Oct 14, 2015, 3:37 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
UA Press Release dated October 14 2015.
Oct 25: PS menus get upgraded and look delicious
Nov 1: Domestic first flights between 1:30 and 3:59pm that are more than 3 hours get lunch
Nov 1: Hawaii and transcon redeyes get dinner service
Beginning Nov. 1, the airline will refresh lunch and dinner choices for United First and United Business customers on flights throughout the U.S. and Canada, and to Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America leisure markets.
United-operated flights that currently offer meal service will addnew dishes, like Spanish paella, mushroom risotto and seafood cioppino on shorter dinner flights.
Meal window expansion
The carrier will also expand meals to:
Lunch flights longer than three hours, departing between 1:30 and 3:59 p.m., which will offer options that include seasonal entree salads like a Napa salad with grilled salmon, goat cheese and fig and an arugula salad with Milanese-style chicken; and
Late-night flights between Hawaii and Houston, Chicago, New York/Newark and Washington, which will offer full dinner service with new entrees, such as hoisin short ribs with wasabi grits and stir-fried vegetables.
Late-night non-p.s. transcontinental flights and service between Hawaii and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver, as well as other late-departing flights of at least five hours and 20 minutes, will offer hearty sandwiches after takeoff, such as a pretzel burger with bleu cheese dressing, arugula and pickled onions, followed by warmed pastries before arrival.
United will continue to offer its p.s. made-to-order sundaes for dessert, followed by bake-on-board cookies prior to arrival.
Oct 25: PS menus get upgraded and look delicious
Nov 1: Domestic first flights between 1:30 and 3:59pm that are more than 3 hours get lunch
Nov 1: Hawaii and transcon redeyes get dinner service
Beginning Nov. 1, the airline will refresh lunch and dinner choices for United First and United Business customers on flights throughout the U.S. and Canada, and to Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America leisure markets.
United-operated flights that currently offer meal service will addnew dishes, like Spanish paella, mushroom risotto and seafood cioppino on shorter dinner flights.
Meal window expansion
The carrier will also expand meals to:
Lunch flights longer than three hours, departing between 1:30 and 3:59 p.m., which will offer options that include seasonal entree salads like a Napa salad with grilled salmon, goat cheese and fig and an arugula salad with Milanese-style chicken; and
Late-night flights between Hawaii and Houston, Chicago, New York/Newark and Washington, which will offer full dinner service with new entrees, such as hoisin short ribs with wasabi grits and stir-fried vegetables.
Late-night non-p.s. transcontinental flights and service between Hawaii and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver, as well as other late-departing flights of at least five hours and 20 minutes, will offer hearty sandwiches after takeoff, such as a pretzel burger with bleu cheese dressing, arugula and pickled onions, followed by warmed pastries before arrival.
United will continue to offer its p.s. made-to-order sundaes for dessert, followed by bake-on-board cookies prior to arrival.
Hi everyone,
As a follow-up to our recent news release about investments we’re making in dining onboard and in our United Clubs, we have a number of details to share about changes coming this weekend to every cabin on many of our North and Latin America flights, to offer you restaurant-quality meals. These latest upgrades come in addition to those we made October 25 to premium-cabin dining on our p.s. Premium Service.
For a more in-depth look at the investment we’re making in our food, UnitedAirtime.com now includes insightful foodie stories and a new video about why we want the food we serve to be exciting and interesting – something we’re working on in partnership with The Trotter Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring new generations of culinary minds.
Here are some highlights of menu changes on flights within the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and leisure markets in Mexico; which will be reflected beginning November 2 on our united.com North America premium-cabin dining page and Choice Menu page:
p.s. Premium Service enhancements beginning October 25:
Premium-cabin dining changes beginning November 1:
We hope many of you have the opportunity to experience these new dining options and we look forward to hearing from you.
-UA Insider
As a follow-up to our recent news release about investments we’re making in dining onboard and in our United Clubs, we have a number of details to share about changes coming this weekend to every cabin on many of our North and Latin America flights, to offer you restaurant-quality meals. These latest upgrades come in addition to those we made October 25 to premium-cabin dining on our p.s. Premium Service.
For a more in-depth look at the investment we’re making in our food, UnitedAirtime.com now includes insightful foodie stories and a new video about why we want the food we serve to be exciting and interesting – something we’re working on in partnership with The Trotter Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring new generations of culinary minds.
