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General discussion of UA's inflight service (Domestic / Int’l, all cabins) {Archive}

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Old May 11, 2022, 1:38 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This us an archive thread, the active thread is General discussion of UA's inflight service (Domestic / International, all cabins)
previous thread: COVID Era UA inflight service changes


Thread is for general discussion of the state of UA in-flight service / catering, comparison to other carriers, past UA offerings and concerns with management decisions.

For a specific post about a recent in-flight food, use the appropriate Let's Eat .... thread.

The current Onboard Service descriptions by UA.com

Long-haul international premium cabin dining
North America, Caribbean and Latin America premium cabin dining
United Economy dining

Since the UA website is extremely vague, I'm looking for a few volunteers to submit data, and I will summarize to complete the wiki. kind regards, phkc070408

Domestic Under 300 Miles

Sample 1
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 2
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 3
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 4
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 5
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?


Domestic Over 300 Miles Under 800 Miles

Sample 1
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 2
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 3
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 4
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Sample 5
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Bagged Snack? Yes/No
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?

Domestic Over 800 Miles

Sample 1
Route? Morning or Afternoon or Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket?

Sample 2
Route? Morning or Afternoon or Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket?

Sample 3
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening/. or Late Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket?

Sample 4
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Late Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket?

Sample 5
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Late Evening?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Served Snacked? Yes/No. Hot/Cold. What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket?

P-Tcon

Sample 1
Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket/Pre-Arrival?
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 2
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket/Pre-Arrival?
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 3
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket/Pre-Arrival?
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 4
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket/Pre-Arrival?
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 5
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Snack Basket/Pre-Arrival?
Any other notes of relevance?

Polaris USA - Europe

​​​​​​​Sample 1
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Menu?
Hot Towels?
First Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Appetizer / Desert Info:
Snack Basket/Mid-Flight Snack?
Arrival Meal? Short Description.
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 2
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Menu?
​​​​​​​Hot Towels?
First Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Appetizer / Desert Info:
Snack Basket/Mid-Flight Snack?
Arrival Meal? Short Description.
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 3
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Menu?
​​​​​​​Hot Towels?
First Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Appetizer / Desert Info:
Snack Basket/Mid-Flight Snack?
Arrival Meal? Short Description.
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 4
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Menu?
​​​​​​​Hot Towels?
First Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Appetizer / Desert Info:
Snack Basket/Mid-Flight Snack?
Arrival Meal? Short Description.
Any other notes of relevance?

​​​​​​​Sample 5
​​​​​​​Route? Morning or Afternoon/Evening or Red-Eye?
PDB - Yes/No? What was offered?
Menu?
​​​​​​​Hot Towels?
First Meal Served? Yes/No. Short description.
Appetizer / Desert Info:
Snack Basket/Mid-Flight Snack?
Arrival Meal? Short Description.
Any other notes of relevance?

Related thread: How bad does onboard catering need to get before UA invests in improving it?
​​​​​​​

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General discussion of UA's inflight service (Domestic / Int’l, all cabins) {Archive}

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Old Jan 28, 2022, 7:05 pm
  #316  
 
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Everyone out here saying PP choice 1 and 2 means Premium Plus meanwhile my slow brain thought those were his "personal preference" choice 1 and 2
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Old Jan 28, 2022, 7:25 pm
  #317  
 
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Originally Posted by MatthewLAX
I wrote about this almost a month ago.

https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-guam-meals/

(disclaimer - link to commercial blog)
We got the best UA insiders right here at home in LA
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Old Jan 28, 2022, 7:33 pm
  #318  
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Originally Posted by MatthewLAX
.. I tend to think UA likes us not to think about or discuss the onboard catering.
They would be sadly mistaken if they think customers are not bringing this up. I'm in a few Facebook travel groups and I can assure you that United service issues are front and center and frequent topics of discussion, not to say that United is alone in the criticism department. However, the criticism and awareness go far beyond Flyertalk.
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Old Jan 28, 2022, 8:12 pm
  #319  
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Originally Posted by flyingrohit
Everyone out here saying PP choice 1 and 2 means Premium Plus meanwhile my slow brain thought those were his "personal preference" choice 1 and 2
PP (Platinum Premier) using their PPs (PlusPoints) to upgrade into PP (Premium Plus) for their PP (personal preference) meal.

What could be more confusing than that?

David
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Old Jan 28, 2022, 9:49 pm
  #320  
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Originally Posted by DELee
PP (Platinum Premier) using their PPs (PlusPoints) to upgrade into PP (Premium Plus) for their PP (personal preference) meal.

What could be more confusing than that?

David
ROTFL!
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 4:01 am
  #321  
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Originally Posted by unitedbusiness
Isn’t it amazing that this information on United meal services gets its own article….but only in Guam!

https://www.postguam.com/business/lo...32f188ca3.html
On Guam (GUM) and Saipan (SPN), UA is almost the only game in ​​​​town, certainly when it comes to U.S. carriers.

