PE meal Availability

For the third PE flight running (last being 18/2 into Tobago) our choice of meal has been unavailable. When I phoned customer service the advice returned was to take some snacks on board with me! This is after both legs of an UC LAX flight having no IFE. Anyone else experienced the meal issue?

[Neil]

There have been a few reports of a similar thing happening.

I guess it is very hard for VS and all airlines, they obviously can't load 1 of every meal for all PE pax (or in any cabin for that matter) as the amount of waste would be huge, and I guess if you are sat in a row that is one of the last to be served and all the other pax in front choose the same meal it is going to mean you miss out. You could always speak to the crew before the meal service and explain the situation and they might be able to help ensure you get the meal of your choice if possible.

Thankfully I am a pretty easy going eater, so even if my first choice has gone, I had been able to select another.

I know the advise from the VS agent might seem a little off, but it is actually pretty sound advice. If you are a fussy eater, or have specific dietary requirements, then making sure you have some snacks with you in case of you not either getting your preferred meal or no meals being suitable to your own likes, is always going to be your safest option.

Neil

this always used to be the downside of taking row 80 in the bubble, first off the plane =great, last to get meal = little chance of first choice. A trick I used to use was, having checked the menu via v-flyer, as I boarded I politely said to the FA ' is there any chance of saving me an X meal , I'm allergic to the (one I didnt want)' it worked every time. A little politeness can go a long way

I agree that one of everything is not possible but on recent experience if you are in the back two rows of the cabin (bubble or downstairs) you may as well not be given a menu. Fussy eater I am not confirmed by my ever expanding waist line

Another reason that I always order a "special" meal. Past experience guarantees I will get something that I can eat as I am rather fussy!

Always amazes me why you can pre-order your meal of choice on a budget airline albeit at a cost but the so called flag ship airlines can't and to ask someone who has probably paid over £1K for a flight to take on snacks just about sums up where the airline industry is at.

There is a 'buffer' of premium meals to try to ensure this doesn't happen but sadly due to every passenger on every flight having different tastes I don't think it will ever be right.

Maybe you could always ask for an economy meal.. The only difference is in a plastic dish instead of china

[Neil]

Always amazes me why you can pre-order your meal of choice on a budget airline albeit at a cost but the so called flag ship airlines can't and to ask someone who has probably paid over £1K for a flight to take on snacks just about sums up where the airline industry is at.

I just don't think pre-ordering is practical. How many people know in advance what they want to eat? And then how many pick something and then on the day change their mind and 'demand' something else? Not to mention no shows, cabin / seat changes, so they would still have to have extras and other alternatives for those who don't pre-order which takes you back to square one.

Other than "special" meals which airlines offer the ability to order your meal of choice? I've not come across this and thought most budget airlines just offered you snacks/sandwiches you could purchased on board

Aer Lingus have just introduced a new Sky Dine service which allows a limited number of economy passengers to pre order upgraded meals. I'm looking forward to a fillet steak on my way to Boston and Chicken stuffed with black pudding ( dont know if its from Clonakilty HL) coming home from MCO.

[honey lamb]

Aer Lingus have just introduced a new Sky Dine service which allows a limited number of economy passengers to pre order upgraded meals. I'm looking forward to a fillet steak on my way to Boston and Chicken stuffed with black pudding ( dont know if its from Clonakilty HL) coming home from MCO.

I can check with Aer John since all meals are prepared in-house and tested on HQ staff.

I just don't think pre-ordering is practical. How many people know in advance what they want to eat? And then how many pick something and then on the day change their mind and 'demand' something else? Not to mention no shows, cabin / seat changes, so they would still have to have extras and other alternatives for those who don't pre-order which takes you back to square one.

Agreed. Take a large group to a restaurant and by the time the food comes half will have forgotten what they ordered or have decided they didn't really want that...

Having flown PE on 20-30 occasions and always getting my first choice meal it is perhaps inappropriate for me to be too critical, but having paid the not inconsiderable premium I would be more than disappointed if I had not got what I consider I had paid for as advertised - i.e. a CHOICE of THREE main courses (see website). Advertised service should not be excluded in the small print. Surely any experienced caterer should be able to predict within a few meals of what is likely to be required, and a few 'wasted' meals would be a drop in the proverbial when compared to the total ticket prices.
I hate to say it but perhaps this is just a further dilution of the PE advantage. Will I pay the extra next time? Watch this space.....

I just don't think pre-ordering is practical. How many people know in advance what they want to eat? And then how many pick something and then on the day change their mind and 'demand' something else? Not to mention no shows, cabin / seat changes, so they would still have to have extras and other alternatives for those who don't pre-order which takes you back to square one.[/quote]

Are we saying that people who fly business class aren't capable of choosing between basically two choices say up to seven days before a flight, but the minions that fly on airlines such as Monarch are! I hate spicy food or curries and when I have aid the thick end of £3K to fly upper class I do not expect to have t go to boots for a meal deal

Surely any experienced caterer should be able to predict within a few meals of what is likely to be required

There's something in that. Given that menus change relatively infrequently, presumably if VS did some monitoring of meal requests in the early stages after the introduction of a new menu they could get a prediction of likely popularity going forward until the next menu change.

It is easy for us to say that VS can easily load more meals or predict better how many of X type meals will be wanted on each of its flights.

Even land based restaurants run out of dishes!

All it takes is for a small number of people to change their minds from chicken to beef or a group of vegetarians to suck up all the pasts because they didn't preorder a special meal to mess up the choices for everyone else.

And it's not just a 'few' meals that would be wasted it would be thousands over the course of the year

Lets say VS operate 60 flights a day (30 returns). If only 10 meals per flight were wasted over a year that would be 219,000 meals simply thrown away. Is that morally (let alone economically) acceptable?

And I'd say 10 wasted meals per flight would be an under estimate.

Always a tricky business with any airline no just VS. I always take a "packed lunch" on the assumption none of the food on offer in PE will be worth having. I am not a fussy eater so if on the day there happens to be something available I fancy I'll give it a go and keep my own food for the the tea time slot! Never yet had anything offered for tea that I wanted to eat. IMHO Eating on a plane is never a great idea and should be kept to a minimum.

[honey lamb]

I flew on Singapore Airlines in Business which had the Book the Cook option. I did, but once on board regretted it as the options on offer seemed much more desirable than what I had chosen. Oh, I did take my Book the Cook meal and on the outbound it was fine but I really didn't want it on the day.

Just had an email from AA re a future flight in business from MAD to MIA. All business passenger can now pre order their entrees up to 30 days in advance.

Flew with Air Asia last year and you could pre-order a meal with them. One of 18 choices from memory that could be ordered up until check in.

I also tried the 'book the cook' option on Singapore. Great idea and makes you feel rather special, after all you are paying for a improved offering on all airlines when flying in a premium cabin.
However like honey lamb some of the other dishes looked more interesting, the crew did actually offer an extra main dish which was not refused (it was a long flight and and they have very wide seats in business!) ii)