Here are some highlights of menu changes on flights within the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and leisure markets in Mexico; which will be reflected beginning November 2 on our united.com North America premium-cabin dining page and Choice Menu page:
p.s. Premium Service enhancements beginning October 25:
Premium-cabin dining changes beginning November 1:
-New seasonal entrée salads with refreshed protein component served on the side
-New side salads and transcon/Hawaii starter salads
-The United Business cabin on three-cabin aircraft will offer all entrée choices served in the United First cabin
-United Express two-cabin regional jet service will also offer new premium-cabin lunch, dinner and snacks, and expanded lunch meal service to flights longer than three hours
Choice Menu Bistro on Board changes beginning November 1 We hope many of you have the opportunity to experience these new dining options and we look forward to hearing from you.
-UA Insider
Starting Oct 25 '15 UA PS/HNL long-haul redeyes/mid-cons will feature BETTER options!
Jan 21, 2015, 11:12 pm
#91
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,159
Hmm, so HNL-EWR (departing 9:25 p.m., 4962 miles) gets no food service to start, a mid-flight selection of premium packaged snacks and fresh fruit, and a pre-arrival refreshment or snack?
Is that a service downgrade? It's too bad it's not scheduled at 8:45 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.
Is that a service downgrade? It's too bad it's not scheduled at 8:45 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.
Despite AA's written policy that all flights after 8pm get no meals (except JFK-LAX/SFO; LAX-MIA), westbound transcons leaving JFK/PHL/CLT/MIA a bit after 8pm still gets dinner (i.e., the 8:05pm MIA-SAN; the 8:30pm PHL-LAS flights).
Jan 22, 2015, 12:06 am
#92
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,597
Update on Reinvented North America Premium Cabin Dining
Fabulous! Except I've booked my next trip in paid F on VX because it was cheaper. I would love to know how the new meals compare to VX.
Jan 22, 2015, 1:04 am
#93
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SFO/IAD
Programs: UA Gold, US, AA, DL
Posts: 97
I don't know. I think this is not a heavy business route, and if there's just a snack plate and pre-arrival snack now, it's not too much of a step down to the new standard. I think there should absolutely be a meal service on that flight, but if UA is satisfied with the present standards on this route the new ones, they will probably be satisfied with the new standards too.
Jan 22, 2015, 1:52 am
#94
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
While I overall like the changes, I feel the loss of a formal meal on the Red Eye's is a bummer. First off, Red Eye's are my favorite flights.
Putting aside the personal factor, if you figure a T-Con is at minimum 5'30" gate to gate, plus you board 30" prior to departure, 6 hours is a lengthy period without something more substantial than a banana or mini-tolberone bar, especially if you don't sleep much. At least give me a $10.00 Bob credit. That's still very simple / inexpensive to manage.
Putting aside the personal factor, if you figure a T-Con is at minimum 5'30" gate to gate, plus you board 30" prior to departure, 6 hours is a lengthy period without something more substantial than a banana or mini-tolberone bar, especially if you don't sleep much. At least give me a $10.00 Bob credit. That's still very simple / inexpensive to manage.
Jan 22, 2015, 5:29 am
#95
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
Looks like a move in a right direction...
Now... could we have something edible in the United Clubs? Like soup US serves in its clubs? The cost should not be significant...
Now... could we have something edible in the United Clubs? Like soup US serves in its clubs? The cost should not be significant...
Jan 22, 2015, 7:11 am
#96
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 3,361
While I overall like the changes, I feel the loss of a formal meal on the Red Eye's is a bummer. First off, Red Eye's are my favorite flights.
Putting aside the personal factor, if you figure a T-Con is at minimum 5'30" gate to gate, plus you board 30" prior to departure, 6 hours is a lengthy period without something more substantial than a banana or mini-tolberone bar, especially if you don't sleep much. At least give me a $10.00 Bob credit. That's still very simple / inexpensive to manage.
Putting aside the personal factor, if you figure a T-Con is at minimum 5'30" gate to gate, plus you board 30" prior to departure, 6 hours is a lengthy period without something more substantial than a banana or mini-tolberone bar, especially if you don't sleep much. At least give me a $10.00 Bob credit. That's still very simple / inexpensive to manage.
Jan 22, 2015, 7:26 am
#97
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: ORD-LAS
Programs: UA MM 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 4,419
ORD-BDL, I'm happy.
