United Domestic First Meal Service Reduction
May 16, 2018, 6:54 am
#136
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,452
Hopefully this is cyclical: UA is pushing to see what they can get away with before it hurts the bottom line. Perhaps, like $misek, this too shall pass.
And, contrary to some miscaters on PS, I find the snack options on regular UA F (Asian beef salad and chicken hummus especially) to taste fine. I just lament the portion size. Honestly, I’m not asking for Cheesecake Factory but I’m also not looking for Lean Cuisines.
OTOH, cutting everything else about the service is just cheap, and the cheese plate, the other choice in many cases, is pretty sparse.
A few years ago, United said they were "working on" a system to pre-order F meals, not just SPML. I think that needs to happen, and soon.
May 16, 2018, 8:36 am
#137
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
And I don't know often this happens, but I'm not 1K and didn't get my first choice (though I was seated in the second row!) even though I paid for F because a bunch of GS and 1K got upgraded into F on a flight I was on. Not a huge deal, no, but definitely not a great experience from my perspective.
May 16, 2018, 12:32 pm
#140
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: ORD
Programs: 1K
Posts: 122
May 16, 2018, 12:36 pm
#141
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,345
They got your money in the first place and keep you as a customer. Start sending them receipts of other airlines you booked in lieu of UA due to their sub-standard service and they may finally wake up. But UA is not following DL in the lack of meals (or lack of substantive meals) in F. So they are going rogue it seems.-RM
May 16, 2018, 1:53 pm
#143
Join Date: May 2006
Location: STL
Programs: UA Platinum, AA Platinum Pro, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,429
May 16, 2018, 2:16 pm
#144
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
May 16, 2018, 2:47 pm
#145
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: UA GS, UA 2MM, HH LT Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,803
I paid $713 and $685 for the tickets OW, respectively. Cheese plate was definetly underwhelming.
May 16, 2018, 2:59 pm
#146
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,219
So did not appreciate the cheese plate would offer less cheese than on the Polaris flights which is after a full meal. Today, UA1982 SAN-DEN. Would have asked for the hot meal from Y had I known. Lesson learned. I like cheese plates but was hungry as the first time I got to eat today. Looking forward to my Polaris meal. :-)
May 16, 2018, 5:18 pm
#149
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1k , Hertz President's Circle, Avis President's Club, Marriott Platinum, SPG platinum
Posts: 68
My letter to UA GS:
Hello,
In the spirit of hopeful change, and opportunities for more remarkable service experiences at United, I would like to share feedback on some recent United flights. I trust that you take the observations of your loyal customers seriously, as I very much want to see United deliver on its ongoing customer commitment to be the best airline in the world.
In no order of importance, I have observed a series of diminished services across the entire United end to end experience:
Sincerely,
GS Customer
Hello,
In the spirit of hopeful change, and opportunities for more remarkable service experiences at United, I would like to share feedback on some recent United flights. I trust that you take the observations of your loyal customers seriously, as I very much want to see United deliver on its ongoing customer commitment to be the best airline in the world.
In no order of importance, I have observed a series of diminished services across the entire United end to end experience:
- Recent changes to domestic First Class meal services (for flights 4 hrs and under). United recently rolled out a downgraded United First catering offer that has left both the flight attendants apologetic, and passengers frustrated and disappointed with the new options. As an example, on a recent flight from Houston to Newark (3 hr 30 min), a small cheese plate or small chicken platter with minimal lettuce, no salad dressing, no appetizer nuts, and no bread was served. The flight crew was apologizing to many of the passengers, and I was left having to order a snack box from United Economy as I was expecting a true lunch service. Please reconsider bringing back standard meal choices on your domestic flights- these changes have not gone unnoticed by your best customers.
- No pillows in United First (domestic). Your competitors (AA/DL) offer a pillow in domestic first, and so should United. This is premium cabin travel, make it premium. The domestic seats are sometimes not the most comfortable- this would be a nice service improvement.
