January 2025 UPDATE: United Airlines has expanded dynamic meal preorders to all long-haul international Polaris flights. A memo to flight attendants reads:
This expansion included adding dynamic preorder to 226 unique segments and 70 catering locations to help advance our service offerings for our most valued customers.
This innovative service enables premium cabin customers to select from the scheduled entrees in advance. By boarding the precise number of preordered items and maintaining standard ratios for other entrees, we ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction!
“Dynamic” preorders are now available on all United routes that offer meal service, both domestic and international. If you pre-ordered a meal, you will not be asked for a second choice, unless there is a catering error.
If the number of preordered entrees exceeds the quantity boarded, priority will be given to customers following customer status.
Well done, United. This is a long overdue, but welcome change.
October 2024 UPDATE: United Airlines has further expanded dynamic meal preorders to more Polaris routes this month. Slowly but surely, United is moving toward a point in which dynamic pre-orders are available on all routes.
- Denver
- Frankfurt – round-trip
- London – round-trip
- Munich – round-trip
- Tokyo Narita – round-trip
- Newark
- Munich – inbound to Newark only
- Zurich – inbound to Newark only
- Frankfurt – inbound to Newark only
- Sao Paulo – inbound to Newark only
- London – inbound to Newark only
- Lima – inbound to Newark only
- Bogota – inbound to Newark only
- Rome – inbound to Newark only
- Paris – inbound to Newark only
- Delhi – inbound to Newark only
- Washington Dulles
- Frankfurt – round-trip
- Paris – round-trip
- Rome – round-trip
- London – round-trip
- Sao Paulo – inbound to Dulles only
- Munich – inbound to Dulles only
- Zurich – inbound to Dulles only
- Amsterdam – inbound to Dulles only
- Athens – inbound to Dulles only
- Barcelona – inbound to Dulles only
- Brussels – inbound to Dulles only
- Dublin – inbound to Dulles only
- Edinburgh – inbound to Dulles only
- Geneva – inbound to Dulles only
- Madrid – inbound to Dulles only
- Lisbon – inbound to Dulles only
- Amman – inbound to Dulles only [route currently suspended]
- Houston
- Rio de Janeiro – round-trip
- Lima – round-trip
- Munich – round-trip
- Amsterdam – outbound from Houston only
- Buenos Aires – round-trip
- Frankfurt – round-trip
- Sao Paulo – round-trip
- London – round-trip
- Bogota – round-trip
- Quito – outbound from Houston only
- Los Angeles
- Melbourne – round-trip
- Sydney – round-trip
- London – round-trip
- Shanghai – round-trip
- Hong Kong – outbound from Los Angeles only
- Chicago
- Athens – outbound from Chicago only
- Sao Paulo – outbound from Chicago only
- Reykjavík – outbound from Chicago only
- Milan – outbound from Chicago only
- Shannon – outbound from Chicago only
- Dublin – outbound from Chicago only
- Frankfurt – round-trip
- Rome – inbound to Chicago only
- Sao Paulo – inbound to Chicago only
- Munich – inbound to Chicago only
- Zurich – inbound to Chicago only
- London – inbound to Chicago only
- Paris – inbound to Chicago only
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam – outbound from San Francisco only
- Barcelona – outbound from San Francisco only
- Paris – round-trip
- Rome – round-trip
- London – round-trip
- Auckland – round-trip
- Brisbane – round-trip
- Melbourne – round-trip
- Sydney – round-trip
- Frankfurt – round-trip
- Hong Kong – round-trip
- Munich – round-trip
- Tahiti – outbound from San Francisco only
- Shanghai – round-trip
- Taipei – outbound from San Francisco only
- Zurich – round-trip
- Seoul – round-trip
- Manila – outbound from San Francisco only
- Beijing – outbound from San Francisco only
- Singapore – outbound from San Francisco only
In short, you’ll have a greater ability to pre-order a meal between five days and 24 hours before your flight than what is currently possible (more details below), though as you can see the list is still somewhat convoluted.
