United Airlines is (finally) upgrading meal service onboard its longhaul Hawaii flights, with new menus and new drinks in business, premium economy, and economy class.
Meal Service Upgrades For Longer United Airlines Hawaii Flights
Let’s start with the forward cabin and work our way back.
Premium Cabin Upgrades
If you’ve flown United out of Hawaii in a premium cabin, you can probably picture the chicken katsu or that pink blob of cake that has been served for years.
Oh, it could be worse, but as United has updated and improved its catering across the rest of its network, premium cabin meals to and from Hawaii have remained more or less unchanged.
That changes starting February 1, 2025, on United’s longer flights to and from the Hawaiian islands.
In the forward cabin, marketed as United First, menu choices will include more variety for both the main meal and pre-arrival meal.
Outbound To Hawaii
Main meal:
Seared beef
with garlic chive smashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and Cafe de Paris butter
Roasted chicken breast
with French green bean harissa ragout and deep-fried Panisse sticks
Scallion butter shrimp
with steamed rice drizzled with garlic lemon butter and charred broccolini
Creamy wild mushroom ragout
with mascarpone polenta, sauteed garlic spinach, and feta cheese
Pre-arrival meal:
Sandwich
with shredded kalua pork and pepper jack cheese
Cavatelli
with forest mushroom cream sauce and top with fresh arugula
Tuscan kale romaine salad
with roasted heirloom tomatoes, focaccia croutons, side of grilled chicken, and creamy roasted garlic dressing
Inbound From Hawaii
Main meal:
Braised calamansi pork belly
with ponzu soba noodles, sauteed vegetables, asian slaw and togarashi macadamia nut crumble
Garlic roasted chicken breast
with caramelized carrots, roasted thyme fingerling potatoes and chili crisp butter
Seared salmon
with basmati saffron rice, roasted lemon broccolini and coconut curry sauce
Ricotta spinach filled cannelloni
with rustic tomato sauce and parmesan sauce
Pre-arrival meal:
Creamy scrambled eggs
with Hawaiian egg fried rice, seared Portuguese sausage, and roasted tomato
Souffle pancakes
with creme angliase, honey, and toasted macadamia nuts
Fresh fruit yogurt bowl
with pineapple mango puree, macadamia nuts, and shaved coconut
The sunde cart will also return on flights departing after 10:00 am with special toppings like pineapple compote.
Finally, United will offer an “improved selection of wines in the premium cabin with more bottles provisioned.”
These menu options will be available on United’s longer flights between Hawaii and:
- Chicago (ORD)
- Denver (DEN)
- Houston (IAH)
- Newark (EWR)
- Washington Dulles (IAD)
Passengers in Unied PremiumPlus will also enjoy upgraded main meals (two choices instead of four) and pre-arrival meals, with liquor also included (but not sundaes).
Flights between the West Coast and Hawaii will see no (immediate) change in meal service.
Economy Class Upgrades
In August 2021, United re-introduced complimentary meals in economy class on its longer routes, with dishes like Hawaiian quinoa salad with grilled chicken or guava egg noodle salad with tofu.
> Read More: United Airlines Will Offer Complimentary Meals On Hawaii Flights In Economy Class
Starting in February 2025, United will upgrade the cold meals to hot meals, with dishes like huli huli chicken (a Hawaiian variation of teriyaki chicken marinated in pineapple juice) with sticky rice and green beans.
These menu options will also be available on United’s longer flights between Hawaii and hubs beyond California.
New Cocktails: The Return Of The Mai Tai
As we mentioned in an earlier post, United will also add two Hawaiian-inspired cocktails, including “a refreshing pineapple daiquiri and a vibrant mai tai, both by Crafthouse Cocktails and available for purchase in economy for $12 or 1,420 miles, and complimentary in the premium cabin and United Premium Plus.”
CONCLUSION
It’s great to see United make such a concerted effort to improve its onboard product and do so even in economy class this year. I hope to try out some of these new dishes on a future United flight. It is these sorts of investments that can make United the most “premium” US carrier…
How about UA route between Guam and Honolulu? Distance wise it is long-haul. Let’s hope that Guam based routes will receive the same treatment.
I believe the GUM-HNL also receives upgraded catering
It is United Business, so that may be why it was not included with the United First announcement
I thought United postponed this announcement given what happened last night. Hopefully this was a post made with an ambargo that you forgot to cancel (or you decided to let it get published anyway even it with a delayed announcement), and United didn’t think it was a smart idea to still announce this first thing the next morning after a major plane crash.
These were not under embargo and written before the crash.
How about calling the long haul flights Polaris like DL and AA do with their equivalents?
Include Polaris lounge access (the morning flights are the times when the PLs are not busy, so overcrowding is not an issue)
No mention of the Spam musubi?
Anything with pork , butter , deep-fried , katsu , or cheese will give you an overload of junk .
Anything properly washed is to be hoped for .
Better to bring a favourite sandwich from home or hotel .
The old meals in 1960s and 1970s were tasty and good , but those days are long gone .
To too bad there’s not half of these choices available from California like they used to offer including the mai tai etc
Spell check. Again!
I flew United’s Polaris from Honolulu to IAD, night before last, March 26, arriving early morning on 27 March. I ordered the garlic chicken, “Garlic roasted chicken breast
with caramelized carrots, roasted thyme fingerling potatoes and chili crisp butter.” At first sight, it was disgusting. The chicken was gray, had an “old chicken” smell. I tried cutting into it. The term “rubber chicken” came to mind. I tried to taste it, but it smelled bad, was so dry, it was inedible. What was left? Sliced fingerlings. The “carmelized carrots” were not cooked, just looked like they had been. Hard as raw carrots. The salad was basic, but I can’t eat raw vegetables. That left me with a dry roll and butter. I have flown for 48 years, and have never had a worse meal. The attendant said they had no other thing to offer me, since they no longer stock extra meals. This was First Class. I will never fly United First Class again. I took photos to send to United. My spouse ordered salmon which was “acceptable,” but the broccoli was tough/uncooked. $4-5K spent on round trip, food was garbage. There wasn’t time for a meal before the flight, due to TSA issues. 8.5 hour flight. We took it because it was direct. We won’t make that mistake again.