It looks like AA is testing buy-on-board pre-orders in the main cabin in a handful of markets this month:
Dallas to La Guardia and back.
Dallas to Philadelphia and back.
Dallas to Seattle and back.
http://theforwardcabin.com/2018/01/31/a ... -february/
And sure enough, I just did a dummy booking for LGA-DFW and was given the following options:
Fruit and Cheese Plate - $8.99 (pay onboard)
with Cheddar, Muenster, dill Havarti, Brie, grapes and a strawberry.
Smoked Turkey Breakfast Sandwich - $8.79 (pay onboard) with Swiss cheese on a croissant.
Continental Breakfast Bag - $4.99 (pay onboard)
with a plain bagel, cream cheese, fruit preserves, granola bar and a banana
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
Eh... don't really see the advantage to this. You still have to pay on-board, plus it could open up more issues if catering doesn't load properly and the items aren't available.
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
Sad that its the same crummy options that have been offered for years. I'd be fine with BOB if the food was actually decent.
I remember when BOB was first introduced, airlines claimed that the food would be of a higher-quality, served restaurant style.
Compare the above options with the ones US had when they first launched BOB back in 2003: https://web.archive.org/web/20031002005 ... /index.htm
I remember when BOB was first introduced, airlines claimed that the food would be of a higher-quality, served restaurant style.
Compare the above options with the ones US had when they first launched BOB back in 2003: https://web.archive.org/web/20031002005 ... /index.htm
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
flyguy84 wrote:Eh... don't really see the advantage to this. You still have to pay on-board, plus it could open up more issues if catering doesn't load properly and the items aren't available.
The advantage, I assume, is that the item you want will actually be on board. Having been on a few flights where I wanted to buy a BOB meal because I didn't have time to eat before the flight or whenever, only to have the item I wanted be sold out by the time the FA got to me, or worse, all the "meal" options were sold out with only snacks remaining, I like the idea. I guess if catering screws up it could be a problem; how common is it for that to happen?
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
Hey moderators, can you explain why this is as moved to this forum. It’s news ... not asking for an opinion of any kind.
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
Yflyer wrote:flyguy84 wrote:Eh... don't really see the advantage to this. You still have to pay on-board, plus it could open up more issues if catering doesn't load properly and the items aren't available.
The advantage, I assume, is that the item you want will actually be on board. Having been on a few flights where I wanted to buy a BOB meal because I didn't have time to eat before the flight or whenever, only to have the item I wanted be sold out by the time the FA got to me, or worse, all the "meal" options were sold out with only snacks remaining, I like the idea. I guess if catering screws up it could be a problem; how common is it for that to happen?
Pretty common.
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- spacecadet
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Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
USAirALB wrote:Compare the above options with the ones US had when they first launched BOB back in 2003: https://web.archive.org/web/20031002005 ... /index.htm
Uh, I don't see a heck of a lot of difference.
AA now is offering a fruit and cheese plate, a smoked turkey breakfast sandwich, and a continental breakfast.
UA in 2003 was offering a turkey and cheddar sandwich, a honey wheat croissant with fruit, a turkey and brie sandwich, and a chicken salad.
None of these are anything close to the "restaurant style" food you're talking about. They're all more like "7-11 style" food, if anything. And it doesn't seem like much has changed. Not one of them would qualify as a hot meal.
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
easyJet recently started trialling this. Very few passengers opt for it but the ones who do get it discounted and are served first. Then everyone else it.
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- TheFlyingDisk
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Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
flyguy84 wrote:Eh... don't really see the advantage to this. You still have to pay on-board, plus it could open up more issues if catering doesn't load properly and the items aren't available.
Wouldn't pre-order items get prepared in advance so the catering should load properly?
I've bought plenty of pre-order meals on AirAsia & never once did I get stiffed because the meals weren't loaded.
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
TheFlyingDisk wrote:flyguy84 wrote:Eh... don't really see the advantage to this. You still have to pay on-board, plus it could open up more issues if catering doesn't load properly and the items aren't available.
Wouldn't pre-order items get prepared in advance so the catering should load properly?
I've bought plenty of pre-order meals on AirAsia & never once did I get stiffed because the meals weren't loaded.
I have tried it on loads of European airlines, and they practically all forget to load it, or hand it over to another passenger without checking the details of who it was for: "Who ordered this meal?" Some passenger in the front of the cabin puts his hand up: "Yes, I would like it please", "Here you go sir"....
It gets even more fun when travelling with my parents who are allergic to gluten, because these days every man and his dog wants the only two gluten free meals that were loaded onto the aircraft, even when they were ordered and paid for by someone else.
Re: American Testing Buy-On-Board Pre-Orders in Y This Month
The risk of catering issues is probably why you are paying onboard and not time of booking.