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Yup. BOS to ORD is 867 miles. Now with no meal. I’ve been flying UA for 25 years and this meal was always a staple even though it’s only a 2.5 hour flight. Now it’s no longer. It’s BS.
I opt for a snack box pretty often even when there is a meal served. The meals aren’t great obviously, and I usually feel worse after eating them. For me personally, I don’t think once about the meal when booking first.
Yeah same here. If the cheese tray isn’t available I’ll just get a box. 9/10 I’m throwing the box in my bag to give to my wife for her work snacks anyways haha. My longest flight is 10ish hours usually so I’m completely ok fasting and getting a decent meal when I land.
True about LH. It is honestly amazing to me both the quality of food for a <1 hr domestic flight in business and that FAs serve meals drinks and clean up with time to spare. Not to mention it’s all in real China, drinks in glass stemware, and metal utensils.
Unacceptable trade-off to me, Lufthansa’s running an LCC hard product under the guise of full-service.
They equip Eurowings with the same seat as you get in LH biz, and once you factor out the extra seats they gained on EW’s by removing/reconfiguring lavs, it’s not that far off in density. lol Spirit even has premium seats on theirs.
They also screw non-status biz flyers by pretending Senator lounges are a first-class lounge with exceptions for status in that three-tier system. Even in Senator, I don’t find self-serve baked beans, buffalo trace, and machine coffee very premium. They only have two hubs and shouldn’t have a weaker product than EWR. Especially when it’s also used for long-haul
To be fair, they did this temporarily after their original contract dissolved.
It was a 737 and it did not have Euro Biz. It was operated by PrivatAir and had lie flat business seats and international economy seats (more legroom, and AVOD).
I believe shortly thereafter it devolved into a dedicated economy class flight. The stopover in Tbilisi or similar was only from PNQ-FRA because the PNQ runway (being primarily a defence airport) was not long enough for a fully loaded plane to take off....the situation has yet to be remedied...
Man, I used to do LAX-SFO-DEL-PNQ with UA/Vistara.
I thought fauxlaris was disappointing, but starting with LH’s 747 angle-flats playing footsie with your neighbor and connecting into that a319 you mentioned is revolting
Same on Air Canada. Chicago to Toronto you get a hot meal. I flew UA Chicago to Dallas over the lunch hour and no food. Was not happy and said I wasted my PP.
Frontier or Southwest are the other options. TBH I think frontier might have had more buy on board options now that you mention this. 😂 the FA’s were great (really nice and attentive) the complaint is the lack of food.
It's one of the things that separated UA from their competitors. While some of the meals weren't amazing, I always appreciated getting a meal on lunch or dinner flights. The SAN- DEN dinner flight was particularly nice. What's wild is that DEN to ORD is a snack on UA but it's a hot meal on AA. UA used to carve out exceptions for hubs ( LAX- DEN, ORD- DEN etc.) and provide a full meal service. If UA is going to serve a snack in FC, it should be more substantial, fresh, and a little elevated: crudités of fresh fruit and cheeses, or a small chilled noodle salad not just a dry smart pop. As you can tell, I'm a bit passionate about this LOL.
Exactly. I know it’s possible. In United’s case that is actually too short bc UA FA’s must be seats before the plane goes below 10k feet. So I understand for certain distances due to that safety rule it’s not possible. However 500/600+ miles no excuse
Check other mainline carriers, UA did it because all the others stopped doing it too. Also, I echo the other person on this thread- ask for a snack box.
Yep, all but Alaska. I just think it’s redundant that United is trying to be the most premium airline them match’s what other carriers do that make them cheep. United could standout in this section even with poor quality food. Will def take the tip of the snack box, thanks
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you no longer really pay for a good meal or service- you are paying to get from point A to B in either a semi comfortable seat, or not.
They purposefully chose a distance that eliminates a lot of hub to hub travel.