It is not clear to me beyond the logistical hurdles or simply the cost, why this is not being rolled out systemwide (as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have offered for years). The current pre-order system with entree choices often shown as “out of stock” due to preset ratios that do not consider actual demand is undeniably annoying to passengers. Allowing passengers to pre-order their preferred meal is a low-hanging fruit and an easy win for United.
Yes, customization costs more money, but it makes for happier passengers and that makes more loyal customers. We’ve surpassed the testing stage so it is just a matter of logistics at bases like Newark and Washington now.
My original story, from January 2024, is below.
United Airlines is testing dynamic meal service preorders in Polaris Business Class on one route, with hopes to expand the concept to all international flights later in the year. It’s a welcome and necessary first step.
United Airlines Running Dynamic Polaris Meal Service Preorders Test
I’ve outlined before how the meal service preordering works on United, which is very different depending on the type of flight.
Preorders can be done in two ways. The ideal way is that passengers have a choice prior to the flight among a list of menu items, then the flight is catered accordingly based on those choices. That, to me, is the very premise of a preorder program. The other way, however, is simply to use preorders to better allocate meals that have already been pre-proportioned and will not change based on the specific demand of the flight.
When it comes to Polaris Business Class (i.e. longhaul flights), it is the latter path United has chosen. That is why you will often see choices that are “out of stock” if you wait too long to pre-order your meal on a longhaul flight. Meanwhile, domestic preorders work according to the other method: a list of options (often beyond the standard three menu items) are available and a flight is catered based on pre-orders. That is why you will not see “out of stock” on a domestic flight in the forward cabin.
> Read More: How Meal Preorders Actually Work On United Airlines
This month, United is testing its dynamic preorder system on flights between Denver (DEN) and Frankfurt (FRA).
Customers traveling in the Polaris cabin between DEN and FRA may order above the standard meal boarding ratios. Catering will board the exact number of preordered entrées. Meals for customers who did not preorder will be loaded per their original provisioning ratios.
While this change is longer overdue, at least now it is starting and I don’t think United is only “testing” it on this route to see if passengers like it. Obviously, passengers love getting their first choice. It seems to me that what United is testing is whether it can pull this off…and that is wise. Better to start (and fail or discern trouble spots) on one route than roll it out systemwide only to have to promptly pull it back.
United says, “Based on customer and flight attendant feedback, we hope to expand this concept to all international flights later this year,” and I cannot imagine any scenario in which a passenger or flight attendant would not prefer more choice…so the matter is when, not if.
Nevertheless, as we often see with United, rollouts of passenger-friendly initiatives can be painfully slow.
CONCLUSION
United is testing out dynamic meal preorders in Polaris Business Class between Denver and Frankfurt this month. I am hoping the test will go smoothly so that we can see this program expanded to more routes and eventually all international longhaul routes.
This just in: United absof*ckinglutely *leaps* into the early 2010s by offering a service that will not only increase efficiency but will also be of benefit to passengers and has been in use by better/good/great airlines for years.
What a joke.
If UA wanted to satisfy , it would allow First and Business big spenders to order 2 selections for each meal . People such as me who are selective eaters would be able to choose desirous parts from both meals . Others , who are large , would be able to eat both full meals . Anyway , they gobble too much money from the inflated fares .
Those who are “large” should probably stay home and go on a diet, instead of trying to pre-order multiple airline meals.
You have come up with the least attractive “improvement ” for airlines. An improvement for airline meals? Better food beats two meals 1,000,000 to one in any survey, I submit.
Hah! Arent you special….why don’t you just bring a bag of chips a can of spam and some regular coke….two meals! Such gluttony
I feel for you people having to fly commercial. I purchased my share of a private jet with Netjet and haven’t looked back. People like you fly commercial on your company’s dime and act like boorish elites. You do realize you’re one of fifty in business class cabin. Your image of self importance is only in your head. If your selective palate is not satisfied on commercial airlines may I suggest Netjets.