Jan 22, 2015, 7:46 am
#98
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
Putting aside the personal factor, if you figure a T-Con is at minimum 5'30" gate to gate, plus you board 30" prior to departure, 6 hours is a lengthy period without something more substantial than a banana or mini-tolberone bar, especially if you don't sleep much. At least give me a $10.00 Bob credit. That's still very simple / inexpensive to manage.
Also, it's not just redeyes, this is also late westbounds (e.g., 10:00 PM IAD-SFO). So you're easily looking at a 6+ hour gate to gate in many cases, plus you could have been running inbound from a connection with no time to grab something (or running from a BF flight where your second meal was a hot pocket). A snack basket for F passengers is not cool in those situations.
As for the credit concept, though, while it certainly sounds simple and manageable, keep in mind the context of UA's revenue underperformance under which UA currently operates. They just posted today that in 2014 they made 0.86 cents less per revenue passenger mile than did DL. So if your average transcon is 2,500 miles and has 150 passengers, then UA on average bringing in $3,200 less per flight than had it been a DL flight. Talking about a $10 credit x up to 20-24 passengers in that context is not going to fly.
Jan 22, 2015, 8:22 am
#99
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,421
This is obviously good news. I do think the USA airlines now realize that their product really sucks compared to that offered pretty much anywhere else in the world. I honestly think it discourages demand for air travel: especially among higher paying pax who look for reasons NOT to fly. With the USA airlines now making BILLIONS in annual profit, hopefully this long-term perspective will take hold and more service improvements will be forthcoming.
Maybe next they will revisit the food/drink offerings in the lounge. Completely embarrassing. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to make customers feel appreciated and not hate the experience.
Maybe next they will revisit the food/drink offerings in the lounge. Completely embarrassing. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to make customers feel appreciated and not hate the experience.
Jan 22, 2015, 9:15 am
#100
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: ASE
Programs: UA 1MM, AA1MM PLTPRO, Hertz PC, National EXC, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton/Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,357
Major kudos to UA for upping their game here. UA will be the clear leader, now, in this area. ^^^^^
Jan 22, 2015, 9:43 am
#101
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: HiltonSilver, MariottGold, HyattPlat, KimptonTier3, UA 1K, HertzGold,AvisPres
Posts: 116
I'm very excited for these changes. My next few trips are all in paid F, so looking forward to the better meals. Please tackle the UC food offerings please. It can't cost that much more to add a few more substantial items. Please.
The wine has been just OK in domestic F and the coffee.. Not so much. Those area couple items that could use some tweaking as you roll out the new meals. Thanks UA!
The wine has been just OK in domestic F and the coffee.. Not so much. Those area couple items that could use some tweaking as you roll out the new meals. Thanks UA!
Jan 22, 2015, 10:21 am
#102
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: New Jersey
Programs: UA MM 1K, AA MM Gold, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 3,235
Great news for those who can get into F.
On a side note, I wonder if this is part of a plan to increase the number of TOD upgrades by marketing both the hard product and the meals when offering a TOD?
On a side note, I wonder if this is part of a plan to increase the number of TOD upgrades by marketing both the hard product and the meals when offering a TOD?
Jan 22, 2015, 10:22 am
#103
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: NYC, FLL
Programs: UA PP 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy LTTE, BA Gold
Posts: 6,322
Even though the example meals they cited sound rather awful, kudos for the effort to improve. ^ The Q400's need some real food instead of the (often absent) tiny snack mix. The Mediterranean snack plate they service on mainlines currently is delicious, too.
Jan 22, 2015, 10:51 am
#104
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Raddison Platinum, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 5,271
Hmm, so HNL-EWR (departing 9:25 p.m., 4962 miles) gets no food service to start, a mid-flight selection of premium packaged snacks and fresh fruit, and a pre-arrival refreshment or snack?
Is that a service downgrade? It's too bad it's not scheduled at 8:45 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.
Is that a service downgrade? It's too bad it's not scheduled at 8:45 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.
So I wouldn't call it a downgrade. but if they don't make it an "exception" I wouldn't call it an upgrade either. We'll see
Last edited by eng3; Jan 23, 2015 at 6:39 am
Jan 22, 2015, 11:20 am
#105
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Well, it's nice to see a major US airline putting a little bit of effort into domestic F. Perhaps if this goes well I'll migrate to UA from AA which now seems unable to bother serving much other than inedible garbage on flights systemwide with the exception of Eagle. I'll have to consider giving UA a shot in a month.