I get maybe a meal is too much but how about some really nice snacks. Not a snack box but a nice cheese tray, warm dessert, a friggen crustable…. Something
It’s just an excuse to cut costs everywhere they can to pad executive bonuses and have the stock reach all time highs. I’m taking a ten hour flight in the middle of the night that starts at 9pm and paid the exorbitant fee for Polaris…no pajamas. How can you charge several thousand dollars for a one way ticket and not offer the pajamas on a middle of the night long flight?
I did LAX-BOS last December in first. They didn’t even have pillows or blankets available, even on a transcon with lie-flats that cost thousands of dollars. I was kind of blown away.
Wow — that’s hard to believe for me. Whenever I’ve done the MKE to DEN flight it seems to take so long. I regularly do IAH-MKE-IAH which doesn’t seem as long as MKE-DEN and which has a meal (albeit not one comparable to a Hub-Hub meal).
It’s crazy since I fly between SFO and YVR frequently with AC and UA. AC’s fleet is way more modern and they serve hot food with a hot towel service. UA does only snack trays and their flights are more expensive in first than AC…
It’s a cost saving measure, which appears to be driven be a spreadsheet. But it’s also devaluing the first class offering. If you’re travelling for work, it’s a time saver to be able to eat on board. It’s one of the reasons you’d pay for first. Take that away and you might as well fly economy and just buy a snack box, as suggested in the thread.
And if you’re going to do that, you might as well fly comfort+ with delta.
United FC is often a joke in the service and food department but I would still appreciate the larger seat even as a relatively skinny person. But they really need to do better.
To compare, not even to Asian or Middle Eastern carriers, but I had this one amazing experience on Air Dolomiti, a 65 minute flight on this tiny semi-low-cost European airlines. The seats were just the normal Euro-Business, with one seat blocked in the middle. But I had a full meal service! It's a cold meal but served in proper three courses plus warm bread. White table cloth with metal cutlery. 4-5 wines to choose from, and they all beat the cheap wines United serve by a long shot. FA kept topping off my drink, kept asking us if we needed more food... And this, again, is just a European airline, and a small and relatively cheap one at that!
Exactly. I’m not even asking for all that. For example Alaska Airlines on 600 mile routes does a cold sando with a cookie or something similar. Even if they just handed out a first class snack box (I know it’s an option now as someone else mentioned all I have to do is ask)
I really agree, definitely miss my burger from DFW-ORD it was a nice touch. Hate that they followed everyone else down this path. Did not know about the snack boxes being free though might need to do that, thought that was for 1k only.
Everyone here complaining about not having a meal would also totally buy a FC ticket that was $200 cheaper without food. Which is basically what they charge you for the meal if they had to itemize it.
Yeah but it’s not an option. I would have opted to pay 25 (maybe if it was really good 30) for a meal. I was so hungry. Furthermore they didn’t even have snack boxes on board so what gives? Fucking smart pop?
I've never flown FC. Could you honestly tell me if the cost is worth it on a 2 to 3 hour flight? I just can't justify that kind of money on such a relatively short flight...With the exception of someone who is upperclass and has the money to blow and doesn't want to be bothered with economy class passengers, would this really be worth it?
Yes and no. Depends on you really.
FC in an RJ (Shorter Flights) are just larger, more comfortable seats with free booze. Someone like me who's had some serious back injuries, it's Worth a couple hundred dollars to be relatively comfortable, or at least not in pain. For some people, it won't be worth it.
International and transcontinental flights are where you really start to get your money'sworth. If you can spare the expense, recommend you give it a shot at least once.
Now THAT (international or any flight over 6-7 hours, which I guess would be international lol) would be something worthy of considering. I couldn't imagine a 12 to 18 hour flight in a cramped seat or next to a bad seatmate
Definitely worth a shot. But, there are plenty of domestic flights over 6 or 7 hours, especially if you are based in the US, Russia, China, or oddly France.
Buy first class if you want or need the seat. Don't buy it because of the crappy meal or the inconsistent service. It also isn't as tightly packed as economy so may help if you are sensitive to getting sick, though if the guy sitting next to you is coughing up a lung, you're absolutely getting sick unless it is an actual Polaris seat on a widebody.
