Alaska Airlines is improving its food for purchase program in economy, putting other US airlines to shame.
In this post:
Alaska Airlines selling hot meals in economy
Effective immediately, Alaska Airlines has started selling hot meals in economy on most flights over 1,100 miles, excluding redeye flights. These flights feature up to five dishes, including at least one hot option. So, what kind of hot menu items can we expect? It depends on the route:
- For breakfast flights that are eastbound and to Hawaii, you can expect a carnitas breakfast bowl, featuring slow-roasted pull pork and salsa verde, with a side of breakfast potatoes and fresh scrambled eggs
- For breakfast flights that are westbound and from Hawaii, you can expect a monte cristo breakfast sandwich, featuring smoked turkey breast, sliced ham & swiss cheese served on a square croissant bun with cream cheese & raspberry jam
- For lunch and dinner flights that are eastbound and to Hawaii, you can expect a panang curry chicken, featuring red coconut curry with grilled chicken breast and jasmine rice, topped with edamame beans, sweet red peppers, and onions
- For lunch and dinner flights that are westbound and from Hawaii, you can expect a pretzel roll with sliders and chips, featuring two angus beef patties on a sweet pretzel slider bun with caramelized onions and swiss cheese, with kettle-style chips
Note that hot meals are exclusively available for pre-order purchase, meaning you need to buy the meal before the flight, between two weeks and 20 hours of departure. All of these dishes range in cost from $8 to $11.50, and you can receive 20% back in the form of a statement credit if you pay with the Alaska Airlines Credit Card (review) or Alaska Airlines Business Visa Card (review).
These dishes do look pretty good, though I wish the options were a bit more inclusive to various dietary restrictions. For example, none of the dishes are vegetarian, and pork is also something that people from two major religious groups don’t eat.
Alaska Airlines beats the competition on this front
Alaska Airlines has long had a superior food for purchase program in economy compared to other carriers. But with the return of hot meals for purchase, the difference is even more pronounced, especially compared to American and Delta. Just to compare this to the competition:
- American’s buy on board selection is pitiful; food for purchase is only available on flights over 1,300 miles, with a very limited selection, as the only “fresh” option is a fruit and cheese plate
- Delta’s buy on board selection is a bit better than American’s, but not by much; it’s only available on flights over 1,500 miles, and includes just a couple of fresh options
- United’s buy on board selection is the best of the big three; packaged snacks are available for purchase on flights over 500 miles, while fresh options are available for purchase on flights over 1,500 miles, including some hot options
So as you can see, Alaska offers hot meals on flights that are much shorter than on United, and on top of that, the quality generally seems to be a bit better. The other thing is that United doesn’t let you pre-order hot meals in economy, so unless you’re seated in the first few rows, don’t expect you’ll be able to buy one.
Bottom line
Alaska Airlines has brought back hot meals for purchase in economy on flights of over 1,100 miles. You can expect that these will cost $8-11.50, and one hot option will be available on each flight, complementing other fresh options. Just be sure you order this in advance, as it’s not available for purchase once onboard.
I’ve long been impressed by the carrier’s approach to catering, so it’s nice to see it improve even further.
What do you make of Alaska’s hot meals for purchase?
You know they are all frozen meals they are reheating
The two sandwich looking items looked better than the hot food.
The sandwiches are hot food items
Why aren’t there more options in and out of Alaska. What difference should it make how far if someone is able to purchase them. And why shouldn’t there be more fruit type options. Very frustrated as they are on some flights but not others.
Had the panang jasmine curry chicken...quite tasty....it's a yes for me.
There are a lot of better options available at airport restaurants . You can also bring food from home .
IIRC United and Alaska are the only airlines that have ovens in the rear galley on narrowbodies, which allows them to offer these selections. Good on them!
I flew Alaska last year and wanted to try some of the food onboard, but I was part of a group booking, which doesn’t allow pre-orders. Side tangent: flying as part of a group booking is the pits. You can’t choose your own seat, you can’t pre-order food,...
IIRC United and Alaska are the only airlines that have ovens in the rear galley on narrowbodies, which allows them to offer these selections. Good on them!
I flew Alaska last year and wanted to try some of the food onboard, but I was part of a group booking, which doesn’t allow pre-orders. Side tangent: flying as part of a group booking is the pits. You can’t choose your own seat, you can’t pre-order food, you can’t get a mobile boarding pass or view your reservation online, and any special request requires a call. Really wish airlines would update their IT to be less punitive towards travelers in group bookings.