@United. Do the SFO CHC route by March 8th 😉
Bill n DC! I just pre ordered my meal on the CHC-SFO flight for next Tuesday!
So look for the email about 5-7 days out!
I’ve got good news for you. I flew CHC-SFO in March. When I told the steward how surpringly good my chicken dish was, two others offered their meals, a second and third option, were also quite good. Apparently the CHC supplier is good.
Why is United making things complicated? American allows preorder selection without all the ranked choice voting mechanism that United is doing.
The UA trial is essentially identical to the AA system.
Long overdue; why did they ignore their flights from Calif. to Tokyo and to Singapore (especially,
since they’re competing with the leaders, Singapore Air and Eva Air, on those famous routes.
I think Delta does a great job in terms of pre-ordering means on Delta One. You receive an email around 1 week in advance of your flight and you have until 24 hours before departure to make your selection for main entrees. They usually have 4 “regular entrees” that I assume will be loaded on the flight and people that do not pre-order will have access to those first come first serve. However, depending on the itinerary, they also have 2 or 3 special entrees that are typical of that country and can only be pre-ordered meaning only passengers that pre-order them will get. I just flew from Brazil to the US and they had 3 Brazilian dishes that you could order in advance. I think that is impressive to be able to choose from 6 to 7 dishes for your main entree in advance and know your choice will be there. Never failed with me.
Under my proposal , you could have had 2 full meals of any of your choices .
Everyone is different but the full meal served on DeltaOne is more than enough for me. You start with warm nuts, then an appetizer, assortment of breads, salad, main entree and dessert. Not sure why I would need 2 entrees.
But you said before you don’t eat on planes…
Why would anyone want to order two meals? People don’t go out to dinner and eat consecutive main courses… unless maybe you’re at the buffet on a Carnival booze cruise. People would rather order and receive their first choice of meal. Talk about American gluttony at its finest
This is where we discover first hand the kind of feedback airlines receive. 2 entrees each. 100 Polaris meals in a galley…waiting for ovens.
I flew UNITED Polaris in November and January international… Trans Atlantic. I had not flown Polaris in three years and I must say I enjoyed the service. However, I do not like everything served on one tray. Is it so difficult to do the salad and appetizer separately from the main course? I will say that on both flights I had the pre-order option, and everything went perfectly smooth. Even the presentation of the food options are much nicer than they used to be..
The reason for this is because United cut one Polaris flight attendant during the pandemic and did not restore that position.
Make sure that you complain in your post-flight survey that you felt rushed, and that you would prefer a separate appetizer and salad course. Most FA’s would prefer the separate appetizer and salad course too, as it gives the galley FA more time to set up the dessert carts. However, the current procedure is the “express” style tray service for all. The only way it’ll change back to the course-by-course service is by customer feedback.
If anything, UA needs to add a dedicated FA to the O Cabin
Aren’t FA’s suppose to clear the salad and appetizer from the tray before serving the main course?
I recently flew DeltaOne to Europe and their FA’s did a clearing service for each individual passenger before serving them their main course, because you’re right having the salad, appetizer and main course all on one tray is to much.
About time. Alaska still has preorders running out for domestic flights, so United isn’t in the last place.
I work as a FA for Alaska. What do you mean we run out of pre orders? They are pre ordered, we serve them to the passenger who ordered, then we are all good. We run out of snacks sometimes.
This is in-app, not onboard. The AS preorder system only allows us to select up until the catering ratio is hit, so if the route were planned to be loaded (say) 4 F&C 8 breakfast bowl 4 omelette, once 4 omelettes have been preordered I wouldn’t be able to preorder one.
