Meals (or Not) on Long International Flights

[Twickenham]

2 hours ago, Roz said:

It's not the food per se that's an issue.  I was just amazed that whether you sit in steerage or business or first class, you get a bag of pretzels and a drink.  😀  I was expecting more for the price.  I realize the higher class of seats come with more real estate.  And I do need to time some of my meds with meals so I will just have to bring food onboard with me. 

 

You can't compare pre-Covid business class service and current pandemic-era practices. Pre-covid, business class had much better food service than economy. These days, everything is whacko.

[Roz]

@Twickenham, you're right about that.

[CruiserBruce]

13 hours ago, Roz said:

It's not the food per se that's an issue.  I was just amazed that whether you sit in steerage or business or first class, you get a bag of pretzels and a drink.  😀  I was expecting more for the price.  I realize the higher class of seats come with more real estate.  And I do need to time some of my meds with meals so I will just have to bring food onboard with me. 

This is not true. Even in the Covid era. If you are still talking international flights, you get far more food and drink in the front of the plane. If you are talking domestic,  you don't get alcohol in coach...just to start.

 

 

[Roz]

I realize alcohol isn't included in coach on domestic flights.

[iancal]

The thing is we do not get on a plane to eat.  We board in order to get to our destination as quickly as possible.  If we want a good meal, airplane catering would never be our choice.    Just like at home if we were given a choice of an airline meal, an MDR meal, or a meal in our favourite local restaurant the first two would not even make it on the decision tree.

 

On international flights we really do not care is we get a so called hot meal or simply a packaged muffin.  In some cases the latter is far more appetizing.  When we board the plane we have zero expectations for the food.  That way there is no disappointment.

 

We are thankful that the fare is so inexpensive, the travel relatively safe, and we get to our destination in the fastest possible way.

 

Airlines are well aware that it is the fare and the reward program that matters,  not the meal.    We may have a very mediocre meal on Delta, Transat, United,  Lufthansa,  whatever but that will not be a consideration when we book again.  It is a minor issue for us.  We are far more interested in the routing, the time, and the change fees than we are in the pasta, the beef, or the chicken.

Edited January 2, 2021 by iancal

[SelectSys]

17 hours ago, iancal said:

Europe does not seem to bother us near as much.  But the time differences often only 6 or 7 hours depending our our departure point.

 

You seem to beat the odds.  The literature suggests that east bound travel is more difficult:

https://thesleepdoctor.com/2016/08/04/youre-tired-flying-east-west/

 

For us depending on destination, Europe is just about always 8 or 9 hours time difference.  Compare this to my local current difference to Eastern Australia which is only 5 hours. Even "closer" is Auckland which has the same time difference for me as New York!

 

 

[iancal]

We now break up our flights if coming home from Australia.   We do a one way LC Jetstar to Honolulu.   Stay there for two nights and then catch a flight home.  We find this to be much better than flying  home directly from either SE Asia or Australia.  Less jet lag on our old bodies.

[bennybear]

And we find travelling in business or a true premium economy we arrive more rested and refreshed.  The better food is a bonus.   We also like the Dreamliner for their pressurization,  less jet lag.  
 

We’ve also had some really nice food on Air Canada most recently to Japan,  and the lounge in Vancouver and Tokyo were exceptional.  ANA had a made to order ramen bar,  and a sushi chef!  
 

As we get older,  price is less of a consideration compared to comfort and quality.  Can’t take it with you, might as well enjoy the ride!  

Edited January 2, 2021 by bennybear

[iancal]

The bottom line for us is if we are looking at two carriers, economy or premium, that we view as equal in all respects except food service would we be willing to pay a $300/$400/$500 or more premium per fare for the  one that we consider to have superior in flight dining? 

 

Absolutely agree on the AC lounge in YVR.  It puts a lot of other lounges in NA to shame in terms of comfort, food, and amenities.  Much of my business travel was from, or through YVR on AC.

Edited January 2, 2021 by iancal

[SelectSys]

I still prefer to fly in one shot rather than making multiple stops.  Thankfully living within reasonably easy driving distance of LAX provides lots of nonstop destinations. 

 

To me a stop simply introduces another possible point of failure into my travel plans.  Perhaps I will change this attitude when I retire and can afford to travel more slowly.

Edited January 2, 2021 by SelectSys

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, bennybear said:

As we get older,  price is less of a consideration compared to comfort and quality.  Can’t take it with you, might as well enjoy the ride!  

 

We are sympatico in our thinking!

