LewDog

I was in F yesterday on the 4:40 from JFK to SFO and the meal I chose consisted of a couple dozen pieces of pasta, a very small asparagus salad and a roll. Desert was the usual bite-size trio. (The other meal was a duck salad, I did not see it.)

This has to be the smallest, saddest F meal I've ever gotten (though it was quite tasty.) What happened to the appetizer samplers?

Other F pax I think were feeling the same; one asked for more food and the FA advised him that he could have "one free snack from the back." Classy.

Good thing they just raised prices!

Anyone know if this is the new way of things at VX or if I just had an off-catered flight? If the former, then back to CO for me - no IFE to speak of and the seats are kinda weak, but on a 6.5 hour flight in F, the food needs to be better than that.

Thanks!

Best,
Lewis

aviators99

I don't disagree, but you really think the Philly Cheesesteak you would get on CO is better?

rjque

Actually, the meal on CO for EWR-SFO would be a choice of four hot entrees, a cold seafood appetizer, salad with choice of dressing and an ice cream sunday (though these are being replaced with some other dessert soon). It's still reheated leftovers / catering fare but it is certainly very substantial in terms of quantity.

aviators99

Has this changed recently (in terms of 4 choices of entree)? I took EWR-SEA this year and didn't have such a selection.

BEAV

If transcon CO has changed (downgraded), then it's been very recent. A friend of mine flew EWR-SFO about three weeks ago in F and had a meal exactly as rjque described.

We flew VX SFO-SEA-SFO in F a few weeks ago. Breakfast flight going which was very enjoyable. Fresh fruit plate w/vanilla coconut yogurt, mini-muffins, then choice of quiche or ham & egg crossiant. Return was a dinner flight with exactly the same offering LewDog described, the only difference being a piece of chocolate as opposed to the dessert trio. I missed the appetizer tapas we enjoyed in transcon F last December. But it's not fair comparing a 2 hour vs 6 hour flight. I just assumed transcon still served the tapas, but I guess even that's history now.

aviators99

No, I mean that it looks to me like it's be upgraded, not downgraded.

rjque

What time of day was your flight? I took the 5:30 p.m. EWR-SFO last Thursday and the menu was as I described.

rjque

The meal choices have been the same since I started flying this route earlier this year (February or March). I think CO has offered this selection for some time.

BEAV

I agree. The friend I referred to earlier flies EWR-SFO often, and regardless of whether it's a lunch or dinner flight, the menu offerings are the same.

aviators99

Is it possible that EWR-SEA would be different from EWR-SFO?

EIPremier

I think VX needs to clarify its policy regarding F pax requesting main cabin snacks. My understanding was that F pax could always request a snack from the back (although I have yet to personally fly Vx in transcon F). But, it could be that this is no longer practical given the high demand for BOB from coach passengers and the limited galley space (especially on A319 transcon).

As far as CO is concerned, they have offered than 4 course choice on lunch/dinner transcons for years (only the true coast-to-coast flights), so it's certainly not a new thing. But, there could be recent downgrades I don't know about.

mehitabel

I flew VX JFK-SFO in F on the 7am two weeks ago. I promptly fell asleep, waking at 9am, hungry! The FA said I'd missed breakfast, and that as it was an "egg-based" meal, it could only be served on schedule. He noted that a light lunch would be served toward the end of the flight. I politely asked if there was *anything* I could have to tide me over, and was offered the almonds or hummus/veg combo from the coach menu. I gladly accepted the hummus, but was surprised by the minimal options. There was only one lunch choice, btw, though it was an excellent burrito.

articos

"an egg-based meal, it could only be served on schedule"??? That's odd. He should have been able to just keep it warm for you, esp within an hour after it was probably served. One lunch choice in F is also odd on a transcon. I wonder if your flight was mis-catered and he didn't want to admit he ran out.

LewDog

Hi!

Flight back (SFO-JFK) was much better catered but still not like "back in the day." I had a very nice cold piece of chicken with BBQ sauce on some greens, and a side of tomato slice, marinated olives and feta cheese. Desert was the trio. The meal was very small but tasty.

The FA later on brought around the snack box at least twice (I only had a snickers) and didn't mention anything about there being a limit of one, etc.

Yesterday was their one year anniversary celebration, so they had coffee, cupcakes, cake and juices in their terminals.

I do have to say, after my third transcon round trip some of the VX bloom is off of the rose for me. Some. The lack of food is a little upsetting and RED seems to be perma-broken.... only three or four channels of live TV seemed to work consistently during yesterday's flight, and they seem to need to "reset" the system right at the critical parts of whatever on-demand program or movie I'm watching. The FAs yesterday were disappointingly lax about letting Y pax transit up to F to use the lav, which resulted in a consistent flow up and down the aisle. And the complete lack of premium ground facilities anywhere but SFO is a little frustrating too (unfortunately, the club in SFO doesn't open until 10:30, making it unavailable before my 10:15 flight yesterday.) Also - the fact that every F seat is treated as a bulkhead (i.e. no under-seat stowage) gets annoying.

However, the seats themselves remain wonderful and equal/better than premium/transcon J on AA or UA and the in-flight crew is generally pleasant. It's hard to go back to CO seats for a 5.5-7 hour flight after enjoying those on VX, but the clubs and meals are important too.

It's a tough call.

Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts on this too.

best,
Lewis

aviators99

Have you done the UA PS service? I'm interested in hearing from someone who has tried both.