Is a vegetarian meal always provided

Hi there,

First post so be gentle Anyway, I'm flying with Virgin to LAX in a few weeks and am wondering whether or not I need to request a vegetarian meal? I've flown longhaul with Virgin before, and always ordered a special meal, but if I recall correctly, there was always a vegetarian option from the standard meal service. This is in Economy.

I'm not a picky vegetarian (i.e., I eat cheese - but certainly not fish or chicken) but I don't want to not order a special meal if Virgin don't provide a vegetarian option as a matter of course. LHR-LAX is a long flight to go hungry on!

Thanks in advance!

[Neil]

Yes, there is always a vegetarian option in each cabin. AFAIK you can't actually pre-order a vegetarian meal like you can say a vegan option.

They dont usually run out of the vegi option either like they do one of the meat/fish options.

That's great - thanks, Neil, for the speedy reply!

Check some of the recent Trip Reports in Economy for LAX and some of USA destinations (the menu is the same) which usually list people's menu choices.

I thought there was a seperate thread for the Y menu but can't find it.

just flew out to Boston at the weekend in Economy, the vegetarian main choice was vegetable risotto, but there was also some salad thing on the tray as well that had prawns in it, plus a gu chocolate & raspberry dessert, bread roll & butter

A vege option is provided on most flights, however if you don;t order it as a special meal there is no guarantee that their will be that choice when the crew get to your seat.

You should be able to order a normal Vegetarian meal or the Asian vegetarian.

What the last poster says; you can either trust to luck or order a special vegetarian meal.

The advantage of ordering is that they will definitely have it in stock (although I've never known the normal option to run out), and it will be guaranteed to be vegetarian - I once had the ordinary "vegetarian" option and the salad sauce had anchovies listed in the ingredients: so I would order the meal if you are a strict veggie. You normally also get served special meals first, which is nice.

The only downside I've heard- no idea how true - is that you will never get upgraded if you order a special meals as they won't be able to upgrade your meal / find you with it. Having said that, Virgin don't really do op-ups anyway so wouldn't worry about that.

Hope this helps,

Drew

PS - as long as you like curry, the Asian Vegetarian option is far superior to the normal veggie meal - lovely and light and fresh; highly recommended and often (IMO) superior to the meat options. Just don't go near the vegan option, as that is frankly always inedible (and I say this as someone married to a vegan).

Ah, okay, maybe I will order the vegetarian meal. I've had some of the curries coming out of Heathrow before and they have been very good.

Thanks for all the opinions!