How Do I Confirm Special Meals for my Flights?
Sep 4, 2012, 6:44 pm
#31
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
With the June 1 "updates" they are always *supposed* to have a "vegetarian-style pasta" in premium cabins: http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2...od-with-flair/
On a recent trip, they had only meat/seafood options IAD-NRT but had a pasta option (circa domestic F 2010) coming back.
On a recent trip, they had only meat/seafood options IAD-NRT but had a pasta option (circa domestic F 2010) coming back.
Oct 6, 2012, 7:08 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: co, ua
Posts: 3
The system is broken!
My wife just flew SFO-NRT-BKK in BF. This was not an upgrade, nor a last minute booking. She is vegetarian; her profile shows this; she called more than 24hrs in advance to re-confirm that a special meal was requested; she checked again when she checked in, ad was told that her special meal request was there.
And yet on the plane still no special meal.
Adding insult to hunger was the attitude of some of the cabin staff: 'well you must have been upgraded'. Obviously the request hadn't made it into their records!
I was on the same NRT/BKK flight the week before and one of the cabin staff confirmed that they do serve special meals, even in Y ('people occasionally have them')
If UA are really not going to serve special meals in any cabin on trans-pacific flights, can't they just come out and say so?
Otherwise, what is it going to take to fix this obviously broken system????
And yet on the plane still no special meal.
Adding insult to hunger was the attitude of some of the cabin staff: 'well you must have been upgraded'. Obviously the request hadn't made it into their records!
I was on the same NRT/BKK flight the week before and one of the cabin staff confirmed that they do serve special meals, even in Y ('people occasionally have them')
If UA are really not going to serve special meals in any cabin on trans-pacific flights, can't they just come out and say so?
Otherwise, what is it going to take to fix this obviously broken system????
Oct 8, 2012, 10:09 pm
#33
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
My wife just flew SFO-NRT-BKK in BF. This was not an upgrade, nor a last minute booking. She is vegetarian; her profile shows this; she called more than 24hrs in advance to re-confirm that a special meal was requested; she checked again when she checked in, ad was told that her special meal request was there.
And yet on the plane still no special meal.
Adding insult to hunger was the attitude of some of the cabin staff: 'well you must have been upgraded'. Obviously the request hadn't made it into their records!
I was on the same NRT/BKK flight the week before and one of the cabin staff confirmed that they do serve special meals, even in Y ('people occasionally have them')
If UA are really not going to serve special meals in any cabin on trans-pacific flights, can't they just come out and say so?
Otherwise, what is it going to take to fix this obviously broken system????
And yet on the plane still no special meal.
Adding insult to hunger was the attitude of some of the cabin staff: 'well you must have been upgraded'. Obviously the request hadn't made it into their records!
I was on the same NRT/BKK flight the week before and one of the cabin staff confirmed that they do serve special meals, even in Y ('people occasionally have them')
If UA are really not going to serve special meals in any cabin on trans-pacific flights, can't they just come out and say so?
Otherwise, what is it going to take to fix this obviously broken system????
Caterers make mistakes.
Oct 9, 2012, 8:55 am
#34
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: co, ua
Posts: 3
I can accept that it happens once in a while. However, this was actually the second time in a row, and for both sectors of both trips . And on both occasions, not only was there no special meal, but at least one senior member of the cabin staff went out of their way to attempt to shift responsibility for the failure onto my wife - the passenger. No attempt to find out the circumstances, or whether the special meal had been ordered- just an automatic assumption that it was because she had been upgraded at the last minute, which was not the case either time.
A question earlier in this thread still remains relevant and unanswered: why does the note'special meals not available for this flight' show up when booking online? Yet, all the info available to customer service/ground staff indicates special meals are available.
So, I really don't believe this is a one-off error. I still believe there is a systemic issue: some special meal requests that are clearly visible in a passenger booking are not being relayed all the way to catering to load, or the cabin staff. And further a customer service issue - which ( I am giving the benefit of the doubt here) might have a root in this issue being more widespread than is recognized.
A question earlier in this thread still remains relevant and unanswered: why does the note'special meals not available for this flight' show up when booking online? Yet, all the info available to customer service/ground staff indicates special meals are available.
So, I really don't believe this is a one-off error. I still believe there is a systemic issue: some special meal requests that are clearly visible in a passenger booking are not being relayed all the way to catering to load, or the cabin staff. And further a customer service issue - which ( I am giving the benefit of the doubt here) might have a root in this issue being more widespread than is recognized.
Oct 9, 2012, 9:41 pm
#35
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
The one time where I didn't get a meal was EWR-LAX last week. The crew was aware of the request on the manifest, but the meal hadn't been catered. Given your experience, you wound up with a bad crew.