United seems to be improving domestic meal service quite a bit. Here's their new description of meal services: United First® Flights between one and two hours in length (a distance of 220 to 759 miles) United First passengers are offered a selection of complimentary snacks, which may include potato chips, premium mixed nuts, snack mix,…
Continue reading: United improves domestic meal service
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They still need to work on the quality of the food. I'm hoping that if the merger happens, CO will take the lead on premium cabin menu planning, as the taste and quality of what's served is usually much better than UA's offering. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad to see UA improving. But standardizing the offerings and still handing out the same old garbage isn't improving to the level that's really needed.
I just hope Delta follows. The basket o' crap on a 5 hour flight is totally unacceptable.
@ Steven - Honestly, most of what was described sounds just like CO's food service. Perhaps this is one of the integration points.
@Steve - It's not quite the same as CO. For example, CO has yogurt (not served in a disposable plastic container) with either the egg option or the cereal option. The egg dishes on CO are much more substantial than even p.s. and include 2 kinds of meat in much larger quantity. On redeyes, CO serves soup with the hot sandwich. CO has a better sundae than UA as well. CO does not, however have hot nuts or pre-arrival snacks... At dinner CO, does a much better job at offering something other than just "chicken or pasta"
I just hope the combined airline will stop CO's practice of not offering anything "first class" as a snack on non-mealtime flights between EWR and Florida. I've been in First several times between EWR and TPA, MCO, and (back in the day) SRQ in the last few years, and outside mealtimes we got...the same peanuts or snack mix as Coach, just two bags instead of one. Sad, really.
How about long flights that "fall between lunch and dinner" or that are after dinner time? TPA-IAD 1:40 PM and IAD-TPA 10:05 PM! Over 800 miles but no meals, will this change?
Meal 3 is hardly the same as meals 1 & 2! You had different serving platters and a chocolate chip cookie!
Speaking of that cookie, it really annoys me when they bring out a warm cookie at the same time as my meal, out of laziness. How can I enjoy a warm dessert cookie when I have yet to start the salad? Let me eat my meal. Then get off your lazy ass and give me my cookie. I'd say it only happens 1 out of 10 flights or so, but I have found many first class flight attendants reading books, playing solitaire on their netbooks, or gossiping with another FA when all the passengers in first class have empty drinks. Bleh.