Not to beat a dead horse, but my United flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt yesterday demonstrates why economy class meal service likely has little effect on loyalty and negatively impacts revenue.
I generally do not upgrade when flights are so empty that I can guarantee a center section of four seats to myself. Of course that is not actually guaranteed until the aircraft door closes, but when a flight has over 180 unassigned seats just hours before departure, you generally do not have to worry. It’s a great time of year to fly to Frankfurt.
With delicious food in the SFO American Express Centurion Lounge, there really even is no need for United’s new Polaris dining service (as much as I like it).
Thankfully, I did end up with a row to myself in EconomyPlus. Shortly after takeoff a perfectly decent lunch was served. The three choices included BBQ chicken with mashed potatoes, cheese tortellini, or Indian vegetarian. I had planned to skip the meal, but due to a medical issue we were delayed about an hour in taking off and I decided to eat, thinking I would not have anything else till the meager breakfast of a croissant with yogurt United provides prior to landing.
The meal was actually tasty–
Two Surprise Meals
Lights were turned down after the meal service and I settled in to work for a few hours prior to stretching across four seats, my “lie-flat bed” for the night. Just before I closed my computer FAs came through the cabin with a mid-flight snack. It used to be ice cream but now ice cream is served during the first meal service. Instead it was a ham and cheese sandwich with M&Ms. Bottled water too.
I was not even hungry and surprised at the mid-flight snack, something that United offers only on West Coast to Europe flights.
After a decent rest, I woke up as the lights were turned up for breakfast. Mentally prepared for a croissant and yogurt, I was shocked when a FA asked me if I wanted French Toast or scrambled eggs. Wait, what? When did United bring back hot breakfasts in economy class on European flights?
The FA beamed and said it had been several months now and credited “Oscar” for making the airline “great” again. I ordered eggs and found the breakfast to be excellent. The eggs and potatoes were warm and fluffy and the Greek Yogurt muffin and fruit were tasty.
But Why?
I loved the upgraded breakfast. As odd as it sounds, it really made my day and of course it makes me happier than before to fly United Economy to Europe. But this pleasant surprise will not change my purchasing habits. I’m a United customer due to a combo of route network, pricing, and lifetime status that work for me.
As much as I will gladly accept and enjoy the free meal, it will make no impact on my decision to choose United or even recommend United to others. Put another way, United is spending money it does not have to attract customers. Furthermore, I had no idea about this meal enhancement. United should advertise that it will keep you full…because this is still a recent development.
My only complaint about the flight was that the internet system was down for about half of it and worked at a snail’s pace for the other half. Investing in next-generation onboard wi-fi technology would likely pay more dividends (by attracting more business travelers if properly marketed) than a nice breakfast in economy class.
CONCLUSION
A great unexpected breakfast on United today. But totally unnecessary to win and maintain my loyalty. How about you? Does a hot breakfast make you more likely to fly United from the West Coast to Europe?
Delta is earning a revenue premium over United by offering an all-around better flying experience. Part of that is on the ground, part of that is reliability, and part of that is inflight experience.
That’s not the only path to profits, margins at the ultra low cost carriers have been fantastic. But they’ve been out-earning peers. As United has improved its product it has closed that gap somewhat.
This doesn’t mean meals are always the answer and on every route, I’ve suggested that JFK – San Francisco / Los Angeles are highly competitive. And in both the New York and Los Angeles markets Delta is seeking to brand itself as the carrier of choice.
United doesn’t win (a) your business (b) at the margin by increasing its investment in breakfast. But the overall perception of the experience may improve enough that customers choose not to book away. I don’t think breakfast alone with help United with its branding however. And it’s likely to be overwhelmed by customer disappointment in business class over not having Polaris seats despite all the advertising.
It does impact my decision to choose United. Thanks to the improved Snack and breakfast service I am more likely to choose United over BA(which tends to leave eco-passengers starving)
“it will make no impact on my decision to choose United or even recommend United to others. ”
Says the guy at the end of his blog post explaining the pleasant surprise flying coach on United…
My wife regularly takes a day flight from NYC to London. She benefits from my 1K status, so gets E+ and lounge access for free. However, she refuses to take UA as the food is so disgusting – and the smell of it so horrible – that it makes her feel sick. She’d rather be in regular economy on BA or Virgin and forgo the lounge access. Price is not an issue as it’s business travel.
