Someone from American recently told me that the airline integrated Grab into their app. I had never heard of Grab, so did some research and finally had the chance to test it out today. I figured I'd report back with my thoughts. Grab works with select airport dining establishments to allow ordering through their app.…
Continue reading: My Experience Using Grab, The Airport Food Ordering App
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'd give it a shot but it's currently not offered at any airports I use so until they expand to major hubs it's pretty useless for me.
Is this the same Grab that is all over Southeast Asia that competes against Uber? With Grab you can even request a motorcycle pickup.
This is friggin awesome. I'd use it.
Presumably, proper integration with the AA app will prioritize options that are closest to your gate, or at least your terminal. While the infrequent traveler may not be the target market, I know that when I'm uncertain about terminals, I'll have "faith" that ordering through the AA app is going to get me a restaurant at least in the AA terminal. This matters at an airport like LAX.
Also, for the general app, I gotta think airline employees will be a huge source.
This is awesome. Just signed up with your code.
My code is 92833796 if anyone needs a code.
@Donna, if you actually look at the map, it's not fair to say it's not already in "major hubs."
Thanks for sharing Grab, Ben. Glad to hear you had a good experience. Whether long lines or limited time and the desire for food from a full-service restaurant, we are happy to make the airport experience a bit less stressful.
Stay tuned for many new airports - domestic and international - launching soon, as well as some exciting enhancements to our partnership with American!
Lucky- Thanks for the INFO... i'll use your CODE this weekend at DFW. I always watch for my OMAAT email daily... b/c of the tips and info you provide- Thanks so much!
This was slick of you putting your code in there. I'm going to pay it forward and use Kazu's code (thanks Kazu). No hard feelings Lucky! I love your newsletters. They're very informative and sometimes real eyeopeners.
@ janet thomas -- Not trying to be slick at all, and I encourage others to put their codes in the post as well. It's mutually beneficial, and like I said, I don't buy much food at airports, so others can get more value out of it than me. 🙂
@ Endre -- Hmmm, does that work at airports? I could be mistaken, but I think many of the Starbucks airport locations aren't fully integrated (ie, you can't redeem Stars there). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
It's a cool feature, but i feel like their I.T. dollars could be better spent improving other app features. But like you said, I'm sure they are getting at cut $$$ and we all know at the new AA, $$$ > customer.
Grab is not an "airport food ordering app." It's a ridesharing app, the Uber of Southeast Asia. Perhaps if you ever venture outside the secure area of airports you'd realize this.
I've used it twice at Annie's Cafe in Austin. Both times I ordered a sandwich, cold, and put no mayo in the special requests. First time I got my sandwich with mayo, second time with mayo and it had been warmed in the panini press.
So my takeaway is to avoid special orders. Though I'll say that they often ignore special orders even if you place the order directly with the person preparing it.
In terms of execution, it's been available on time and over by the bar where it's easy to skip the line. Monday mornings I never have time to wait in a line 30 people deep so this seems great to me.
I also got an email after my first order supposedly from the founder of Grab requesting feedback. I responded and he replied back to me. So it's nice to see they're looking to make this work smoothly!
Most of the Austin airport is participating. I guess it's all the Delaware North retailers with enough space and staff to handle these orders.
But anyway this is just like the Starbucks app where you can order food and then just pick it up ya?
Hi it is two different companies. Grab in Asia is as @jack pointed out a ride hailing app and is not linked to getgrab app Lucky is referring to here.
Seems this getgrab app was created by ex-Continental execs.
Not all Starbucks have the ordering on the app. My office has a starbucks in the lobby but it's considered part of the hotel next door and doesn't show on my app to order ahead. The nearest one that shows on my app is another office building down the street. Also those that are like that don't accept the freebie things, like on your birthday.
If all these 20 or more people waiting in the regular queue would use GRAB, you will have the same queue as before at the GRAB counter.
@ Brett - Glad to hear you had a good experience at Annie's in Austin. Special notes should be honored by the restaurant but it appears they were accidentally missed by this restaurant and we worked with their team to resolve that. Unfortunately, Annie's is now closed but the owner/chef has opened a new restaurant, I VINI, nearby and it will be available on Grab later this month. We look forward to serving you again soon! You are right that we work hard to make sure the experience is right, and certainly appreciate any feedback so we can work with our partners to improve. In Austin, we have Delaware North and Paradies Lagardere restaurants participating which represent most of the F&B program there. Stay tuned for I VINI and 2nd Bar and Kitchen coming soon!
@ Thomas, we certainly do not want to move the line from the counter to pick-up. As you are notified when your order is ready, we find most users utilize the time for other purposes, or more often, they do not have the time to wait in line to begin with and collect orders quickly on the way to their gate. In the big picture, if most people are self-ordering (mobile/kiosk) at a location, that allows the location to repurpose staff so that there can be more people preparing orders than taking orders (2 cashiers, 2 baristas transforms into 1 cashier, 3 baristas) therefore improving throughput and speed for all orders. The digital transformation of airport restaurants is good for everyone and we look forward to you experiencing Grab in the future.
@ a few people, Grab in U.S. / European airports is different than the taxi hailing app in Southeast Asia. In all fairness, we were Grab before GrabTaxi rebranded as Grab, but we won't hold it against them! We think it's a great name 😉
Lots of colleges have been offering a similar app called Tapingo, and it's more often than not a lifesaver.