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United Airlines is not known for its catering being anything that people actually want to eat. Polaris (United’s international Business Class) rolled out with much fanfare, but it quickly died a death of 1,000 cuts. During the pandemic, what was served to United’s premium passengers was criminal. It was often akin to what you’d find in a prison (more here). This improved post-pandemic, but the meals still leave lots to be desired.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both offer premium passengers the ability to order their meals in advance systemwide. United has long offered this on domestic flights, but its international longhaul routes have not really had this option. In January, United began testing this capability between Denver International Airport (DEN) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA). In June, United added the following routes:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
- Denver International Airport (DEN) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Munich International Airport (MUC)
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), Munich International Airport (MUC), and Rio De Janeiro’s Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG)
- San Francisco (SFO) to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN), London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)
Now, Live and Let’s Fly is reporting that United is further expanding the routes where this will be offered. These include:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH), Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN), Brussels Airport (BRU), Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Munich International Airport (MUC), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Keflavík Airport (KEF), Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO), Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU), Shannon Airport (SNN), and Zurich Airport (ZRH)
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG), Buenos Aires’ Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE), Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO), and Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
Meals can be ordered between five days and 24 hours before a flight’s departure time. This system is not perfect. It often shows meals as “out of stock.” This is unacceptable and likely due to cost as it’s clear that United is always looking to save a penny.
Anthony’s Take: It’s good to see some evolution here, but United is still behind American and Delta. I suggest ordering in advance when you can as what you’ll be left with if you don’t can be scary.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