So food is important and it’s doubly important when an airline considers its image of whether it is trying to look after you or treats you like cattle.
Food makes a major difference on anything transcon or greater flight time for me. I have only flown long haul a couple of times all on Turkish. The food service on Turkish economy is great and being feed twice on the long haul and once on the medium haul helped win me over. The next time I flew I booked Turkish again even though it was a bit out of my way and then again for a third trip. Granted it was more than food that made the difference, but it is a factor. I even favor United over Southwest for a transcon because decent hot buy on board food is available.
This doesn’t win my business, but it doesn’t lose it. I’m neutral on airline food, its generally not that great. They might be losing money right now, but once those 747s are gone, you will probably have one of the more competitive markets from SFO to FRA around. United is something of a poor man’s Lufthansa on this route, but to I agree that to improve the wi fi speed on this flight United will actually win the battle with Lufthansa for business travelers because Lufthansa has a terrible internet speed. So focus on internet, not food, and when the 747s retire and (presumably) are replaced with a brand of 777s, United will actually have a competitive product with Lufthansa, and maybe even a case that United is better.
The very fact that you’re writing a blog post about this… Is a win for United not matter how small that may seem.
Food, or the lack thereof on united flights were one of my most vocal complaints on their cross Pacific flights. Never had I arrived in Asia so completely famished. So while this may not win them customers (I actually think it will to some degree), it will definitely be a deterrent to some jumping ship. A customer retained is a customer nonetheless.
I think you are on the end of the spectrum of customers who think meals do not matter, but as long as good meals can sway enough on-the-fence customers, they would be a worthy investment.
When I was a student I flew US to Hong Kong (in coach) more than once every year. This is a very competitive market with a plethora of one-stop options besides multiple non-stop options. While being budget sensitive, I was aware that I was willing to pay ~$100+ for a flight on CX/SQ over UA. I think meals are one of the most important indicator for an overall impression of “flight quality” in long-haul economy class. And CX/SQ successfully created that revenue premium (along with other factors, of course). I don’t think my decision was an outlier.
Gary is correct that improving meals are not the answer to every route – AA decide to present their best economy meal service in the LAX – HKG route, because they know what was making the difference.
I fly the ORD-HKG twice a year and after yesterday’s pathetic meals, I’ve decided to switch from UA to another carrier. The vegetarian sandwich snack was unrecognisable. I think it contained a slice of eggplant and spiced apples, perhaps. The pancake breakfast contained the same spiced flavoured sauce with diced peaches. Not too appealing and after 15 hours in the air, we were famished. Looking forward to a new inflight experience on Cathay or Delta in October…
I generally agree with you that most people will not choose to fly an airline based on its economy class meals. I would point out though that people are perfectly willing to bad mouth the airline to friends and family over a bad meal among a list of other complaints. This could easily tip the scales in making said friends and family *not* choose that airline if price and schedule are fairly close – which is often the case.
I also would say that striving to have an all around excellent product is not a waste. I believe if you want to be the best you must consider every detail. Oscar claims to want to be the best, and for the first time I actually feel like United is putting forth a decent effort to try. Not to say I necessarily think they will succeed but they should always be trying and could certainly be “among the best”
I completely disagree. This would be a big deal for more “regular” passengers, which are the majority of United’s customers. A pleasant flying experience is what makes people come back to an airline. Yes the first time I fly might be based on price, but if I get a great experience, I’ll gladly pay more for it.
I just flew LAX-SYD and half the J cabin skipped the meal. Most people wanted to sleep or were already full from stuffing themselves in the lounge.
Frequent Fliers may choose an airline based on food but run of the mill business travelers or leisure travelers who want to get from A -> B are not going to choose airlines based on food.
For it to make a difference to leisure travelers they’ve got to advertise the heck out of it. Right now, I’ve got such a negative impression of United w/ their cutbacks that I wouldn’t try them unless they were MUCH cheaper than the competition. For example, I’d go out of my way to fly SQ to Europe out of IAH in economy, instead of United. I’d probably pay up to around $50 more to fly SQ. I’ll let you know if that impression is warranted after flying them next week!
I agree with Gary on this: The US 3 have for years tried to compete on price alone – and now, they are stuck between LLC like Norwegian offering lower fares across the Atlantic and the ME3 and EU carriers who offer a better product and service. They can’t compete on price due to labor agreements and their older fleet, so they have to differentiate on quality.