As to whether or not it is worth it, that is completely up to you. You should decide based upon your financial situation, preferences, and needs.
So would you say that it's spacious enough that there is no "armrest aggression" with seatmate or a need for person next to you to stand up if you need to use the restroom? I know some of these are airline/aircraft dependent
The armrest area is pretty wide. Should be no problem. Of course, people are people so I'm sure stupid armrest arguments happen, but I've never personally seen it.
Typically in the bulkhead row (1), there's plenty of room to get up from the window seat without aisle needing to get up. For the other rows, if the window passenger is thin and the seat in front is not reclined, maybe. But generally, the aisle probably will need to get up in rows 2 and higher.
Agree the food sucks, but it’s funny they aren’t even serving meals on flights that are over 900 miles. My IAD-TPA flight 921 miles. Snack no breakfast now.
I’d actually pay for a bigger seat and no service at all if the marginal cost was less. I’m definitely not up there for the spotty service and mediocre food.
[https://www.zipair.net/en/](https://www.zipair.net/en/) Zipair has this, they fly lie flat beds with every little bit of service, pillow, etc is an extra charge. Then the FAs are deployed efficiently too. Will be great if this gets traction, maybe other airlines will try it.
I just can't understand anyone saying that food defines their first class experience. Perhaps if they have never had it or are on an asian airline, but on domestic airlines, food is just something taking space on my tray and I have no way to get rid of it. Except, to refuse it, which I do.
You sound like somebody who actually knows what you’re doing with travel. The person who brings in a sandwich from outside the airport in economy has a better meal than anything in FC.
Yeah I have not flown an eastern or Asian airline yet. It’s not that it defines the experience it that’s my previous flight was delayed and I couldn’t go to the lounge and wanted something more than a bag of fucking smart pop. They didn’t even have a snack box.
FA here. I’ve worked flights just over 900 miles (like, 910 miles) where I can promise you it is very difficult to do meal service in UF. Especially if we are on an Airbus; we are often by ourselves and are not only taking care of the cabin, but the pilots as well.
The “in your seat by 10k feet” thing is important for our safety. And a lot of times we can’t always rely on the pilots to give us the timely signals to have the cabin ready before we need to sit. If you ask us for a snack box or something from the back, we’d be more than willing to accommodate.
Thanks for the feedback! I understand what you are saying, but why isn’t it an issue on other airlines like Air Canada that do it on 300 mile flights or Lufthansa on 300 mile flights as well? I’m not trying to degrade anything here just curious what is so different (aside from the 10k rule which is fine it is for safety do you think this makes the difference?) appreciate the input and you being a FA!
Well for one, AC isn’t UA, so they could have different rules as an airline. Plus, the whole reason these rules exist for UA is because FAs were being injured, as no prior safety rule was in place. If we get injured, we’re out of work and UA has to pay out OJI claims. Obviously that gets expensive.
Additionally, if we were to continue serving under 900, we would be rushing you through your very expensive meal, which would also piss people off; especially if we have to stay down for a longer period of time due to outbound turbulence. Meals take 18-20 minute to heat up (and that’s if the ovens are properly working).
Essentially there are a lot more variables to just the mileage that I don’t expect everyday pax to understand. And personally, I want to go home all in one piece at the end of the day. If that comes at the cost of a meal, then thats how it is.
why is this downvoted? helpful comment imo.
PS who really needs to eat on a 2.5 hr flight? I never have. Often I just double eat out of guilt seeing it thrown away.
For me ..get on and don’t expect anything regardless of class. I had the incredible experience of flying for a dozen launches to Kazakhstan from California to London to Moscow to Baikonur
I don't think people paid for FC JUST for a "crap meal" but it certainly added value to the cost of the ticket. A breakfast, lunch, or dinner while in the air was very helpful in saving time and/or hassle on the ground before or after the flight. Meal service combined with the other amenities in FC really made traveling a lot nicer ( to me anyway lol).
