restlessinRNO

This seems to be an on-going issue. Several times in Polaris Business, they run out of champagne. This is the first time I have heard of UA running out of port. Surely in Polaris First, they can stock an adequate supply!

StuckinITH

And for sure it was not the three children in Polaris First that were drinking the Port. The First FA was an ornery guy. Never cracked a smile the whole 14 hours. Maybe he did not want to open the Port for one passenger requesting it. Does it come out of his paycheck?

kirkwoodj

Yup, both ways TATL last week

st530

I've noticed on several recent flights that the late-flight champagne has been "enhanced" to domestic prosecco. They seem to keep that in reserve for when the good (it's all relative here, folks) stuff runs out. Oh, United.

cesco.g

Yes, UA 945 does serve these breakfast main options.

skycrab

My understanding is that they cater 2 bottles of champagne to Polaris Business (I don't think this is sufficient), and they're *supposed* to do 2 bottles of vintage champagne for First. However, on a recent flight on UA949, they only catered 2 bottles of champagne - Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Reserve which I think UA could improve upon. However, as they didn't cater any for F, one bottle was given to F, and the other was sparingly distributed in J. Worse yet, 7/8 pax in F were non-rev.

FA tried to offer sparkling wine (I'm not sure if it was even prosecco) when we asked for Champagne, as I think they wanted to give both bottles to F, but I said absolutely not, so received 1 glass of champagne each.
Also, they only catered 1 bottle of Riesling and 1 bottle of Chardonnay for J, which ran out very quickly.

I don't know if it was a failure, or intentional, but I'm not impressed. I tend to buy P class fares for personal travel, and for Ł2K+ I'm expecting champagne and wines that cost more than Ł6 (one of the wines on the menu was genuinely retailing for Ł6, and not rated very highly at all).
I'm also deeply unimpressed that non-rev F were prioritised over revenue J pax. I would also be furious if I was on a paid F ticket and received Ł29 NV champagne.

6-9 months ago, they were serving Pommery Grand Cru 2006 vintage in J, so what's happened?

Plane-is-home

My last 2 Polaris First flights only served Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Reserve too and indeed had only 1 bottle.

skycrab

I'm guessing they've exhausted their stocks of Ayala vintage, and with F closing for reservation on some routes as soon as April, I guess they've decided not to re-supply F with premium champagne.
Having flown *A partners AC, LH, and LX I am surprised at the quality and quantity of wine & champagne catered on UA, it's genuinely not enough of quality or quantity.

restlessinRNO

skycrab - Thank you for these observations. UA 949 is LHR-SFO, an 11 hour flight (3 class). I note a P fare might be $4000 return (if available), and A $11500. No wonder 7/8 pax in F were non-rev. It is clear that UA has made a deliberate decision to understock the wine bottles in J and F. In comparison, when I fly TG J in Asia, they just don't run out. For pax travelling on their own dime, I cannot see paying for UA J/F, unless one wishes to achieve GS status.

halls120

If I routinely bought paid F on UA and they routinely ran out of champagne, I'd write a letter to Oscar and enclose copies of all my BPs and ask him if he's really trying to drive me to the competition.

worldtrav

I'm guessing this is one reason they no longer list their champagne in the menu.

kirkwoodj

11JAN UA37 LAX-SIN (also for SFO-SIN)

findark

Is that just an errant 'k' that got past the copy editors?

Oh heck, why am I assuming anyone copy edits this menu??

UA_Flyer

Stopped by Global First Lounge for brunch before catching the 1:35 pm flight.

cesco.g

There might be quite a difference on a 752 with 16 seats vs a 77W with 60 seats.
Luckily, sofar I always got my couple of glasses of champagne along the appetizer.
But I noticed that the drink cart going around always lacked the Champagne, maybe because they're undersupplied.