Once onboard, agree that pre-orders are served/prioritized for what they pre-ordered. The only time I’ve successfully preordered online and not gotten what I wanted was once when catering loaded in the wrong city 🙂
I wonder how many suits sat around a conference table and came up with this convoluted cluster? All they needed was a janitor dumping waste baskets to overhear their discussions and say, “Hey smart guys and gals, how about publishing a menu on line and let people pick what they want for dinner?”
@John A- but if the folks in suits didn’t sit around conference tables all day, they’d have nothing to do.
“ I cannot imagine any scenario in which a passenger or flight attendant would not prefer more choice…”
United Flight Attendants union, “hold my beer”.
you are still pre-ordering crap. United’s catering is abysmal.
This is all small ball – Polaris needs an entire re-design at this point. Nothing else will move the needle for customers on United international
American carriers are a hot mess of processed garbage.
“It is not clear to me beyond the logistical hurdles or simply the cost, why this is not being rolled out systemwide (as American Airlines and Delta Air LInes have offered for years).”
From a friend on the catering team at United, the reason is that not all hub kitchens are equipped to do customized orders. Ranges from technology to training. And the program has not been prioritized to do so. I guess things are changing
Don’t bother ordering. Seated in Polaris Business class ORD -FRA I was served the worst special order Vegetarian meal EVER. I could not eat the main course. When asked for dessert choices, I mentioned two choices and was asked to pick one, so I did. My travel companion ordered 2 desserts and was given both! She then ordered a third one and passed it on to me. Pathetic service, possibly racist motivated. I have a tanned complexion and travel companion is White.
On my connecting flight onward to Vienna on Austrian Airlines the breakfast was fantastic.
I have flown as a passenger on more than 1000 flights on 69 different airlines to 57 countries and 167 different airports world wide.
Out of stock at 4 days and 21 hours till flight time
That’s because people like me select the meal as soon as we can.
@ Matthew — Now, some edible food would be nice.
Wow this is great! Now if only they didn’t keep devaluing my miles, maybe I’d be able to try it out 😉
need to add this to O as well
AA and DL have preordering in O. Would solve the issue of the last row not getting a choice of meal
What does this mean for folks who are upgraded at a gate – will they have choice at all ?
Gee, you get a free upgrade and complainant food choice?
Yes, they will still stock a certain number of the meals, but depending on where you are in section, you may not get your first choice since a)they will have fewer meals stocked overall, given that the majority who have booked ahead of time will (at least they hope) order ahead; and b) they will only have a few of each option to minimize waste. They are obligated to have enough meals for everyone (not that they don’t sometimes mess that up too) but they may not have the one you want.
Just flew Virgin. While the seats were horrible, the meal and the service were x10 better than United. Coming home via UA though.
@Derek….not sure what O is, but aren’t special meals like Vegetarian etc available on all airlines in all classes?
O is premium economy on United.
W means something else entirely
Oh wait…can we also pre-order the wine and bubbly so they don’t run out ?
When did Quito Ecuador become a Polaris route? I thought Lima was the furthest north in SA for Polaris.
Just try to pre-order and not surprising getting a “dynamic” message:
Unable to load inflight menu. Please try again later.
United should test and fix all the problems before implementing “Changes you will like!”
Agreed!
Just as a data point- UA asked me for a pre-order for both my outbound LAX to HKG and my return HKG to LAX a few days ago, for flights next week (18th and 26th). So fairly far out and both directions! They’ve actually been rather insistent about it, asking for the return pick over and over, but I am just not sure what I’ll want two weeks from now, if anything, given I have a long layover in HKG to explore and eat locally. But they keep sending texts.
when will UA offer pre ordering in PP like DL and AA have done?
I feel for you people having to fly commercial. I purchased my share of a private jet with Netjet and haven’t looked back. People like you fly commercial on your company’s dime and act like boorish elites. You do realize you’re one of fifty in business class cabin. Your image of self importance is only in your head. If your selective palate is not satisfied on commercial airlines may I suggest Netjets.