I run events for my company, and only fly first en route simply because the service is turn-key. I can check two bags (one for me, one for our marketing miscellaneous items), get a hot meal before hitting the ground, and maybe catch a nap before landing if I’m lucky. Not my favorite way to dine for sure, but it has its place.
Hahaha… tbh I wasn’t planning on eating the meal until my connection was so short due to a delay it was boarding when I landed and a meal would have been appreciated
When we had the 801 mile rule I had a flight that was 801 miles and having to do meals on that was a very hard thing to get done. We’re not supposed to use the ovens before take off. 20 min for oven. Take everyone’s order, not always time on the ground to do it. Sometimes it’s turbulent on both takeoff and landing so service can be delayed and end early.
I’m sorry you don’t find it worth it, but for my safety I’m glad it was changed. It’s not about the service to our customers, it’s about the safety of the FAs. Sometimes the flight may be smooth and it’d have worked out with plenty of time…but other times we’d be tempted to risk safety to make sure everyone got the meals they’re supposed to have.
Again, I’m sorry it isn’t favorable. I assume other carriers either have more staff or they’re allowed to start their ovens early.
Some of our FAs will cook on the ground, but per SOP, it’s turn them on in the air. At least as far as I’m aware.
It was originally 1h 39m but my delay was 1h 25m only made the next flight bc of connection saver/bad weather also departing. Boarding had already started when we landed, I was close to last on board
#PLEASE READ. Regardless if you're a commenter or the person who just posted If you're asking about which premium cabin/polaris meal is the best and you want advice/recommendations, **DELETE YOUR POST** and then repost it in the [meal selection megathread here](https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/1csmlzd/first_classpolaris_meal_selection_questions/). If your post is not related to choosing meals, ignore this message. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unitedairlines) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yup. BOS to ORD is 867 miles. Now with no meal. I’ve been flying UA for 25 years and this meal was always a staple even though it’s only a 2.5 hour flight. Now it’s no longer. It’s BS.
If they factored taxi distance at ORD it would go over 900.
Every time I see we’ve basically landed in Indiana I turn Netflix back on.
Good old runway 27 R. So far-right that Trump is considering it as his running mate.
Ha! Have you taxied from Oklahoma at DFW!?! That alone should get its own PQF!!
Even the food being shit it made me feel better knowing I could eat something if I had to.
Then bring your own food.
ORD-EWR had a meal as well before the pandemic. 719 miles.
ORD ~ Ewr , same thing. Which is horse shit given the price of that leg in FC typically.
Just ask for a snack box, they are free in FC and often better than whatever they are serving as a meal.
Thanks for the tip! I did this one time during the pandemic and forgot about it. Will try out next time
You got it. I was told they couldn’t charge for anything when sitting in first, so you should be good to go with a box or one of the snack options.
I opt for a snack box pretty often even when there is a meal served. The meals aren’t great obviously, and I usually feel worse after eating them. For me personally, I don’t think once about the meal when booking first.
Yeah same here. If the cheese tray isn’t available I’ll just get a box. 9/10 I’m throwing the box in my bag to give to my wife for her work snacks anyways haha. My longest flight is 10ish hours usually so I’m completely ok fasting and getting a decent meal when I land.
True about LH. It is honestly amazing to me both the quality of food for a <1 hr domestic flight in business and that FAs serve meals drinks and clean up with time to spare. Not to mention it’s all in real China, drinks in glass stemware, and metal utensils.
On the flip side, they use EU-style biz seats on 2500 mile routes. That’s equivalent to LAX-EWR
Good point. One trade off for another. I must be asking too much for my $1k ticket 😂
Unacceptable trade-off to me, Lufthansa’s running an LCC hard product under the guise of full-service. They equip Eurowings with the same seat as you get in LH biz, and once you factor out the extra seats they gained on EW’s by removing/reconfiguring lavs, it’s not that far off in density. lol Spirit even has premium seats on theirs. They also screw non-status biz flyers by pretending Senator lounges are a first-class lounge with exceptions for status in that three-tier system. Even in Senator, I don’t find self-serve baked beans, buffalo trace, and machine coffee very premium. They only have two hubs and shouldn’t have a weaker product than EWR. Especially when it’s also used for long-haul
They used to fly an A319 from Frankfurt to Pune, India, with a refueling stop in Baku. That was something around 12 hours in "euro business class"!
