Jgish

If you think that's bad, there's always the dreaded Salmon Salad or some pseudo not-quite-there Korean obento on the ICN-NRT run. You used to be able to get fruit & cheese as an option, but now are left with those dreaded two. Fruit & cheese would be heaven as an alternative. What really gets me is how ANA and OZ offer multicourse hot meal service (that's actually tasty) on the same run.

(note to self: stock up at the OZ lounge before leaving ICN)

rkaradi

would rather have the fruit plate then the gold snack mix (now that is just cruel). Remember if you dont want the fruit plate, you can always ask for a BOB meal instead if they are serving it.

hobo13

So I guess they switched some 'meal' routes to 'snack' routes.... MHT-ORD at 515p used to get the meal, but this past week it was the snack plate. Now, I don't oppose the snack plate, and actually like it. But I don't quite get it. And I really miss the pasta trio that I had several times earlier in the summer.

Here's what I don't get:

Deli meat is not cheap.
Fruit is not cheap.
Cheese is not cheap.

Pasta? Now that stuff is about 10 cents per pound in bulk!!! Is UA really saving money by switching from pasta to the deli plate?

KathyWdrf

What, they serve plain boiled pasta with NO sauce, NO meat, NOTHING else? What exactly IS this pasta trio whereof you speak?

UnitedSkies

Why is fruit and cheese ever disgusting? Fruit is fruit and is healthy, and while cheese is not always top-notch cheese, I find it palatable.

hobo13

Of course it's got sauce and a little meat. But it's not high-grade meat like the deli slices (which are really good!).

Let's just say that when I was a grad student, I ate a LOT more pasta than fruit, cheese, and deli plates!

So you've never had pasta on United? Really?

mahasamatman

Until our last flight, I would have disagreed strongly with you. This was the first time we had edible fruit on any UA flight. The blueberries, strawberries, and cantaloupe were all ripe and tasty. I hope this is a sign for the future.

UnitedSkies

I'm sorry that you have not had edible fruit until now. I've had 10+ fruit plates, each of which had edible fruit, all of which I consumed completely. Maybe I have lower standards?

Superguy

Like the chicken salad that's offered in C on short haul international flights.

KathyWdrf

I've had countless (dozens) of fruit/cheese plates. They've all been at least OK -- usually better than OK.

However, I do understand that some people do not like cheese, because of personal and/or cultural food preferences. In such cases, they should make efforts to obtain a special meal if at all possible, or maybe one of the BOB offerings (both as suggested by others).

PhlyingRPh

The new deli plate shows how little thought goes into the food items at United. A full forty something percent of the world's population does not eat meat and a good thirty something percent does not eat pork products. By placing both Turkey and a Ham slice in the deli plate and laying it square accross the cheese and the grapes/canteloupe, it makes it impossible for someone with these dietary restrictions to eat what would otherwise be a healthy, acceptable snack (Fruit, Cheese and Crackers).

UnitedSkies

Except I would say for domestic flights, your percentage of those who don't eat pork or meat products is far less than 40% or 30%. We're not talking about flying between or to/from Muslim countries here.

And for those with dietary restrictions, there is always the special meal request.

PhlyingRPh

I do realize we are talking about domestic F. In case you hadnt noticed, the U.S. is a multicultural society with several ethnicities, languages and religions represented, even in United First!
The lackof thought United puts into it's meal choices impacts many people of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and some Christians, as well as those who abstain from meat for reasons besides faith.

To address the point of special meals, many people traveling in domestic F or J have either made their reservations or received their upgrades inside the special meal request blackout window (72 hours) making the availability of such meals pointless. Furthermore, the special meal request process is not very tight (that's putting it charitably). In fact out of about 30 odd segments in domestic F this year, the only time they got my request right this year was at breakfast time three days ago. My balls almost dropped when I heard the words "Mr. PhlyingRPh, here is your special meal" - surprisingly, it looked lovely and smelled great - it's a pity I was fasting, but my seat mate devoured it when he realized I couldn't ).

Ari

For the second time in this thread, it is 24 hours.

SFOTerry

I like it when they add blueberries!