United Airlines is testing out the opportunity for first class passengers to pre-order meals. If the trial is successful, it may eventually roll out systemwide.
The first phase of the trial will occur tomorrow, only on select flights from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles. A United spokesperson told me:
During this first phase, a select group of customers seated in United First class with travel scheduled for July 31 from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles received an email inviting the customer to visit a meal reservation page on united.com to select their meal preference from a menu of available options. Customers can select their meal five days before departure and up to 24 hours before their flight. If they choose not to choose a meal they can request from the flight attendant once on board. Our teams will follow up with our customers, review test feedback and adjust as needed.
American Airlines rolled out a meal pre-order years ago and I use it every time I fly AA: it’s a great way to avoid the roulette of sitting in the rear of the first class cabin. It also allows me to better determine what, if anything, to eat at home or in the lounge before stepping onto the flight.
Let’s hope tomorrow’s trial is successful and it rolls out on a wider basis in the near future.
This seems awesome. UA’s domestic first class catering is wildly unpredictable.
Finally! This is something I really admire about AA and that has always bothered me about UA. Even as a 1K I didn’t always get my meal choice. I can’t believe it has taken UA so long honestly.
“A United spokesperson told me:”
Considering this [quote from above] is verbatim from VFTW’s post, I’m not sure the email was really directed to you personally.
Man, I love your blog. But seriously. “Told me”? This seems to be a general PR announcement.
Remember, all we have is our integrity.
You want to see the email exchange? Please, you can question my proofreading skills, some of my viewpoints, but not my integrity. And I posted before Gary…
I recently flew a lot of Delta First domestically (when I nearly always fly United) and quite enjoyed being able to choose my meals. Especially when there was only 2 choices-one cold and one hot-I liked avoiding being on the receiving end of a bowl of corn flakes on a morning flight. It’s about time United started this.
It also cuts down on waste I’d imagine. If you know what the majority is going to eat you don’t have to load a lot of extras.
I was talking to a flight attendant about a month ago (while in economy) and she mentioned this was coming. Let’s hope it sticks. Though my business travel is booked into Y and upgrades come late in, so I won’t benefit that much.
Neither you nor Ben nor Seth, nor Sam seemed to ask WHY it took so long at UA. I’d be curious if they just didn’t care, or there were more complex challenges in their operation.
I can ask.
Great if you’re on a revenue ticket…..what about non-revs ?…( I can just hear it now – we have no more meals left)……and is United going to have a “plan B” in place when a flight get’s cancelled or there is an equipment change, throwing the seat assignments out of whack?