she'd hand make me a special mocktail! You are not weird!

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Regardless of where and how I am traveling I most always have a few snacks with me. A while back I brought a beer and peanuts on a train in Japan. Which was great cause I was in the front seat so got to see the everything out the front (not side) window. That said, if I knew I was getting drinks on board I probably would not buy a beverage. And most certainly would not be bring fast food.

moondog

On the trains here in China, many people self cater with KFC (nearly every train station has it on hand). I understand the reason (train food is even worse), but I'd be happier if less smelly options were popular. Chick-fil-A might taste better than KFC, but it still emits powerful odors. Why not go with salads or subway instead?

WeekendTraveler

A kale salad and Cool Wrap from CFA worked great on Amtrak today. No attitude from the crew, no odor, and healthy.

gaobest

in 1998 I took the Shanghai train to & from a factory near Shanghai; maybe jiangsu or similar type province. People ate nuts and spat or threw shells on the ground. People�s salted (preserved) dishes had strong scents that were strong compared to kfc.

mlbcard

The way airlines are nickel and diming everything, including premium passengers, I predict, within 5 years, first/business class meals will require an extra $100 or so fee.

lhrsfo

The problem with carrying food with you is, if you decide not to eat it, it�s often confiscated by Customs on arrival in your destination country If that�s the USA, it then leaves you with nothing other than the airport fast food offerings for the onward journey.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

Depending on the country of course. Japan is among the most careful in my experience, even compared to, say, New Zealand. In Tehran I went to customs to say that I had a variety of food in my bags and luggage and they told me to go away and don't bother them.

I usually take a good supply of food on board in case the airline gets my special meal wrong. Which happens.

moondog

You would still be left without food if you didn't bring food, no?

pinniped

Haven't ever turned down a true F meal on a long-haul flight, but I've definitely declined the J service a few times.

I like to fly TATL as late at night as possible, increasing the odds that I actually get a couple hours of sleep. (Spoiler alert - it doesn't always work.) So I eat in the airport at a normal dinner time and then attempt to get straight to sleep as soon as we take off.

I'd certainly have no trouble declining whatever passes as food on Amtrak if I wanted to grab some shut-eye on a train.

Duke787

My wife does this all the time. She always humors me on international flights (or if I ask her to get a meal because I think I'll still be hungry) but she almost always passes on the food, even the times we've flown EK F / JL F / etc.

I've started to buy food more often on domestic flights when I'm flying for work because F food has become such slop on DL / UA / AA and ditto on short TATL overnight flights where sleep is my priority. My preference though would be to have a nice meal on the plane -- to me that's such a key part of the fun for long haul J and F but these days it's not always the best option unfortunately.

CFA at ATL is a big one for me on layovers and often I'll try to get something before I leave my house/hotel if I can (and again on OPM -- if I'm flying on my own dime, I'll usually go for the plane meal unless it's really bleak)

redvelvetmartinis

Same! I never drink before, during or immediately after flights because it just dries my skin out.. and the crew always feel it's such a waste that I don't utilize the onboard perks. But hey, I get enough tea to make me happy!