I generally don’t preorder, but have not had any problem with getting my complimentary food and drinks as a 1K

I think I was able to get the cheese board once... and while it is something that I would prefer since I think the snack boxes are getting a little tired... I actually complained to UA about how horrible the cheese stuff was.....

I dont think I have ever been able to get the other 'major' options - and the smaller snacks are a joke

Yeah, that's been my experience as well. Every non-snackbox option shows "Out of Stock" every single time I'm offered.

I've never had an issue getting things like the burger onboard, though, and the FAs several times have been mystified why the web site said "out of stock" given, according to them, few to no pax preordered them.

If I were still 1K, I'd still be annoyed that I can't place my pre-order.

Whether it is UA's catering is not accepting pre-orders or the programmers have "permanently" disabled pre-ordering from Y passengers, the result is the same - the few non-boxed Bistro on Board items go fast and may or may not last if even you're in the exit row of 73X/A3XX/75X aircraft or even worse if you're in the exit row of 77X/78X planes.

David

Seated in 23F on a 753 that's exactly my concern.

(my emphasis)

I don't believe they have intentionally disabled pre-ordering from Y pax given the other items are still offered for pre-order, including the boxes and booze. These are all items intended for purchase in Y and to which 1Ks are entitled a free selection. It's possible they disabled pre-ordering because they think they can reliably sell the hot items vs. comping them, but it would seem easier to just remove them from display instead of the "out of stock" message were that the case.

Whatever the reason, they've made it impossible to order precisely the items that I would be most interested in pre-ordering. I suspect the goal is to push the boxed items, and that like most everything UA-related, it's ultimately driven by costs.

As a Gold now, on transcontinental flights when I actually book UA, I get the pre-order option as well - and I _still_ get the "out of stock" message.

Whether incompetence or lameness, the frustrating result is the same - UA is "offering" to allow you to pre-order but you can't because they're "out of stock".

David

This is not worth to be annoyed for! On top of that, I will likely be upgraded to F so that's why I don't bother to pre-order anything as a 1K sitting in the back.

Even as a 1K, I wasn't upgraded a high percentage on especially transcontinental flights. Even now, when purchasing a ticket late amd competing against all of the buyups, having the ability to pre-order should help both UA to properly cater flights but also enable me to sit wherever I want and still get the items I pre-ordered - GS, 1K or otherwise.

If UA is going to claim "out of stock" even days before a flight, then don't even invite pre-ordering. It's wasting our time even considering it, extremely frustrating and serving no purpose at all.

David ​​​​​

I don't what routes you're flying, but my experience with UA this year is that if I don't pay for F, I'm not sitting in F.

For this flight, I'm currently 9/39 (PP applied) with F already booked full.

FWIW, my F domestic upgrades success rate so far in 2023 have been around 60% with PP, and 30% as CPU. This week, PHL-DEN was not CPU but DEN-ABQ was CPU! Since it was an 8AM flight for PHL-DEN, it was no big deal and therefore did not even want to burn 20 PPs.

Last week, LAX-IAH and IAH-PHL both cleared with PP. This Sunday, it will be once again LAX-IAH, and IAH-PHL, and so far, nothing cleared yet, so let's see what will happen with the Memorial Day weekend travel.

For International, I buy Polaris or at minimum Premium Economy, like LAX-HND in a few weeks and applied PP for Polaris.


UPDATE: IAH-PHL for tomorrow Sunday just cleared with PP at 24 hours out, while LAX-IAH still being wait listed! So again, for me at least, no need to pre-order snacks and no need to be upset or aggravated if said snacks are "sold out" in advance LOL

Im running near 100% HNL-SFO-HNL with PP applied on the 777-300. The couple of times I thought I might miss I grabbed a buy up for $350.

PN > PZ

Is this a 1K snack and drink thread or upgrade success thread ?

:)