 

5 hours ago, iancal said:

We may have a very mediocre meal on Delta, Transat, United,  Lufthansa,  whatever but that will not be a consideration when we book again.  It is a minor issue for us

 

Agree.  Was served a lunch in Economy on a Continental flight from Rome to Newark that was almost inedible.  I ate little.  Booked Continental because of their schedule for a Christmas season flight from DAY to ANC.  Was served a good dinner out of Houston with a hot sandwich served just prior to arrival in ANC.  In Coach; I was very pleasantly surprised!

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, iancal said:

Not so returning home and we feel jetlagged for several days.   It seems the older we get, the more brutal the jetlag feels.

 

Returning home from Singapore, this was my experience.  I purposely made a 2 day stopover in San Francisco to help make the "transition" a bit easier.  I thought.  Didn't work.  I was jetlagged for 10 days when I got home.  

[iancal]

Alas, because of where we live we cannot get to SE Asia with at least one stop, more often two.  The same with several Europe destinations with exception of two, sometimes three destinations.  

 

It is one reason why we typically only travel with carry on.

[sverigecruiser]

On 12/31/2020 at 7:50 AM, iancal said:

We typically fly longer international flights twice a year, return.   Various carriers.   Really, the food in economy and the food in business is not much to get excited about.

 

 

Sometimes the food in business class is excellent and sometimes it isn't. The last time I flew home from Miami the fish I got was so dry so I doubt that it even had been in water!  

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

The last time I flew home from Miami the fish I got was so dry so I doubt that it even had been in water!  

 

🤣  The Business Class Flight Attendant on your flight responsible for heating the meals must not have been a Michelin level chef.

 

 

[iancal]

A number of years ago we flew from Toronto to London on BA.

 

The service crew came around and asked me what I wanted to drink.  Rye and soda.  They said sorry, no soda.  So I asked for rye and ginger.  Again, sorry.  Thinking third time lucky I switched to rye and seven.  Still no luck.  Finally I suggested they tell me what they had and I would pick.  Turned out to be Orange squash, Coke, or water.

 

Plane had left Toronto without the proper provisions. Not a biggie, it happens.

Edited January 4, 2021 by iancal

[waterbug123]

On 12/28/2020 at 8:07 PM, Roz said:

I guess my basic question is, whether you're being served peanuts and a beer or a sandwich & chips, is the contact any less or more?  

 

 

The increased contact is about 1) the food prep involved in the meal before it even gets to the plane, and 2) the increased contact required by flight crew to make final preparations for the meal.  Typically for a regular meal, they have to heat the entrees, then add each entree to a cold tray that already has the salad, dessert etc. on it.  Then they add bread to the tray, etc.  In business class, there is even more handling, as there is often an appetizer course served separately at the start, and a dessert course served separately at the end.  That's a lot more handling than handing someone a prepackaged snack box.

 

On 12/28/2020 at 8:10 PM, Roz said:

It seems to me the airlines' goal is to make us as uncomfortable and miserable as they can. 

 

I understand why someone might think that, but that truly isn't their goal.  They want customers to be satisfied, they want employees to be satisfied, they want to earn a profit, they want flights to be run safely, and right now, they don't want the bad PR that comes from not being as diligent as possible with covid-related safety/health measures.  All of those things come at an expense, and some of those expenses can be trimmed for feasibly than others.

 

On 12/29/2020 at 7:28 AM, Roz said:

I guess what really got me is someone told me to look into business class for such a long flight.  When I saw the fare and then found out there's not even meal service, it left me shaking my head and holding onto my wallet.

 

Most frequent flyers I know consider the meal service to be low on the totem pole of reasons to book business class.  In fact, many plan to skip the meal altogether, in lieu of settling right in to sleep on a long flight.  Given the time it takes to get served, eat, and have meal tray taken away, one can sacrifice a significant amount of potential sleep time depending on the itinerary.  Even without factoring sleep time in, many consider other features of business class to be far more important than the meal.  Some of the biggest include include airport lounge access (in and of itself, valuable for a multitude of reasons), larger seat, lie flat seat configuration, no middle seats and often guaranteed aisle access.

[Roz]

@waterbug123, excellent points, I don't disagree that more handling is involved.  But I believe contact with objects has been shown to be low on the totem pole of how Covid is transmitted.  

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, waterbug123 said:

Most frequent flyers I know consider the meal service to be low on the totem pole of reasons to book business class.  In fact, many plan to skip the meal altogether, in lieu of settling right in to sleep on a long flight.  Given the time it takes to get served, eat, and have meal tray taken away, one can sacrifice a significant amount of potential sleep time depending on the itinerary.  Even without factoring sleep time in, many consider other features of business class to be far more important than the meal.  Some of the biggest include include airport lounge access (in and of itself, valuable for a multitude of reasons), larger seat, lie flat seat configuration, no middle seats and often guaranteed aisle access.