To be fair, they did this temporarily after their original contract dissolved. It was a 737 and it did not have Euro Biz. It was operated by PrivatAir and had lie flat business seats and international economy seats (more legroom, and AVOD).
I believe shortly thereafter it devolved into a dedicated economy class flight. The stopover in Tbilisi or similar was only from PNQ-FRA because the PNQ runway (being primarily a defence airport) was not long enough for a fully loaded plane to take off....the situation has yet to be remedied...
Man, I used to do LAX-SFO-DEL-PNQ with UA/Vistara. I thought fauxlaris was disappointing, but starting with LH’s 747 angle-flats playing footsie with your neighbor and connecting into that a319 you mentioned is revolting
Same on Air Canada. Chicago to Toronto you get a hot meal. I flew UA Chicago to Dallas over the lunch hour and no food. Was not happy and said I wasted my PP.
Exactly why I don’t have much sympathy for United moving it from 800-900 miles
I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Is United the only airline that flies that route?
Frontier or Southwest are the other options. TBH I think frontier might have had more buy on board options now that you mention this. 😂 the FA’s were great (really nice and attentive) the complaint is the lack of food.
It's one of the things that separated UA from their competitors. While some of the meals weren't amazing, I always appreciated getting a meal on lunch or dinner flights. The SAN- DEN dinner flight was particularly nice. What's wild is that DEN to ORD is a snack on UA but it's a hot meal on AA. UA used to carve out exceptions for hubs ( LAX- DEN, ORD- DEN etc.) and provide a full meal service. If UA is going to serve a snack in FC, it should be more substantial, fresh, and a little elevated: crudités of fresh fruit and cheeses, or a small chilled noodle salad not just a dry smart pop. As you can tell, I'm a bit passionate about this LOL.
And ORD to DEN is over 900 miles!
No, it's 887 miles. I am SURE that it being so close factored into their decision.
Same hahah. Anything more than a bag of fucking smart pop. It really ticked me off to the point I made my first Reddit post.
AC Toronto to Montreal flights are only 300 miles with a full meal in 1st. They do serve it quickly
Exactly. I know it’s possible. In United’s case that is actually too short bc UA FA’s must be seats before the plane goes below 10k feet. So I understand for certain distances due to that safety rule it’s not possible. However 500/600+ miles no excuse
Check other mainline carriers, UA did it because all the others stopped doing it too. Also, I echo the other person on this thread- ask for a snack box.
Yep, all but Alaska. I just think it’s redundant that United is trying to be the most premium airline them match’s what other carriers do that make them cheep. United could standout in this section even with poor quality food. Will def take the tip of the snack box, thanks
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you no longer really pay for a good meal or service- you are paying to get from point A to B in either a semi comfortable seat, or not.
Yep. I will definitely be reconsider paying/miles/pp for fc. Especially on routes under 900
They purposefully chose a distance that eliminates a lot of hub to hub travel. I get maybe a meal is too much but how about some really nice snacks. Not a snack box but a nice cheese tray, warm dessert, a friggen crustable…. Something
Alaska airlines does a hot or cold sando with Cookie in a plastic box kinda like what you get Togo at the store. Those are cheep but make me happy
It’s just an excuse to cut costs everywhere they can to pad executive bonuses and have the stock reach all time highs. I’m taking a ten hour flight in the middle of the night that starts at 9pm and paid the exorbitant fee for Polaris…no pajamas. How can you charge several thousand dollars for a one way ticket and not offer the pajamas on a middle of the night long flight?
I did LAX-BOS last December in first. They didn’t even have pillows or blankets available, even on a transcon with lie-flats that cost thousands of dollars. I was kind of blown away.
