Slurve30

Had the infamous CO cheeseburger for the first time on a UA flight yesterday, from ORD-LAS. Was much better than the previous lunch option of that melted turkey and swiss.

That said, I was in row 6 and was not offered a meal choice as a 1K (shrimp salad was the other option). Are they doing meal choices by row now, ala CO?

Also, wine glasses had the globe logo, but the regular glasses still had tulip....

qukslvr619

IADSAN
Dep 1233
757

Meal orders taken after takeoff. FA took orders from back to front not by status...dont know if FEBO is the new rule. Choices were either chicken cacciatore or cheese ravioli. Chose chicken. Warm nuts with beverage but they were chewy almost like they had either been overcooked or were just not fresh. FA brought out a couple of trays of what appeared to be the ravioli but didn't get served at my row for whatever reason for another 20 mins. The service flow was all over the place...instead of bringing trays to each row, refill or offer wine, the FA would carry a tray to a seat in a row and then stand up in the galley. Dont know if it was issues with heating the dishes in the oven. Tray brought out including a small bowl with smoked salmon, dinner salad, cold whole wheat roll, and entree. Chicken breast was tiny and had a small drop of tomato sauce on it; served with gnocchi and green beans/carrots. No refils through the entire meal....noticed wine glasses have new logo and are smaller. Trays picked up and ice cream offered....ice cream looked a little off, more like a french vanilla but consistency was like iced milk. If this is the new standard for transcons then I'm not impressed.

FlyerChrisK

I've had plenty of UA flights go in a particular direction (although I feel that front to back is more common). It's up to the FAs to properly prioritize the meals.

The most recent time that I've actually confirmed that this is procedure was in December in p.s. F JFK-SFO (great purser who thanked me for my loyalty, even as a 1K who had been op'd up from XC), but I've noticed in the mean time that the UA FAs will ask some passengers for two meal choices and others for one.

mherdeg

On UA894 SEA-DEN (scheduled departure at 1743) the midcon dinner options were "salad with shrimp" or "beef wrap". Served with fresh fruit, asparagus soup, and a warmed roll. Preceded by warm nuts and followed by a warm cookie. I was very impressed. The "beef wrap" was pretty tasty and came with a pretty good sauce.

The flight arrive late, so I sprinted halfway across DEN to make my connection, boarded at T-10, then just after I was seated I became violently ill in the forward lav and requested to be offloaded so I wouldn't hold up the flight. (14 minute dptr delay; arrived 8 min late; feel terrible about it). This was surely entirely my fault for running (dehydration + overexertion + only ate one meal today and it was airline food). Just in case, gonna reserve judgment until the next dinner flight.

aero0729

2-10 MCO - EWR 11:15AM - Lunch EUA

Chipotle Beef Wrap/Mushroom Soup - Tastes just like the Chicken Wrap, I actually think this meal is fine for the 2 hour hop. Very poor service from FAs..zero drink runs outside of the meal

2-10 EWR - SEA 5:00PM - Dinner - PAID $365.00 V Fare plus $169 for Upgrade

This is where it gets bad. All EWR Trans-cons get downgraded except for SFO/LAX.

Choice of Chicken or Spinach Ravioli - Ravoli looked pretty bad, Chicken was the worst thing I have ever had on a plane in a premium cabin. Dry as a bone, red sauce had zero flavor. Served with Green Beans and carrots. VERY SMALL salad, salmon appetizer (rather bite size). Sundae was great though. No more fudge, just chocolate sauce. Snack basket at end of flight.

Except for the Sundae...all items are served on one tray.

2-12 SEA - EWR 6:56AM - Breakfast EUA

OK..NOT GOOD!! No more French Toast!! Just choice of the "omelette" which is cheese-less and served cold with nasty potatoes and a dried out cold puck of Sausage(This might take the prize from the Chicken!). I missed the chance to get a cereal which everyone else seemed to jump on. I passed on this food and just had the fruit cup and a cinnamon roll( I do like those Cinnamon Rolls) enjoy them while they last! Yogurt was served as well. Snack Basket at end of flight. I landed starving and ran to get a Burger.