 

As a very frequent longhaul flier, you're absolutely right. Meals are nice, but I don't always eat them, and will easily trade them off for a glass of whisky and a nice sleep. Especially if it's a short flight like East/Central North America to Europe, it's already tricky enough to get enough sleep without losing two hours of sleep (or more) to meals. I'm lucky enough that, in most cases, I get a day of rest at my destination before really starting to work, but even then, I want as much sleep on the plane as possible. On longer 12-18 hour flights, where I can do meals and still get a full nights sleep, bring on the food/drink. 

[iancal]

9 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

As a very frequent longhaul flier, you're absolutely right. Meals are nice, but I don't always eat them, and will easily trade them off for a glass of whisky and a nice sleep. Especially if it's a short flight like East/Central North America to Europe, it's already tricky enough to get enough sleep without losing two hours of sleep (or more) to meals. I'm lucky enough that, in most cases, I get a day of rest at my destination before really starting to work, but even then, I want as much sleep on the plane as possible. On longer 12-18 hour flights, where I can do meals and still get a full nights sleep, bring on the food/drink. 

I cannot think of even one time when meal service was a factor in our selection of a long international flight. Or any flight for that matter.   The same for 30 plus years of business travel.

[Zach1213]

4 hours ago, iancal said:

I cannot think of even one time when meal service was a factor in our selection of a long international flight. Or any flight for that matter.   The same for 30 plus years of business travel.

 

Ooooh I have, I have! I fly to Hong Kong a lot, and I usually have a choice between Cathay Pacific 777-300 or American Airlines 777-300 (as a OneWorld FF). The hard product is the exact same in Business Class. I don't care so much about the crew, so while Cathay Pacific crews are usually better, that doesn't influence my decision. So, when push comes to shove, I choose Cathay Pacific because of the superior food/drink options (in my opinion). But this is one of those 15-16 hour flight situations I speak of earlier, where there's plenty of time to eat/drink AND sleep. 

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

Some of the biggest include include airport lounge access (in and of itself, valuable for a multitude of reasons), larger seat, lie flat seat configuration, no middle seats and often guaranteed aisle access.

 

Much truth to what you say.  Often, the food available in the Lounge is so plentiful in variety that a pre-flight meal could be eaten and probably would be better quality than what one would receive during the flight.

 

As the immediate previous posts point out, there are many reasons why one chooses one airline's Business Class service over another.  

[sverigecruiser]

23 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

 

Most frequent flyers I know consider the meal service to be low on the totem pole of reasons to book business class.  In fact, many plan to skip the meal altogether, in lieu of settling right in to sleep on a long flight.  Given the time it takes to get served, eat, and have meal tray taken away, one can sacrifice a significant amount of potential sleep time depending on the itinerary.  Even without factoring sleep time in, many consider other features of business class to be far more important than the meal.  Some of the biggest include include airport lounge access (in and of itself, valuable for a multitude of reasons), larger seat, lie flat seat configuration, no middle seats and often guaranteed aisle access.

 

I absolutely understand that many frequent flyers who fly for business and don't pay for their tickets want to be able to sleep as much as possible. They may also need the better sleep if they shall work the next day.

 

Personally I should never book business class to be able to get better sleep. If I could sleep on the plane I could also do it in economy but I can't! And I can't sleep the first night in a hotel and not on a cruiseship! So for me the food and drinks are important. A real meal make the time go faster so without it the flight may feel much longer! 

[bennybear]

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I absolutely understand that many frequent flyers who fly for business and don't pay for their tickets want to be able to sleep as much as possible. They may also need the better sleep if they shall work the next day.

 

Personally I should never book business class to be able to get better sleep. If I could sleep on the plane I could also do it in economy but I can't! And I can't sleep the first night in a hotel and not on a cruiseship! So for me the food and drinks are important. A real meal make the time go faster so without it the flight may feel much longer! 

We fly for leisure, but the difference between trying to sleep sitting up in economy with your neck kinked, vs lying flat tucked under a duvet is incomparable.  

[iancal]

We have done both.  Much to DW's chagrin it seems, I have no problem sleeping on a plane. Economy or business.   An sometimes before wheels up.    Lots of practice.    We will do flat seats if we are off to somewhere like Singapore that is 17 or 18 hours.   No problem with 10 hours in economy of premium economy.

Edited January 6, 2021 by iancal