Tag Archives for inflight meals.
American Airlines keeps talking about premium travel, but some first class passengers are still being served shelf-stable instant pasta that appears to cost about a dollar a serving. On a nearly 2,000-mile flight from Salt Lake City to Philadelphia, that kind of catering is not just cheap — it undercuts the entire premium story the airline is trying to sell.
United Airlines is teaming up with Netflix’s Chef’s Table to launch 10 new long haul Polaris meals on August 1, curated by a roster of chefs from the airline’s hubs and international gateways. That is more than a menu refresh. It is a public signal that United knows its business class food has been underwhelming and now wants customers to expect something better.
American Airlines is celebrating its 100th anniversary by serving caviar, Beef Wellington, and other luxurious dishes in business class, signaling a renewed focus on premium offerings—at least temporarily.
On a five-hour flight with no real meal service, one family came prepared—bringing bread, deli meat, cheese, greens, and condiments and turning multiple tray tables into a midair sandwich assembly line. It’s hard not to admire the planning (and the effort to avoid soggy premade sandwiches), though it raises obvious questions about tray-table hygiene, TSA rules for sauces, and the mess an inflight deli can leave behind.
American is testing route-specific First Class catering: starting February 11, Dallas–New York flights will offer Texas barbecue as a preorder option, It’s the same move Delta used to kick off what became its own catering upgrade—so this could be the start of something bigger.
American Airlines has been serving a mass-produced 40-cent bundt cake as its domestic first class dessert for nearly four years, a perfect symbol of the carrier’s “never spend a dollar we don’t have to” era. If they’re serious about a premium pivot, it’s time to retire the cheap cake and invest in a dessert that actually matches the fares they want to charge.
A video went viral after an Air Canada passenger claimed her inflight meal was six months expired, pointing to packaging labeled “05/11/2025” and “06/11/2025.” The issue: she read the dates using the U.S. month/day format instead of the day/month format used by Canada and most of the world.
Passengers are roasting American Airlines’ $11 cheese plate after photos showed just how little you get for the price. One flyer summed it up perfectly: “It tastes like a bad financial decision.” And the close-up of the single $3 grape makes the case better than any review ever could.
On my Austin–Chicago flight, I was thrilled to see a smoked salmon bagel platter on American’s breakfast menu — until it arrived. The bagel was cold, the onions and capers were missing, and instead of cream cheese, they’d served butter. “Bagel, butter, and lox” isn’t a combination I’ve ever encountered in half a century of travel. American seems determined to check the “meal served” box — even when it forgets the basics.
A passenger who pre-ordered a vegetarian meal began eating when their tray arrived — only to be scolded for “ruining the flight” by a seatmate who insisted everyone in the row must wait. Airline etiquette or invented rule? In coach, it’s simple: eat when it’s served.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
