thesmiler

Also that you will get it even if you sit in the last row of Y

Cissigys

Maybe this is an unrelated question/comment, but is there any actual evidence that United provides a different meal when you order a Lacto-ovo vs. Vegan meal? They're both shown as different special meals on the website, but every time I've ordered a Lacto-ovo vegetarian meal (which could theoretically include dairy/eggs), I've been given a tiny and tasteless vegan meal. I get that it makes sense from an operational perspective to provide a single meal that technically meets both criteria, but it's a little annoying that they act like a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal is a real option when I seem to always end up with a vegan meal instead....

thesmiler

In my experience this happens with multiple airlines. To get a less tasteless meal, ordering an AVML has helped for me.

goatee87

My wife flew SFO to LHR today and was able to and did request an AVML meal. She reports, unfortunately, that AVML consisted of plain rice and boiled vegetables and definitely not South Asian. I am sure I will be sad when I hear of what her breakfast consisted of. Looks like United is sending out vegan meals as the lowest common denominator.

uastarflyer

This would be super disappointing as having some flavor is the point of how UA defines AVML. It traditionally has a slight Indian vibe (curry, veggies, sometimes even paneer). My go-to choice.

Hope it is an aberration and the meals out of LHR are better - they know curry in London!

excinit

Same here on LAX-NRT. AVML was vegan for both meals. To United's credit the breakfast wasnt bad.

I agree this is to common - happens with ANA too, but Delta's vegetrarian meals to/from Japan have been far superior and include dairy.

goatee87

Worth risking avml from London to SF? Flight departing tomorrow

DELee

Unclear what you are risking. Flight is over 10 hours. Even without eating whatever meal UA decides to serve, there will be some other items to eat. If you don't think that's ok, you have the option of bringing items on board either from LHR or before you arrive at the airport.

This is FlyerTalk. Everyone should be rationally assessing their travel situation and responding accordingly.

David

uastarflyer

I would risk it and trust London catering knows what to do (Indian style mains) - they know curry

But carry on a snack just in case Kirby has derated the offerings

travelingman79

Could any who have ordered AVML since its recent re-introduction give descriptions/examples/photos of what they were served as AVML, especially on Polaris or premium transcontinental/P.S. routes? Just curious what I could expect if I wanted something other than "beef, fish/chicken, pasta" to break the monotony of the past couple of years.

goatee87

That's what I am thinking/hoping. Boiled vegetables and rice would totally ruin the experience.

See my post above, AVML out of SFO on polaris was functionally equivalent to a western-style vegan meal.

ft4lyf

Recently had Asian Veg on EWR-ZRH.
The dinner was not worth to be photographed. It was Indian style - Taste and presentation were both terrible.
Dinner was Flattened rice (Poha) with some spinach and veggies on side.

Food taste/quality has dropped so severely. Incredible!!

For "breakfast" on that flight, was offered the French Toast from the regular menu as "Vegetarian".
Since it is basically bread cooked in eggs, I did not partake.
Was surprised there was no special meal for the breakfast. (Way In the past it used to be a frozen Bagel packed in plastic).

uastarflyer

That breakfast is a miscater and should be reported (complaint) - special meal means all meals, even a midflight snack if applicable

emcampbe

a ‘guarantee’ that you should get what it is. May or may not be different than the, say, veggie pasta already offered. But they won’t run out (unless they forget to cater it or lose the order…unfortunately more common on UA than other carriers based on anecdotal evidence…stories here for sure), and also, you’ll get served earlier and can finish/sleep earlier if you want.

technically, any vegan meal is vegetarian (or more specifically, a vegan meal by default meets requirements for lacto-ovo, but not the other way around). I agree that it would be nice to have different options for each, but the descriptions say it ‘may contain’ dairy, eggs, cheese, etc. for lacto-ovo and not ‘will’. So technically, providing a vegan for those ordering Lacto-ovo is not out of scope.

interestingly enough, UA also, at least per-pandemic, did their meals a little differently than most others. Technically, their ‘Hindu’ meal is AVML, vs. others which typically have the Hindu as a meat option (no beef/pork).

Agreed - pretty much everywhere I’ve had/seen lacto-ovo seems just pretty sad, plain veggies, unless they do something like a pasta. One example, ordered veggie on TK once, and despite having some of the best Y catering of any airline Ive flown, the lacto-ovo was really disappointing. Didn’t make that mistake again.

due to the AVML style of meals, as in usually an Indian-style curry or similar with flavorful sauces/spices, these are almost always better.

I wonder if it was a mis-cater? Did she look at the code on the special meal she received - they always have it and would indicate if she got something different than ordered.

tomorrow? Better be quick - special meals need to be ordered prior to T-24 hours, IIRC.

yup - that French Toast was not AVML.

interestingly enough, and this was a few years back, we were ex-pats in BOM and so did the EWR-BOM and vv. in J. Wife, who is from South India and grew up in MAA, so knows good Indian food, was way more impressed with the ex-EWR AVML than the ex-BOM.

fed planner

Anyone have experience with GFML since the restart. Have requested this for my wife for a trip in a couple of weeks (IAH-MUB/MUC-IAD in Polaris)?