While a meal alone won’t make the difference, it’s part of improved hard-product, better entertainment and better service. Initially, at least, fewer people will dismiss them as a choice due to horrible experiences. It will take a while to establish a “high quality” differentiation after years of scraping at the bottom of the barrel, but I think it’s the right strategy for them…
A decent meal alone may not seal the deal, but a bad meal (and any other negative experiences that may be encountered with the airline) will impact one’s overall perception of quality, especially for those who travel several (or many) times per year, but are not road warriors. Among the many reasons I’ll choose (and encourage others when they ask) jetBlue, Southwest and Delta over ANY ultra low cost carrier or United and American, is because the former group offers a vastly superior overall product versus any of the airlines in the latter based on personal experience and those who travel frequently who’s “trip reports” are very reliable. Before merging with United, legacy Continental was my carrier of choice in the New York City market, not necessarily because they continued to offer some sort of meal service in the main cabin after most others eliminated that “perk.” I continued continued because the overall philosopy of the airline was more passenger and employee focused, and it showed. So sure, the meal itself was not the sole determining factor in choosing Continental, or even hanging onto United despite the elimination of a meal behind the curtain while Smisek & Co. took a wrecking ball to the airline’s customer service until finally giving up and switching (mostly) to Team Delta (whose service in the air, on the ground, and most other aspects) is far and away better than United’s or American’s (as is jetBlue’s and Southwest’s but for other reasons: like Delta, they more often than not deliver on what they promise, and when there’s a problem, my experience is that they try to work with you instead of against you). But in getting back to the point about meals, on a recent Delta flight in E+ in addition to the complimentary cocktails which they began serving sometime ago even on “Connection” flights, they brought out a snack basket filled with goodies “jetBlue-style”, and that was an unexpected, but very welcome surprise that endures long beyond the flight itself. It’s not just an “influencer” for future decisions to steer me and my family to choose Delta, it’s a tangible reminder and evidence that while hard-core road warriors may feel differently due to severe mileage depreciation, for many others, and perhaps even the road-warriors for factors other than mileage awards and upgrades, that Delta values their fliers MORE than its supposed, and mean-spirited, “peers” and most assuredly the fee-addicted others United and American are seeking to emulate. Brand equity matters. Customer goodwill matters. some get it, while some don’t. And upgraded meal service seems to be a reliable barometer of where the airlines are in terms of their understanding of who they are and what their brands are.
I think you’re looking at it from the perspective of someone who gets lounge access and has status. If you are just a regular flier going on vacation a meal can be very important as you are not buying airport food and have a long day ahead of you.
Sorry to be a naysayer but I wouldn’t eat either of those meals–at home or in the air. I usually pack a few Bounce lemon-coconut bars in my bag and decline the meal. “No thank you, just water, please.” I think the tray table, crowded plastic trays, and plastic cutlery are part of the issue for me. I love ice cream and M&Ms though! Do you think will will give me the ice cream if I decline the meal?
I disagree with you here. The second full meal on SFO-Europe flights is why I have a preference for UA over other airlines for my travel to Europe. I’m SFO based, and I used to be willing to pay a small premium to fly LH, LX, or VS over UA, but now I will fly UA if possible on account of the breakfast. For a longer flight (SFO-FRA is 12 hrs), the second full meal really makes a difference.
It certainly is a factor in my decision. The same way I consider the additional cost of things like baggage fees, so too do I consider whether I’ll need to buy a meal(s) and or drinks, etc. So if the flight cost are pretty close, it’s worth a few dollars more to feel like I was treated as a valued customer, and get a nice included meal(s).
I disagree with you. Food in economy is essential on an international long-haul flight. If United didn’t offer it and other airlines did, passengers would book away from them eventually. Look at AA, who’s offered no food for sale since the pandemic. They’ve lost business to Delta and United. The fact that you have access to the Centurion Lounge is irrelevant to this article. Not everybody does, and the further statement that United doesn’t need a Polaris Lounge in SFO because their is a Centurion Longe is just asinine. Why would AA then have a Flagship Lounge at DFW or Delta have a Sky Club in Atlanta. Totally pointless. Makes me think this article was written just for the ads.
Correcting my auto-correct. There, not their.