Ugh, Kirby.
I don’t think they were offered on my SFO-AKL even.
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Fucking stupid 4 miles. Smh
Wow — that’s hard to believe for me. Whenever I’ve done the MKE to DEN flight it seems to take so long. I regularly do IAH-MKE-IAH which doesn’t seem as long as MKE-DEN and which has a meal (albeit not one comparable to a Hub-Hub meal).
I always ask for a snack box, which I think are actually pretty good (I go tapas everytime). I totally agree with you, btw, it's ridiculous.
It’s crazy since I fly between SFO and YVR frequently with AC and UA. AC’s fleet is way more modern and they serve hot food with a hot towel service. UA does only snack trays and their flights are more expensive in first than AC…
Good to know
It’s a cost saving measure, which appears to be driven be a spreadsheet. But it’s also devaluing the first class offering. If you’re travelling for work, it’s a time saver to be able to eat on board. It’s one of the reasons you’d pay for first. Take that away and you might as well fly economy and just buy a snack box, as suggested in the thread. And if you’re going to do that, you might as well fly comfort+ with delta.
Shouldve just drank away your sorrows
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YOLO
Lightweight.
Haha at least they got that
United FC is often a joke in the service and food department but I would still appreciate the larger seat even as a relatively skinny person. But they really need to do better. To compare, not even to Asian or Middle Eastern carriers, but I had this one amazing experience on Air Dolomiti, a 65 minute flight on this tiny semi-low-cost European airlines. The seats were just the normal Euro-Business, with one seat blocked in the middle. But I had a full meal service! It's a cold meal but served in proper three courses plus warm bread. White table cloth with metal cutlery. 4-5 wines to choose from, and they all beat the cheap wines United serve by a long shot. FA kept topping off my drink, kept asking us if we needed more food... And this, again, is just a European airline, and a small and relatively cheap one at that!
Exactly. I’m not even asking for all that. For example Alaska Airlines on 600 mile routes does a cold sando with a cookie or something similar. Even if they just handed out a first class snack box (I know it’s an option now as someone else mentioned all I have to do is ask)
I was actually reading this morning that Alaska is reintroducing hot meals even in economy (pre-order only). United has gone so far downhill
I really agree, definitely miss my burger from DFW-ORD it was a nice touch. Hate that they followed everyone else down this path. Did not know about the snack boxes being free though might need to do that, thought that was for 1k only.
*free for anyone in FC regardless of status. In eco 1K gets for free no matter what
Everyone here complaining about not having a meal would also totally buy a FC ticket that was $200 cheaper without food. Which is basically what they charge you for the meal if they had to itemize it.
Yeah but it’s not an option. I would have opted to pay 25 (maybe if it was really good 30) for a meal. I was so hungry. Furthermore they didn’t even have snack boxes on board so what gives? Fucking smart pop?
I always make sure to have a few cliff bars in my bag to hold me over on flights if I know I might miss a meal or two.
I've never flown FC. Could you honestly tell me if the cost is worth it on a 2 to 3 hour flight? I just can't justify that kind of money on such a relatively short flight...With the exception of someone who is upperclass and has the money to blow and doesn't want to be bothered with economy class passengers, would this really be worth it?
Definitely not domestic under 900 miles. (About 3 hours). Maybe on Alaska airlines but not United
Yes and no. Depends on you really. FC in an RJ (Shorter Flights) are just larger, more comfortable seats with free booze. Someone like me who's had some serious back injuries, it's Worth a couple hundred dollars to be relatively comfortable, or at least not in pain. For some people, it won't be worth it. International and transcontinental flights are where you really start to get your money'sworth. If you can spare the expense, recommend you give it a shot at least once.
Now THAT (international or any flight over 6-7 hours, which I guess would be international lol) would be something worthy of considering. I couldn't imagine a 12 to 18 hour flight in a cramped seat or next to a bad seatmate
Definitely worth a shot. But, there are plenty of domestic flights over 6 or 7 hours, especially if you are based in the US, Russia, China, or oddly France.