- Open up Polaris Lounge access to Transcon Business Class passengers (ex SFO-EWR) (or at least Global Services passengers traveling in Business Class on Transcon.) As a point of comparison, AA offers a premium ground experience to it's premium Transcon passengers.
- United recently added a list of exception markets for Polaris Lounge Access including Bogota, Columbia which sits in the South America region. Business Class tickets for this route are often $4K+, yet United is turning away these passengers who attempt to access Polaris Lounges and sending us to the United Club. I understand the need to restrict Mexico/Canada/Caribbean passengers from using the Polaris lounge, but don't exclude South America markets.
- Please bring back Global Services manual upgrade processing by Global Services reservations agents; this is a helpful feature during times of disruption or when the auto upgrade system is failing. This was a nice perk for your best customers.
Sincerely,
GS Customer
May 16, 2018, 8:15 pm
#150
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: United GS, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 109
“Lunch” and GS response
SAT - ORD “Lunch” flight
Above is what I had on my flight from SAT to ORD today. Granted it was on a UAX flight vs. a mainline, but I've had a rash of these great experiences lately. The cheese on this actually smelled foul which was fantastic. I wrote in to the GS support team and got the following response.
Dear TexasAggie02,
I'm sorry we did not provide you with an enjoyable meal service on your recent flights.
You wanted to enjoy your dining experience and I can certainly understand your disappointment. As a result of the feedback received, we are reinstating the meal services that recently changed on May 1, 2018. United reversed their decision and are putting the full meal service back in the Premium cabins.
We're listening to our passengers more than ever and working hard to be your airline of choice. On behalf of United, we look forward to welcoming you aboard your next flight.
Sincerely,
Global Services Customer Care
I'm sorry we did not provide you with an enjoyable meal service on your recent flights.
You wanted to enjoy your dining experience and I can certainly understand your disappointment. As a result of the feedback received, we are reinstating the meal services that recently changed on May 1, 2018. United reversed their decision and are putting the full meal service back in the Premium cabins.
We're listening to our passengers more than ever and working hard to be your airline of choice. On behalf of United, we look forward to welcoming you aboard your next flight.
Sincerely,
Global Services Customer Care
Hi GS Team,
I've noticed a trend recently and am hoping I am just having bad luck as its not a positive experience. Over the last few months I've noticed that several of my afternoon flights that the website and UA App state as a lunch service either only have a "snack", which was about a 1/4 of a small wrap, a boxed cheese/cracker plate that looks like a kids lunchable (DFW - EWR) or today on my SAT - ORD flight only a small cheese plate that had 10 grapes, 1 strawberry, two small pieces of cheese and a chocolate square.
I routinely am rushing to an airport to get on a flight and don't always have enough time to grab food in the airport or in the United lounge, so these recent trips where the "lunch" was less than a snack makes for an uncomfortable 2.5-3.5 hours when you are hungry.
Compare this to a Turkish flight I was on from ATH to IST (which is about 80mins) the FA had a full hot meal for breakfast and it was quite tasty.
Is this the new normal? How do infrequent flyers know about this if they are also expecting a meal?
I've noticed a trend recently and am hoping I am just having bad luck as its not a positive experience. Over the last few months I've noticed that several of my afternoon flights that the website and UA App state as a lunch service either only have a "snack", which was about a 1/4 of a small wrap, a boxed cheese/cracker plate that looks like a kids lunchable (DFW - EWR) or today on my SAT - ORD flight only a small cheese plate that had 10 grapes, 1 strawberry, two small pieces of cheese and a chocolate square.
I routinely am rushing to an airport to get on a flight and don't always have enough time to grab food in the airport or in the United lounge, so these recent trips where the "lunch" was less than a snack makes for an uncomfortable 2.5-3.5 hours when you are hungry.
Compare this to a Turkish flight I was on from ATH to IST (which is about 80mins) the FA had a full hot meal for breakfast and it was quite tasty.
Is this the new normal? How do infrequent flyers know about this if they are also expecting a meal?
Last edited by TexasAggie02; May 16, 2018 at 8:22 pm Reason: Mobile wasn't friendly to type in