TPA-IAH-SMF, all in F, zero meal service?
Apr 1, 2019, 11:19 am
#1
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TPA-IAH-SMF, all in F, zero meal service?
A friend flew TPA-IAH in F, a 2 hour 28 minute flight, departing at 7:10, and according to United's "in flight dining" chart, there should have been a "A full meal service with two entree choices".
Instead it was a snack basket.
The same plane took him (in F still) from IAH-SMF , a 4 hour 14 minute flight, departed later, so I guess the in flight dining chart description of a "snack basket" was accurate.
So, first point, is it worth complaining on the first segment, and second point , that's trans continental 7 total hours of flying with an hour on the ground in Houston, in F, and nothing but a snack to eat.
How is this good business sense?
Instead it was a snack basket.
The same plane took him (in F still) from IAH-SMF , a 4 hour 14 minute flight, departed later, so I guess the in flight dining chart description of a "snack basket" was accurate.
So, first point, is it worth complaining on the first segment, and second point , that's trans continental 7 total hours of flying with an hour on the ground in Houston, in F, and nothing but a snack to eat.
How is this good business sense?
Apr 1, 2019, 11:52 am
#2
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Seems like a catering error. On checking UA's site, the 6.40 pm flight (UA 2280) lists meal as Dinner. The 4:35 pm flight (UA 1821) also lists dinner. The 9.45 am flight (UA 1781) lists meal as Breakfast. Was it not one of these flights? If yes and he did not have any meal service, he should write in to UA and he will get a voucher/ miles for his troubles.
Apr 1, 2019, 11:58 am
#4
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UA's site doesnt seem to have any post 7.59pm flights to SMF. I think his friend was on the 9:45 am flight as the time matches up.
Apr 1, 2019, 12:12 pm
#5
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So TPA-IAH is under 2:20 flight time and never has meals (confirmed from personal experience)
It would be hard to set meals based on multi-segment travel time and would be passenger dependent
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Apr 1, 2019 at 2:36 pm Reason: phrasing
Apr 1, 2019, 12:14 pm
#6
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And yes, although UA does mention "duration" on the meal page, they really need to explain what they mean "duration" to be. Most of us would have just assumed scheduled or block time equals "duration" w/o any further info.
That being said, the info specific to TPA-IAH does not say "Breakfast".
Last edited by IAH-OIL-TRASH; Apr 1, 2019 at 12:25 pm
Apr 1, 2019, 12:39 pm
#7
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Good example of how you can fly East Coast to West Coast and not have a meal service in F. I had to be careful of flight options when I check RIC-LAX, some options are also all UAX regional flight.
Apr 1, 2019, 12:40 pm
#8
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The times in United's " in flight dining" chart are inflight times, not block times. This is be made clearer on the UA website.
So TPA-IAH is under 2:20 flight time and never has meals (confirmed from personal experience)
It would be hard to set meals based on multi-segment travel time and would be passenger dependent
So TPA-IAH is under 2:20 flight time and never has meals (confirmed from personal experience)
It would be hard to set meals based on multi-segment travel time and would be passenger dependent
I understand why he says this is misleading; I have been flying Co/UAL for 30+ years and its misleading to me!
As far as the connecting flight goes, it just seems odd to me that a 4 1/2 hour flight in F departing at 9:45 doesnt even provide a hot sandwich.
Apr 1, 2019, 1:47 pm
#9
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Your addition of PM to the time changes everything. I was under the impression that these were morning flights and hence my response about meal times. At a 945 pm flight, I think the priority of most passengers is to sleep. The late-night LAX-IAD/ SFO-IAD don't get anything other than a snack basket either.
Apr 1, 2019, 2:14 pm
#10
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Apr 1, 2019, 2:15 pm
#11
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Your addition of PM to the time changes everything. I was under the impression that these were morning flights and hence my response about meal times. At a 945 pm flight, I think the priority of most passengers is to sleep. The late-night LAX-IAD/ SFO-IAD don't get anything other than a snack basket either.
Apr 1, 2019, 2:46 pm
#12
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Apr 1, 2019, 2:46 pm
#13
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I frequent this city pair TPA-IAH and as someone else stated meals are never served on this flight, I think UA purposely does it 10 mins short to save on cost. I believe AA also does this TPA-DFW as well, cutting it just under. Its a shame they game the customer so much, plenty of time for meal service on these flights.
Apr 1, 2019, 2:52 pm
#14
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When the ticket was booked, nowhere did it say "Breakfast". You can check it out for yourself what is promised (snack or refreshment) by going through the process to book TPA-IAH. Your friend may have expected breakfast, but none was promised.
Apr 1, 2019, 4:07 pm
#15
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Currently show as Snack for me. They have gone back and forth between Snack and Refreshments over the years, which would strongly impact my opinion of the 8:01pm IAD-SFO.