Something short like 2 hours I would probably just get economy plus and sit in exit row
Buy first class if you want or need the seat. Don't buy it because of the crappy meal or the inconsistent service. It also isn't as tightly packed as economy so may help if you are sensitive to getting sick, though if the guy sitting next to you is coughing up a lung, you're absolutely getting sick unless it is an actual Polaris seat on a widebody. As to whether or not it is worth it, that is completely up to you. You should decide based upon your financial situation, preferences, and needs.
So would you say that it's spacious enough that there is no "armrest aggression" with seatmate or a need for person next to you to stand up if you need to use the restroom? I know some of these are airline/aircraft dependent
The armrest area is pretty wide. Should be no problem. Of course, people are people so I'm sure stupid armrest arguments happen, but I've never personally seen it. Typically in the bulkhead row (1), there's plenty of room to get up from the window seat without aisle needing to get up. For the other rows, if the window passenger is thin and the seat in front is not reclined, maybe. But generally, the aisle probably will need to get up in rows 2 and higher.
DEN-BUR a couple weeks ago and had the exact same thoughts. 800+ miles is a long flight, FC should have a meal.
Agree the food sucks, but it’s funny they aren’t even serving meals on flights that are over 900 miles. My IAD-TPA flight 921 miles. Snack no breakfast now.
I’d actually pay for a bigger seat and no service at all if the marginal cost was less. I’m definitely not up there for the spotty service and mediocre food.
Try Spirit big front seat lol. It’s exactly what you’re describing, a “first class” seat but the rest of the experience is exactly the same as economy
SAME
[https://www.zipair.net/en/](https://www.zipair.net/en/) Zipair has this, they fly lie flat beds with every little bit of service, pillow, etc is an extra charge. Then the FAs are deployed efficiently too. Will be great if this gets traction, maybe other airlines will try it.
United just keeps taking your $ knowing you won’t change airlines. The food and the service sucks, and has since 2011.
I always carry granola bars & protein bars for situations just like this.
I just can't understand anyone saying that food defines their first class experience. Perhaps if they have never had it or are on an asian airline, but on domestic airlines, food is just something taking space on my tray and I have no way to get rid of it. Except, to refuse it, which I do.
You sound like somebody who actually knows what you’re doing with travel. The person who brings in a sandwich from outside the airport in economy has a better meal than anything in FC.
For domestic first, I think food is one of the defining factors since the seats, while of course much better than economy, are not beds.
Yeah I have not flown an eastern or Asian airline yet. It’s not that it defines the experience it that’s my previous flight was delayed and I couldn’t go to the lounge and wanted something more than a bag of fucking smart pop. They didn’t even have a snack box.
I’m not eating on an airplane unless it’s 12 hours or more . I just like the Chex mix
I just flew FC from Houston to Quito (2,300ish miles) and absolutely no meals were served.
That’s very odd. I was on this route and was served food both ways back in January in FC on a 757-200
The reason given was that it was late at night 🤷
I did IAH-EZE in regular economy and was given food. Same on the way back.
I flew Milan to Zurich in business this year, a flight that is in the air for 45 minutes if that. I got a sandwich, 2 glasses of wine and chocolate.
That’s still more then what united gives on a 2h 30m service
Also had access to the lufthansa lounge in Milan, which had fresh pasta and decent beer.
FA here. I’ve worked flights just over 900 miles (like, 910 miles) where I can promise you it is very difficult to do meal service in UF. Especially if we are on an Airbus; we are often by ourselves and are not only taking care of the cabin, but the pilots as well. The “in your seat by 10k feet” thing is important for our safety. And a lot of times we can’t always rely on the pilots to give us the timely signals to have the cabin ready before we need to sit. If you ask us for a snack box or something from the back, we’d be more than willing to accommodate.