Originally Posted by rittenhousesq
Perhaps SPN lifer had a hand in that! ;-)
No. My work at Micronesian Legal Services these days rarely takes me as far as Tinian (TIQ). If I had my way, the United Club on Guam would definitely not still be closed.

Originally Posted by Kmxu
Amazing. I should book a ticket to GUAM before United changes it’s mind on the meal service.
Hafa adai!
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 7:13 am
  #322  
 
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Originally Posted by DELee
PP (Platinum Premier) using their PPs (PlusPoints) to upgrade into PP (Premium Plus) for their PP (personal preference) meal.

What could be more confusing than that?

David
Your PP in meal choice may not matter much if you first ate at a PP (Priority Pass) lounge/restaurant before sitting in PP class which you upgraded using your PP which you earned from your PP status.
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 7:24 am
  #323  
 
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Originally Posted by goodeats21
or....
UA is providing PP food to the Polaris cabin these days.



On-line menus should be a no brainer. I am sure they would not provide full nutritional and allergen information though.
With all the different catering stations internationally, and the resultant local sourcing of food stuffs, allergen info would be tough to keep accurate.
At least we're not Delta . See their meal thread. They are providing ECONOMY food not only to their PE cabin, but also to Delta One these days. Yes, photos there showed that the D1 meals are simply economy meals plated on china
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 7:42 am
  #324  
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Originally Posted by Unitedloyalflyer
At least we're not Delta . See their meal thread. They are providing ECONOMY food not only to their PE cabin, but also to Delta One these days. Yes, photos there showed that the D1 meals are simply economy meals plated on china
I flew Delta One JFK-LAX RT in Nov/Dec and we had excellent business class meals. But AF long haul is the best. Throughout COVID, instead of excuses they served really good meals with good wine and Champagne. LX is quite good too. It can be done.
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 8:10 am
  #325  
 
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Originally Posted by DELee
PP (Platinum Premier) using their PPs (PlusPoints) to upgrade into PP (Premium Plus) for their PP (personal preference) meal.

What could be more confusing than that?

David
Originally Posted by eng3
Your PP in meal choice may not matter much if you first ate at a PP (Priority Pass) lounge/restaurant before sitting in PP class which you upgraded using your PP which you earned from your PP status.
Here is an explanation from CSR from UNITED AIRLINES after you complain about choice of PP meals.

Your PP (Premier Platinum) status does not guarantee a PP (Premier Plus) seat upgrade from the back of premier passenger (PP) cabin (aka, E+) even though upgrade request is supported by Plus Points (PPs). If you are lucky to get upgraded to a PP cabin seat, your choice of meals may be stolen by Polaris Passengers (PPs) because Polaris cabin may be overrun by non-revs with United's newly-issued Polaris Passports (PPs).
Our suggestion for your next trip is to use PP to eat at a PP restaurant to avoid the similar complaint of PP meals. Have a good day. Sincerely, United CSR.
Cheers.
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 10:21 am
  #326  
 
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Originally Posted by Unitedloyalflyer
Likely premium plus

UA is providing the Polaris food to PP these days
more like serving the PP food to Polaris…
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 12:03 pm
  #327  
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Originally Posted by Unitedloyalflyer
At least we're not Delta . See their meal thread. They are providing ECONOMY food not only to their PE cabin, but also to Delta One these days. Yes, photos there showed that the D1 meals are simply economy meals plated on china
What are you talking about?

There are only 3 official D1 domestic routes (between JFK and LAX/SEA/SFO). Full meal have returned on these long ago. Recent news also indicate hot meals returning on domestic F routes which is good news.

SEA to JFK in June 2021:



JFK to LAX in October 2021:

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Old Jan 29, 2022, 12:23 pm
  #328  
 
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Originally Posted by Repooc17
What are you talking about?

There are only 3 official D1 domestic routes (between JFK and LAX/SEA/SFO). Full meal have returned on these long ago. Recent news also indicate hot meals returning on domestic F routes which is good news.
There's 2 more, MSP=HNL, ATL-HNL. The latter 2 provide meals in economy, where as the transcons do not

See this post

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33938525-post88.html

The D1 meal is simply the economy meal replated
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Old Jan 29, 2022, 3:50 pm
  #329  
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Originally Posted by Kmxu
Our suggestion for your next trip is to use PP to eat at a PP restaurant to avoid the similar complaint of PP meals.
But remember you can only PP in your ticketed cabin.
mahasamatman is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2022, 4:18 pm
  #330  
 
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Originally Posted by mahasamatman
But remember you can only PP in your ticketed cabin.
Since there is no place to PP in the PP cabin, you had best do your PP in the PP lounge
Unitedloyalflyer is offline  


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