sinoflyer

Thanks for the photos sbm12. I have to wonder, however, why they don't just serve BOB in F and end this "investment" charade. Aside from those salads and that short ribs dish, if that's how the "investments" look like coming fresh out of the flight kitchen, I can't imagine how unappetizing they would be coming out of the foil at 35,000 feet.

As a side note, I just arrived on SAN-IAH-SAT today, CPUed both flights. Neither one had the 312 Urban Wheat on board. We're almost two months into the switchover, and catering is still inconsistent on how the beverage cart is provisioned. Color me jaded, but I'm not expecting much from this "investment."

riphamilton

good to know i'm not the only veg/pescetarian FF here; hopefully UA recognizes this and lessens their use of cheap meat as filler that ruins otherwise veg-friendly food.

i doubt even the hardiest of meat lovers would shed a tear if the turkey sausage was served separately with the bistro scramble, for example. it'd be nice if i had more than one option on the bistro menu for lunch and dinner combined (the box o'cheese).

i'm not even asking for good veg food at this point - i would simply like to see some sign that UA accepts the idea that vegetarians fly their airline.

LarkSFO

I am 100% on the new 312 beer on my flights. While typically wheat beer is not my favorite, this one is pretty good and I'll choose it every time (vs. Heineken).

I have a few RPU'd transcon and midcon flights upcoming. I'll let you know my thoughts on the food, if in fact it is catered on my flights.

sinoflyer

I've flown ~10 UA/UAX segments since July 1, including today. Excluding 2 CLD-LAX segments with no beverage service and 2 6am flights where I didn't bother asking for alcohol, I asked and received the 312 twice. That's a .333 batting average (2 for 6). Good for baseball, bad for a self-proclaimed "global airline."

UA-NYC

Hey now, every savvy flyer knows that there's a significant investment needed in the kitchens to have the caterers prepare better food...it's not as simple as, you know, just spending more on the food

goodeats21

Agreed. Thanks for posting the photos.

I was fine with the announced soup/sandwiches for lunch, but they need to be high quality. The photos do not impress me especially considering these were staged with particular care for this event. And are they really not serving chips or pretzels or something?

The ham and cheese on pretzel roll looks particularly grim. The ham looks very sparse (there is a gap with no meat in the middle of the sandwich)...not even enough for a whole sandwich, let alone appearing stuffed or generous. And it is hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't seem to be very high quality ham....more like a pressed ham product.

Akulashark

No thanks, I have dined here before.

How about pouring money into things that make people more productive, WiFi *and* power.

Or maybe preventive maintenance so I don't have a delay on every single flight.

Bear96

Another vegetarian here, and I agree, except that this is not really a UA-specific issue.

sinoflyer

I'm inclined to wonder what exactly "multi-million dollar investment" really means now. Increasing the annual catering budget by $1.1M can be defined as "multi-million," and any kind of spending can be called an "investment" these days. Worse, "multi-million" might actually just refer to the fact that UA's catering budget costs millions of dollars.

Considering those split cashews alone meant $200,000, "multi-million" might not mean much more than an extra slice of cheese.

spin88

These photos reminded me of a trip with an ex-GF. We tacked on a trip to Thailand and spend 3 days in BKK and 4 days at Phuket. It was the first trip to Thailand for either of us. So I booked us into BKK (and did the hotel in HKG) and we stayed at the then brand new Westin (which is now the Banyan Tree) and it was wonderful. She was responsible for arrangements in Phuket. So we arrive and it is this dinky place, off the beach, and the room stinks. Stains on the plastic bed spread cover, everything in the bathroom was rusting. Holes in the carpet. I don't want to touch anything.

She looks at me, looks at the room, realizes she made a major mistake. I get on the phone, and book us into the Amanpuri, and we check out.

So in the tuk tuk, I asked her, and she says that this place was the cheapest of the three star hotels in Phuket. I ask about the pictures, and she says it looked like this, just clean and newer.

If this is what you can tell from the pictures, when United is trying to impress everyone, the reality will be far worse. And yes, agree on the pretzel roll. Bad joke, little meat, low quality, dry. And no effort to pair it with anything.

What clearly happened was United raised their catering budget from $3.25 to $3.30, and went with the plated BOB options where they could (saving some money) while tossing a little more into a few dinner options.

United clearly is getting the message that crap catering is driving away high value customers (disproving what the "savvy" set says) yet their response is not to make the real investments to fix things, rather they are putting lip stick on the pig.

The only real substantial "enhancement" I see in everything being said is an implied promise to dump the F snack box. That would be great if it really happened, and they matched DAL and AAL in offering real F meals on express, but the promise from UAL is at best vague, and I'll believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, enjoying flying VX, DL, and AS. All three are very glad to see me as a customer.

nevansm

Flying a transcon domestic segment tonight, does anybody know if I should expect the updated entrees for dinner?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Another reason for lack of 312 at times is my presence on a flight. I've been told (burp) twice that I've depleted their supply. Hopefully, they adjust catering occasionally based on demand.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I doubt it. Too soon. Flew SFO-OGG Monday and was faced with the 2+ year old running choice of chicken cacciatore or spinach lasagna.

kirkwoodj

LOL. I've been 100% stocked on domestic, intl, and UX, and have suggested it to seatmates who seemed curious.

sinoflyer

lol. iirc they stock only three 312s per flight. If I clear CPU ahead of time, I'll try to sit in row 1 or 2 to improve my average.