sinoflyer

Ha!

spin88

It was when freshpoo came out the No 1 complaint. It stayed no 1 or 2 for the first year (at which point my source of information dried up ) after the 3/12 changes. It was a very noticeable destruction of the customer experience anyone who has any wish/need for semi-decent coffee and its something that people who need it (especially on international flights where you need to wake up) could not avoid. Lots of UA passengers started bringing VIA, and the FAs I talked to when I asked for a cup for my VIA would always say that they got very negative feedback about the coffee.

I can also recall seeing some very strong - and negative - responses by passengers in F/J and domestic FC. I get that some people may think that Taco Bell is a top quality meal, or that Bud is great beer, but there are a lot of folks - heavily over-indexed on the coastal markets that UNITED served - who want and expect better, and are insulted and turned off when getting crap product.

But the proof is in the pudding. Oscar wanted - and said he wanted - a quick improvement that was symbolic. My back of the envelope calculation is that freshpoo cost about 1/3 of the cost of starbucks (abrabica beans are about 1/2 of the rubustica crap in freshboo, and I'm sure freshpoo was even cheaper). My guess is that United saved $1 on each packet of Freshboo. Figure 10 packets on the average flight, 5000 flights a day, we are talking $50,000/day, or about $18M bucks a year give or take. I bet a real improvement (like Peats) would be even more expensive.

Clearly the CO management could not see the future impact on eventual ticket sales of cheapening the product (someone must have checked the only copy of Gordo's book out of the CO library and never returned it) Oscar would not be spending that kind of money - and he really has to being back a quality coffee or the entire point is lost - absent it having a measurable impact on the bottom line.

Basically United is bleeding high value traffic, and Oscar (unlike Jeff) is able to look being the simply Hunter Keay version of cost cutting and see the broader picture.

As other have noted its very important to a lot of people. First, if literately left a bad taste in their mouth, second it was symbolic.

Try taking someone for a coffee at MickyD's to try to win some business from them. That was about the quality United is now offering to each new (or continuing) passenger.

Few wolves I know are narcissists.

I don't think it was that cheap to fix, but it is certainly high on the list, and can (if this is true) be done quickly. I am of the view the new Bourdon was another of these "quick wins" although other posters think the planning/socking time on that was too long to be Oscar's doing.

+1

Their coffee was really, really good when it first came out. Each batch was interesting. I used to go get it at the kiosk in Hayes Valley, worth the trip.

Then they got $40M of VC funding, but as they expanded, quality fell. I think its like wine grapes, or any AG product where the supply of the best quality product is very hard to get. Blue Bottle is just not capable of getting the quantity of special beans reliable to produce the quality of quality coffee it is now attempting.

But I saw the same thing with Starbucks (whose coffee was good when they had 3 stores in Seattle, or Peats when they had a few stores in Berzerkley. Coffee was very good, fell as quantity increased.

My bet is on Peats. This change is only worthwhile if it sends a strong signal that United is going to turn a corner on product quality. I can't see any smaller producer than someone Peats size being able to provide enough coffee for a company of UA's size.

XCstud

The UC club doesn't have JW blue label, but BA only has that in their F lounges, not their business class lounges. Not sure what's on on offer in the GFL.


Back to the original topic, the coffee issue is symbolic of the culture of the airline. I'm never going to expect a fantastic cup of gourmet coffee served on a plane, but bad, cheap coffee is symptomatic of UA favoring cheap over quality. I know very few people that if price/schedule were equal would choose to fly UA over a competitor. As others have said, nobody is going to say I'm flying airline X because they have better coffee, but the coffee is one of the many things that make up the broader experience.

euslaner

Crew rumor on flight this weekend: Starbucks coming back

dmurphynj

I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks, but I'll gladly take it over Freshpoo. Really.

You know what though? UA should absolutely continue their relationship with Freshbrew.

The lavs need air fresheners. Don't waste the good stuff on the lav!

United747

Haha. Finally a change I'll actually like! Flying BF to GVA a few months ago, I couldn't even finish it. I was happy to see a nespresso machine when I got to my hotel!

Neil35

If the penalty for terminating the Freshpoo contract is big enough, we may have a 10-year supply for the lavs.

Personally I like the Freshpoo scent (in lavs), it smell better and is more healthy than any artificial air fresheners.

artvandalay

How long has it been since there was truly "a change we will like?" Do we thank cheap gas prices or the departure of Jeff for this milestone? But it's interesting--and encouraging--that even small changes like restoring some quality to onboard coffee are beginning quickly. People might actually start flying UA again if things like this continue.

fly18725

I think here're are regular opportunities to revisit a vendor contract. Using a change for PR value is an added bonus.

For what it's worth, I've heard Starbucks is out because Delta's contract with Starbucks prohibits any additional US-based airlines serving Starbucks inflight.

char777

If you could grind the beans on the plane, you could at least serve it in a French press or airpot style. Anything else would be too time consuming or difficult to do in-flight. But yes, if it must be pre-ground, then that limits most/all of the high quality roasters as options.

Hah! I suggested Blue Bottle tongue in cheek. I used to only go to the Webster Street one around lunchtime or late afternoon when I used to work in JLS, and I didn't think it was too unbearable. The one I really hate is the one in Mint Plaza in SF — the line is *always* out the door, and it's full of people who moved to SF six months ago telling their friend who's just here for a weekend tech conference about how "awesome" and "different" it is from Starbucks.

Oh, and they've definitely started to water down the New Orleans style in recent months. It's not as strong as it used to be, probably because that's all anybody ever seems to order now, and because cold brew takes forever to make anyway.

And we haven't even mentioned Ritual yet!

RockinRon

After choking down a cup on my 7AM flight and one more in the United Club in ORD F, I can say I will look forward to any change. I think reading this thread heightened the bad aftertaste.

REPUBLIC757

That's good to know. Hope it does.

The thing is, airlines tend to screw up brewing coffee in general. PMUA served it from stainless steel carafes (IIRC) whereas DL and AA brew it and then serve it from plastic containers in Y. So when you drink it there's a plastic aftertaste that is disgusting.

I'll be the first to speak out against most moves since the merger by CO management, but my experiences with Freshpoo weren't that bad. Yes it sucked to loose Starbucks, but it was better than drinking Seattle's Best on DL.

dmurphynj

My experience with pmUA and pmCO were that both used the steel carafes for coffee. Tea seemed to come from the plastic carafes, making that also less drinkable.

Kacee

Don't even get me started!

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I bet DL's deal (if one exists) with Starbucks precludes UA from advertising the availability of Starbucks. UA could still buy/serve it but not say/promote what it is. Maybe that'll push UA to a deal with Dunkin' Donuts, which will fit a Chicago-based airline better than the Seattle-based SBUX and Seattle-hubbed DL.