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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
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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 Jun 23, 2022, 5:27 am
  #1156  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Programs: JAL Global Club & oneworld Sapphire, ANA SFC & Star Alliance Gold
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Originally Posted by sgtbalski
I flew UA 930 SFO- LHR last week and was quite interested on how "bad" the soft product would really be as this was my first time in Polaris. I hear and see all of the poor reviews on here but I'm not a picky eater and I don't really expect restaurant quality food on board. I'm thinking most of the J travelers on here are used to eating at expensive restaurants, etc., and my basic palate would enjoy the food.
When I started reading this thread I had the same assumption as you. I've seen a lot of food snobs on Flyertalk and in life in general, and I figured that the food was probably not as bad as everyone said. But now, hundreds of posts and photos later, it has become clear to me that this is one of those rare situations where things really are as bad as people say. For me the kicker was the pictures of Kit Kat and Tim Tam bars for dessert.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 5:53 am
  #1157  
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Originally Posted by restlessinRNO
“Fruit and cheese plate”. But I don’t see the fruit! 😊
That was the same thing I said on my last two flights NRT-LAX and SFO-SYD. Not sure why FA keep saying "Fruit and Cheese Plate".
restlessinRNO likes this.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 6:50 am
  #1158  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by Unimatrix One
When I started reading this thread I had the same assumption as you. I've seen a lot of food snobs on Flyertalk and in life in general, and I figured that the food was probably not as bad as everyone said. But now, hundreds of posts and photos later, it has become clear to me that this is one of those rare situations where things really are as bad as people say. For me the kicker was the pictures of Kit Kat and Tim Tam bars for dessert.
Yes there are alot of food snobs out there. Maybe I'm one of them. However, there are alot of people who have flown a few years ago and remember. The main reason I take a photo of all my in-flight meals is to help me remember when they cut something. (Sometimes UA makes it easy and still serves you an empty bowl where something use to be). There are also alot of people who fly outside of UA so they have direct comparisons. So in my opinion, it really is that bad.

However, everything is relative. There are many who only fly in economy. If its your first time up front, you may think its great. Also, some people just don't care what they eat.

There are even others that don't eat airplane food at all and just skip the meal.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 7:35 am
  #1159  
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Originally Posted by bmwe92fan
I think it's more like 46 seats -- and on the second shortest redeye to Europe in the system. Imagine four separate cart trips up and down both aisles for dinner: drinks, apps, meal, desert -- and then two more for arrival service -- PLUS all the extra stuff like drink refills -- not making excuses as I said -- but "proper" service does takes time...
Heck, not that long ago the 739 would rate 2 FAs to serve 20 seats of F. (Forget if they axed that too now..)
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 10:54 am
  #1160  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 103
What could possibly be the explanation for the fact that United domestic First Class meals today are arguably orders of magnitude better than what’s being offered in Polaris?
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 10:57 am
  #1161  
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It's already been said.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 2:48 pm
  #1162  
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
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Programs: UA silver, Bonvoy silver
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Originally Posted by COA777
What could possibly be the explanation for the fact that United domestic First Class meals today are arguably orders of magnitude better than what’s being offered in Polaris?
maybe UA should offer the domestic F meals in Polaris
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 2:52 pm
  #1163  
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Originally Posted by COA777
What could possibly be the explanation for the fact that United domestic First Class meals today are arguably orders of magnitude better than what’s being offered in Polaris?
It's crazy, right? I can only imagine it's b/c of different Managers at UA corporate.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 3:02 pm
  #1164  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by bmwe92fan
...! The chicken was so dry ....
What a shame, I use to always get the short rib going out and the stuffed chicken coming back (so I wasnt always eating beef). Though neither was ever that great, surprisingly, they were almost never overcooked. Hard to imagine they could make things worse, but UA seems to come up with new and creative ways.

Originally Posted by COA777
What could possibly be the explanation for the fact that United domestic First Class meals today are arguably orders of magnitude better than what’s being offered in Polaris?
Not surprising. One of my flights, I didn't get any dessert (catering error?) while reportedly PP got ice cream (cups). Even in domestic F, if the flight is short enough, sometimes I get absolutely nothing, while if I were seated in Y, I'd be offered a snack box.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 3:37 pm
  #1165  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 103
Originally Posted by BlooJoo
It's crazy, right? I can only imagine it's b/c of different Managers at UA corporate.
That’s my thought as well. I really think this is a personnel issue, not a cost issue. If they can serve a decent meal in domestic F as the domestic thread shows them starting to do, then they should be able to do the same internationally.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 10:33 pm
  #1166  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Originally Posted by COA777
What could possibly be the explanation for the fact that United domestic First Class meals today are arguably orders of magnitude better than what’s being offered in Polaris?
Polaris customers have access to a Polaris lounge. Domestic F does not.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 10:48 pm
  #1167  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
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Originally Posted by HNLbasedFlyer
Polaris customers have access to a Polaris lounge. Domestic F does not.
Passengers flying to the US don't have access to one until arrival, and that's assuming onward connections.

Even on US departures, I don't always have time to budget getting to the airport an hour or so earlier to have a meal at the PL.
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Old Jun 23, 2022, 11:15 pm
  #1168  
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Originally Posted by econ
Passengers flying to the US don't have access to one until arrival, and that's assuming onward connections.

Even on US departures, I don't always have time to budget getting to the airport an hour or so earlier to have a meal at the PL.
This. Some folks think that how they travel is how everyone else travels. And given UA's reductions in service, its gonna get worse in making connections.

David
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Old Jun 24, 2022, 3:24 am
  #1169  
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Originally Posted by HNLbasedFlyer
Polaris customers have access to a Polaris lounge. Domestic F does not.
Originally Posted by econ
Passengers flying to the US don't have access to one until arrival, and that's assuming onward connections.

Even on US departures, I don't always have time to budget getting to the airport an hour or so earlier to have a meal at the PL.
Based on the Polaris Lounge threads, gonna take a lot more than an hour to get seated and finish a meal during prime Intl departure time.

There is no justification for the pathetic catering. Just cheapness
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Old Jun 24, 2022, 7:41 am
  #1170  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Fairfax, VA
Posts: 164
Does anyone actually pay cash to fly Intl Polaris? I just booked award tickets at a very favorable price to fly BCN-TPA next year. The same itinerary on AA needed 60% more miles and DL was (typically) about 4x higher. I am hopeful that Polaris service has to improve within 9 months, but if not, I will just plan to buy some decent food to go at BCN and bring my own meal onboard.
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