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So Did Hot Bites Officially Bite The Dust?or is the Report of Their Demise Premature?

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So Did Hot Bites Officially Bite The Dust?or is the Report of Their Demise Premature?

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Old Dec 31, 2018, 3:42 am
  #1  
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So Did Hot Bites Officially Bite The Dust?or is the Report of Their Demise Premature?

Well I just got back from Europe. One flight was LAX - LHR in Polaris BC and the other MXP - EWR Polaris BC. Each time that I asked the FA for hot bites, I was told on the LAX - LHR flight that its not catered on the route and on the MXP - EWR, the FA's seemed confused and after I explained to them what it was with the whole tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich, they looked around in the carts to see if any was loaded and came back to me about 10 min later and told me that there was no hot snack items.

The menu still has "Anytime A La Carte Menu" which states to ask the FA's about "today's selections." Was this just my bad luck or has Hot Bites Officially been cut for good? I remember back when United changed it from it being advertised on the menu to "Ask the FA's" but it looks like none are being loaded.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 3:53 am
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On the red eyes from the west coast, SFO-LHR and LAX-LHR, they got rid of the cottage pie. It was explained to me that most people sleep. I did have the cottage pie on the return flight in November so at that time they were still available. There were no cottage pies available on my LAX-LHR flight last Friday (but in line with my understanding, although I always ask).

I believe removing the hot midflight snacks on the red eyes was one of the "enhancements" to Polaris announced last year.

Last edited by Aussienarelle; Dec 31, 2018 at 6:42 pm
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 4:03 am
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I had the grilled cheese and tomato soup both directions EWR-HKG this past week. They also had a hot noodle with meat option as well.

Maybe they're limiting it to the longer flights, like pajamas?
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 4:36 am
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I've not seen hot bites TATL and on short TPAC (i.e. SFO-NRT) for at least the last 6 months.

​​​​Even cold snacks have fallen below the level of what's offered in the domestic F snack basket...
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 4:54 am
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Originally Posted by onthesam
I've not seen hot bites TATL and on short TPAC (i.e. SFO-NRT) for at least the last 6 months.

​​​​Even cold snacks have fallen below the level of what's offered in the domestic F snack basket...
On my two flights, snacks were the domestic snack basket stuff along with leftover desserts and cheese plates left on a trolley.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 5:35 am
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Perhaps I average 2 international roundtrips per month (one flight per week), I found myself sick of hearing tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. More often than not, it is the only hot bite choice.

On flights departing China, you can forget about any hot bites most of the time. On flights departing US to Asia, it seems they are still available subject to FA’s discretion.

I have not had hot bites on transatlantic flights in 2008 partly due to the short distance of the flights between East Coast and EU.

I miss the sandwiches and wraps when Polaris was first rolled out. I’d rather UA bring those back.

Last edited by UA_Flyer; Dec 31, 2018 at 7:45 am
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 7:20 am
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Originally Posted by UA_Flyer
Perhaps I average 2 international roundtrip per month (one per week), I found myself sick of hearing tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. More often than not, it is the only hot bite choice.

On flights departing China, you can forget about any hot bites most of the time. On flights departure US to Asia, it seems they are still available subject to FA’s discretion.

I have not had hot bites on transatlantic flights in 2008 partly due to the short distance of the flights between East Coast and EU.

I miss the sandwiches and wraps when Polaris was first rolled out. I’d rather UA bring those back.
What was surprising was that the MXP - EWR FA's said they've never heard of "Hot Bites" before.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 8:21 am
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I did SFO-SIN last month. On the outbound, FAs were practically begging anyone standing in a galley to stretch or wait for a bathroom to take hot bites. On the inbound, when I asked, one FA looked everywhere, saw nothing, and then just gave me a sandwich from an uneaten crew meal.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 9:11 am
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It's United................................
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 9:46 am
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Originally Posted by seat38a
What was surprising was that the MXP - EWR FA's said they've never heard of "Hot Bites" before.
I'm not surprised - only recently have many pre merger UA FA's gotten back international routes after the seniority lists merged......
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 9:59 am
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I usually sleep through most of the flight between dinner and landing on TATL flights so I don't know about hot bites. On TPAC flights, I've been able to get hot bites on all flights (EWR-NRT/HKG,SFO-NRT/ICN/AKL/SYD) regardless of direction. However, I've only been offered once, all other times, I had to request it. I don't call it "hot bites", I just say "do you have anything hot?" It is usually very hot as it has been sitting in the oven all night
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 10:01 am
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A few months ago (can't remember which flight but it was TPAC), I asked for the tomato soup and grilled cheese and the FA said they no longer have it.
20 minutes later I walked to the back Business cabin to stretch my legs and saw a bunch of people eating it. I asked the other FA and got it right away.
Go figure.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 11:24 am
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On my last trip to HKG in November, I could smell the grilled cheese when I was trying to sleep. So, it's there in both directions on that route. But I never really wake up to ask for one. Even If I were awake I would not ask for one. I already eat too much on planes.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 11:55 am
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Just had a grilled cheese + soup 2 days ago on AKL-SFO. Loved it like always. Ex-AKL they seem to use higher end baguettes for the read.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 12:00 pm
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Originally Posted by ryder1650
Just had a grilled cheese + soup 2 days ago on AKL-SFO. Loved it like always. Ex-AKL they seem to use higher end baguettes for the read.
I noticed that too! Sometimes the bread is so hard it's a struggle to bite through it

Last edited by chavala; Dec 31, 2018 at 12:00 pm Reason: spell
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