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Special Meals - Questions, Experiences,...

Special Meals - Questions, Experiences,...

Old Jun 16, 2019, 1:18 pm
  #271  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Originally Posted by uastarflyer
Just rode SFO-SIN Polaris and HNML was Indian curry, paneer, rice, chickpeas etc for the two main meals. Accompanied with me raiding the garlic bread.

Coach meals are similar but less quantity.
I have never done a “special meal” in business class (there’s usually enough choice that there’s something that suits my restrictions / preferences). I also have never noticed someone getting one and didn’t realize they made “business class”-class special meals, so... how are they? In coach I’ll usually order AVML just for the better odds of flavors (and not having pork/beef which isn’t my favorites).

When I have done the business or PE pre-ordering on other airlines (SQ, for example), it’s a bit hit or miss if It’s seemed similar in quality or like more trade-offs were done to make it work.

If you were sure there’d be a “regular meal” fitting your dietary needs, would you still order the special meal?
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 5:53 pm
  #272  
 
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Similar thought. I am flying EWR-HKG next week ini Polaris. Anyone have an idea what a vegetarian meal would be?
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 5:58 pm
  #273  
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Originally Posted by happy10345
Similar thought. I am flying EWR-HKG next week ini Polaris. Anyone have an idea what a vegetarian meal would be?
As mentioned in the other thread, there are multiple vegetarian special meals options
UA In-flight Special meals
And special meals need to be requested in advance. See the UA link or the thread's wiki (top post) for details
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Old Jul 16, 2019, 10:34 am
  #274  
 
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Booked on United Polaris from SFO-DEL in December - anyone know what the Hindu Vegetarian meal option would be?
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 3:40 pm
  #275  
 
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
The change to do special meals domestic is sort of recent, so for some agents you may need to push a bit
Does that include Y+ on the premium transcontinental routes?
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 9:09 pm
  #276  
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Originally Posted by dblumenhoff
Does that include Y+ on the premium transcontinental routes?
No

U.S. flights

Special meals are available in premium cabins on the following U.S. flights with scheduled meal service:
  • Premium transcontinental flights
  • From the continental U.S. to Hawaii
  • From Honolulu and Maui to the continental U.S.
  • New in 2018 Special meals are available on most North America premium cabin flights 2,000 miles or longer.
{quote]
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Old Jul 28, 2019, 10:12 pm
  #277  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
No


{quote]
I know UA has been trying to market the Y+ on these flights as PE, so I wasn't sure whether premium cabin included that or not
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 12:19 pm
  #278  
 
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Steak and black beane

I had that a couple of weeks ago. Terrible combination. The black beans form a puddle of black liquid on the plate.
I'm thinking if ordering a special meal on my ps flights this week. Has anyone ever tried the Muslim special meal?
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Old Aug 2, 2019, 1:19 pm
  #279  
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any recent experiences with the kids meals? flying TATL with my 4,7 and 10 yo in J and wonder if worth ordering...
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Old Aug 3, 2019, 10:39 am
  #280  
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Originally Posted by FlyingDoctorwu
any recent experiences with the kids meals? flying TATL with my 4,7 and 10 yo in J and wonder if worth ordering...
If you're in J, just order off the adult menu - the servings are already kid-size.
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Old Aug 10, 2019, 11:23 pm
  #281  
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Originally Posted by FlyingDoctorwu
any recent experiences with the kids meals? flying TATL with my 4,7 and 10 yo in J and wonder if worth ordering...
Your kids are lucky! We are heading over to LHR in about a week in Y and I was wondering if the child meal would be more palatable than the adult version. What would be typically served instead? Are they smaller portions than adult meals, which are pretty small already? Lastly, if the kids end up not liking it, are there usually extra adult meals available as replacements?

TIA.

LAX
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Old Dec 30, 2019, 3:30 am
  #282  
 
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Flying with a companion ex-lhr who has a dairy allergy.

I note that with respect to kosher meals the UA website states:

All Kosher meals provided for flights departing the U.S., and flights departing Tel Aviv, Israel, are Glatt Kosher.
Is it safe to assume then that kosher meals on flights not departing the US or TLV are not Glatt Kosher? Any recent experiences?
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Old Dec 30, 2019, 4:58 am
  #283  
 
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Is it safe to assume then that kosher meals on flights not departing the US or TLV are not Glatt Kosher?
Interesting.

From this site:

"The catch is that when it comes to calves, sheep, deer, and fowl (chicken, turkey, and duck), they must be glatt in order to be deemed kosher at all in the U.S. If one of these products is labeled "glatt", it is misleading because if it were not glatt, it would not be kosher."

So it seems the US has somewhat stricter kosher rules. Would be interesting to know if the meals prepared in the UK adhere to where the meals are prepared or to the country of the airline.
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Old Jan 1, 2020, 12:11 am
  #284  
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Flying with a companion ex-lhr who has a dairy allergy.

I note that with respect to kosher meals the UA website states:



Is it safe to assume then that kosher meals on flights not departing the US or TLV are not Glatt Kosher? Any recent experiences?
Glatt or not Glatt would not affect a dairy allergy.

The meals departing London would almost definitely be Glatt (don't believe I've ever gotten a KSML on any carrier ex-LON [any airport] that wasn't Glatt).

That being said, Glatt is specific to beef. Colloquially it is used to refer to a "higher level of stringency" but technically only beef can be Glatt, not poultry, and certainly not dairy.

Kosher law forbids mixing milk and meat, so meals will be clearly marked as either Dairy, Meat, or Parve (neither dairy nor meat).

If it's meat, then there is no milk product in anything, Glatt or not. If it's Parve, then depending on the allergy level, you'll need to check the ingredients because if the allergy is severe enough, there could be trace particles that will set off an allergy but aren't enough to be considered "dairy" under Jewish law.

There are actual products that say "Kosher Parve" but under ingredients specify in allergens that it does or may contain milk products.
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Old Jan 1, 2020, 12:43 am
  #285  
 
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Glatt has essentially become the standard for Kashrut worldwide, despite most authorities permitting non-Glatt meat. The few diasporic agencies that certify non-Glatt meat (most notably Triangle-K) are not considered acceptable by the mainstream kosher-observant community, and I would find it hard to believe that there would be KSML originating in any country that are non-Glatt.

The one exception is the regular meals on El Al departing TLV, which AFAIK are non-Glatt. As a result, they have an option on El Al to order a Glatt meal, which I believe is the KSML that you would get if you order on another airline out of TLV. They also offer the glatt meal out of airports where their food really is glatt because once the ovens have been used for non-glatt they can't advertise as glatt, etc, etc.

Re: dairy, the rules for how equipment that was used for dairy must be cleaned to be considered allergen-free are different than to be considered pareve (non-dairy under Jewish law). In some ways Jewish law is more stringent, in some ways allergy-prevention is more stringent. Sometimes something will be labeled Kosher-Dairy and not have dairy listed as an allergen, sometimes something will be listed as Kosher-Pareve and have dairy listed as an allergen. However, if the person's sensitivity is fairly low (trace amounts OK), then kosher-meat and kosher-pareve are indicative of the item being safe.
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