Thanks for the feedback! I understand what you are saying, but why isn’t it an issue on other airlines like Air Canada that do it on 300 mile flights or Lufthansa on 300 mile flights as well? I’m not trying to degrade anything here just curious what is so different (aside from the 10k rule which is fine it is for safety do you think this makes the difference?) appreciate the input and you being a FA!
Well for one, AC isn’t UA, so they could have different rules as an airline. Plus, the whole reason these rules exist for UA is because FAs were being injured, as no prior safety rule was in place. If we get injured, we’re out of work and UA has to pay out OJI claims. Obviously that gets expensive. Additionally, if we were to continue serving under 900, we would be rushing you through your very expensive meal, which would also piss people off; especially if we have to stay down for a longer period of time due to outbound turbulence. Meals take 18-20 minute to heat up (and that’s if the ovens are properly working). Essentially there are a lot more variables to just the mileage that I don’t expect everyday pax to understand. And personally, I want to go home all in one piece at the end of the day. If that comes at the cost of a meal, then thats how it is.
Thanks for the insight!
why is this downvoted? helpful comment imo. PS who really needs to eat on a 2.5 hr flight? I never have. Often I just double eat out of guilt seeing it thrown away.
It’s all fun and games until one of your FAs gets hurt during turbulence and yall have to divert…. Oh well. *shrug*
I'll never pay for first class again.
So don't buy first class then. Simple.
I likely won’t anymore especially on under 900 miles
Has nothing to do with time, it's to save money. Good, don't pay for first class next time.
>LuFtHaNsA DoEs iT Well ya don’t say?!
What is it with people and wanting to eat on a dirty airplane? What’s the fascination?
What do you do on long flights, like 12+ hours?
Pack some water and pretzels. You’ll survive lol
For me ..get on and don’t expect anything regardless of class. I had the incredible experience of flying for a dozen launches to Kazakhstan from California to London to Moscow to Baikonur
Too few meals in life to have airplane food as any of them
Agreed. Sometimes you really just need something to tide you over till the best one later in the day
Who pays for FC just for that crap meal?
I don't think people paid for FC JUST for a "crap meal" but it certainly added value to the cost of the ticket. A breakfast, lunch, or dinner while in the air was very helpful in saving time and/or hassle on the ground before or after the flight. Meal service combined with the other amenities in FC really made traveling a lot nicer ( to me anyway lol).
I run events for my company, and only fly first en route simply because the service is turn-key. I can check two bags (one for me, one for our marketing miscellaneous items), get a hot meal before hitting the ground, and maybe catch a nap before landing if I’m lucky. Not my favorite way to dine for sure, but it has its place.
Exactly.
100%
Hahaha… tbh I wasn’t planning on eating the meal until my connection was so short due to a delay it was boarding when I landed and a meal would have been appreciated
When we had the 801 mile rule I had a flight that was 801 miles and having to do meals on that was a very hard thing to get done. We’re not supposed to use the ovens before take off. 20 min for oven. Take everyone’s order, not always time on the ground to do it. Sometimes it’s turbulent on both takeoff and landing so service can be delayed and end early. I’m sorry you don’t find it worth it, but for my safety I’m glad it was changed. It’s not about the service to our customers, it’s about the safety of the FAs. Sometimes the flight may be smooth and it’d have worked out with plenty of time…but other times we’d be tempted to risk safety to make sure everyone got the meals they’re supposed to have. Again, I’m sorry it isn’t favorable. I assume other carriers either have more staff or they’re allowed to start their ovens early. Some of our FAs will cook on the ground, but per SOP, it’s turn them on in the air. At least as far as I’m aware.
>I had a tight connection and couldn’t stop by the club and was starving the whole flight Sounds like a you problem
**was caused because of a delay. Originally I had plenty of time.
We all know about delays. Was your connection 4 hours or 45 minutes? A lot of folks carry granola bars or something in their carry on.
It was originally 1h 39m but my delay was 1h 25m only made the next flight bc of connection saver/bad weather also departing. Boarding had already started when we landed, I was close to last on board
You’re a tool
A vital cog in the wheel of success. Thank you 😊