It is a very sad reflection that the big three legacy carriers do not offer complimentary meals in economy. I have just flown a domestic flight with Bangkok Airways and they provided a hot meal and full drinks service on a 1 hour flight in economy. There are a choice of meals that you can even order in advance. Puts United, American and yes, even hallowed Delta, to shame.
Operational cost are much cheaper in Asia , including labor . Here in United States , fly from New York to Miami for less that 200 usd . Expect a meal ?
In Australia, Qantas offers hot dinner on flights that are barely an hour in the air.
I can go 3 to 6 hours without shoving food down my pie hole. I love watching people eat on planes. Ever seen pigs eating out of a trough. Looks the same! It just makes me want to eat healthy!
You sound like fun at parties.
What a weird comment. Sometimes people haven't had a meal for hours because they've been heading to the airport - let them eat in peace. And also, just don't be so condescending about your fellow passengers.
I'm surprised more airlines don't offer a hot meal upgrade for purchase. Either on the plane or pre-order. Sort of like what ZipAir Does.
Flew HNL to SLC on delta and you can only get a cold sandwich or a cheese plate. At that point I'd gladly pay a premium for a hot meal. Maybe the airlines have done the math and they don't make money on it. I don't get it.
This is great because you can leave the salt shaker at home.
Sometimes the hot food (eg. cheeseburger) is better than the entrees in F/C on Alaska Airlines.
I had the monte cristo sandwich and it was great. All of the food i have purchased has been very good.
I'm flying Sunday from SAN to OOG. The WORST food selections I've ever been offered!
Now they have a use for the oven in the rear galley besides heating up crew meals.
They don’t have crew meals , is the food the crew brings from home because they are human .
All of those look more appetizing than lots of the meals in F on AA
That doesn't take much !
i am so sick of delta's chicken salad sandwich. they've had it like 3 years and just come on. Can't I please just get a different kind of sandwich?? Alaska has 5 different meals!
If you don't care for the chicken sandwich, would you care for a cold dry hard cheese plate?
Anyone know the cutoff for what AS considers a redeye? I take multiple transcon routes that leave 8-9pm... Wondering if I can finally order some proper on those.
They end their food operations at 10pm, but when I was looking at AS138 ANC-ORD Redeye, it doesn't lists the items and it departs at 9:44pm. For 8pm you'll be fine.
Update: I just checked their website and the cutoff time is 9pm. It seems like they changed it as it used to be 10pm.
So nice to see they're bringing this back. I remember being put on an Alaska flight from Anchorage to Seattle after my United flight got canceled, where I purchased a hot meal of steak with onions and peppers, white rice and black beans and I couldn't believe it cost me just 6 USD! Way better and way cheaper than the chicken salad croissant I bought coming back from the Caribbean on Delta last month!
Curry! Been saying this! You basically need "stew" type of food. Anything that's like a braise.
But at 8 to 11 dollars microwaved, it's actually still more delicious to bring McDonald's on board the plane and mess with everyone's senses
I'm with you on the stew! But McD on a plane? It will be cold when you eat it and actually I can't imagine ever having a worse Airplane meal than a cold Big Mac.
My regular route is 1,050 miles, just under the cutoff. Darn. I do my best to avoid AS anyway since they usually put the Max 9 on the route.
I had a recent flight on Alaska from GEG to SFO and they served the sliders as a first class meal option. Was not expecting hot food (albeit more of a snack portion) on a flight that is less than 2 hours, but a nice surprise. Usually, it's just a snack basket!
Does no one remember the Virgin America food in economy? It was all cold but excellent quality, showing that you don’t need reheated freezer meals to deliver something good.
Most importantly, you ordered from the seatback monitor at your leisure, and the FA would run it out to you. It always worked very well, kept me well fed even on long transcon flights, and didn’t require deciding what you want to eat 10 days...
Does no one remember the Virgin America food in economy? It was all cold but excellent quality, showing that you don’t need reheated freezer meals to deliver something good.
Most importantly, you ordered from the seatback monitor at your leisure, and the FA would run it out to you. It always worked very well, kept me well fed even on long transcon flights, and didn’t require deciding what you want to eat 10 days before your flight.
This was happening in 2010. Sad that no one else is making this work in 2024.
More work for the flight attendants while refusing to give them a raise. All the while executive compensation increases exponentially.
I have a friend who’s a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant. She’s actually worried about the merger because AS pays their flight attendants way less than HA. Didn’t know that.
Good news in general; disappointing for vegetarians like me. Oh well.
They also have 3 snack box options, 1 of which is vegan, plus a vegetarian cheese plate for pre order in addition to these. Let’s cool it on the complaints, this is why we can’t have nice things because everyone has to complain.