2-12- EWR - MCO 4:07PM - Snack EUA

This was a nice surprise. No more cheese squares and salami!! They served a nice piece of chicken over some pasta salad. Served with fruit, pretzels and a Brownie.

Overall Impression - Best tasting food was MCO - EWR at lunch. For 12 years I have flown to the West Coast on Continental, enjoying the fantastic service. Mix of paid upgrades and EUA's. Not saying anyone is much better, but this kind of mediocrity makes me interested in trying other airlines. These Trans-con downgrades and that breakfast add to the list of how Penny-wise and pound foolish the New United is becoming.

NOTE: Almonds served on 3 flights, just emptied from bag to ramikan, they were not one bit warm.
No Cookies to be seen on any flights.

MBS MillionMiler

I had the pasta salad the other day on a shorter flight on CO metal. I thought it was pretty good too. Disappointed in the pre-packaged brownie, and the fruit salad--that was the most bitter grapefruit I've EVER had, and since it was on top, the juice soaked into all of the other fruit, not palatable.

PDXPremier

What was the "downgrade" from EWR? I've flown domestic first quite a bit and have never once seen an ice cream sundae...hopefully will get one next month on IAD-PDX, but I'll take the sundae over a third meal choice or slightly larger salad

aero0729

I think just the fact that its different is good! I liked the Snack plate first time I tried it

aero0729

Service prior to 2/1/12

Printed Menus

Full tray linens with business-first China

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail or Lobster Appetizers (lobster appetizer was awesome!)

Large Salad with premium dressing

Large choice of fresh baked bread...garlic bread, pretzel rolls etc...usually several runs through the cabin with the bread basket

3 choices...usually one Pasta, one fish or chicken and always a Steak

Sundae for dessert

All served in separate courses

PDXPremier

wow, I definately have been on the wrong flights

United757

Oh, that sucks. I liked flying CO transcons to/from SEA. As they say on the Alaska forum, "chip, chip, chip."

totmode

Is this normal on EWR-MCO-EWR and/or any other PMCO routes? I have flown on these routes regularly for the past three months usually in the mornings and the FAs do not refill water and my glasses are cleared immediately after breakfast. When I tried to keep my glass, it was removed when I woke up. So far 100% zero water runs throughout the flight on these routes.

itstimetofly

No this is not right. The F/As should be coming by offering to fill water glasses/ ask for refills on other drinks at least once every hour or so, at least that's my experience.

One spectacular F/A refilled my water glass after every gulp I took during one of my segments to Latin America. Either she was very bored, or she thought I was a GS member!

gdemander

PMCO 1594
IAH-BWI
7:15 Departure

Had the grilled chicken breast over the cold pasta salad. As mentioned up thread, I am a fan of the cold plate. Unfortunate departure time though because I think if it was 15 minutes earlier I would had had the hot meal and warm nuts. Fruit salad and pre-packaged brownie served on one plate.

Choice of pre departure drink and one refill offered during the flight. I had to get up and ask for the second refill.

In reference to the trancons mentioned above out of Ewr, I agree, those used to be some pretty solid meals.

demkr

UA975
IAD-SFO
757
Dinner
02/11/12

Started with 'mixed' nuts. Not too warm but not cold. Cashews and almonds seemed seperated as if they were poured out of a bag into the ramekin

Salmon appetizer was good but would have been better if served prior to dinner.

PMUA salad stayed the same (I'm a fan of this)

Choice of Chicken Cacciatore or Spinach pasta

Dinner roll

Made-to-order sundaes were served after dinner. Very tasty and a nice upgrade, although they were tinier than the ones you would get on an EWR-SFO transcon.

Snack basket served prior to landing.

All in all an upgrade from PMUA service. The +'s are obviously the appetizer, sundae, and snack basket. Wine glasses, unfortunately, were the smaller ones PMCO uses as you can see in my photo.

Enjoyed the large tray, there was no need for a linen (I know a lot of people like them, but for me it just seems like more work for the FAs and more stuff on my tray)

http://i39.tinypic.com/nbeqrt.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/20fby51.jpg