United Airlines continues to invest in its onboard product with several improvements to its onboard menu starting this month, including Aperol Spritz, mango lassi, more wines, and an upgrade to service on Hawaii flights.

United Airlines Refreshes Onboard Service With New Drinks, Meals, And Hawaiian Touches

After sharing about the expansion of pre-arrival meals on transcontinental first class, a flight attendant forwarded to Live And Let’s Fly a memo explaining the catering changes this month. There’s a lot more going on than I thought. Those changes include:

Refreshing beverages

• Aperol Spritz: We’re offering Aperol Spritz in Polaris — making us the only U.S. airline to feature this refreshing Italian classic. Served with ice and a fresh orange garnish, customers can have a taste of European summer even before they reach their destinations [Live And Let’s Fly was first to report this in May]
• Summertime Soar: Our special seasonal cocktail, called the Summertime Soar, is made with Minute Maid lemonade, Jack Daniels whiskey and a fresh lemon garnish. This limited-time cocktail is complimentary in premium cabins and available for purchase in economy for $10 or 1,180 miles.
• Mango lassi: We recently made significant upgrades to our menus on flights to and from DEL (Delhi, India), and now we’re introducing freshly made mango lassi in Polaris on DEL flights to further enhance our authentic onboard experience.
• Updated Polaris wines: Polaris customers have several new selections to choose from this month including Shafer Vineyards One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon. Reflecting the timeless elegance of their Napa Valley vineyards, this lush, full-bodied wine is known for its rich aromas and flavors of dark plums and savory herbs.

Elevated eats

• Domestic first class hub signature entree refresh: First class customers can enjoy a new lineup of regionally inspired dishes on domestic flights departing our hubs, including lasagna Bolognese (EWR), beef kabob koobideh (IAD), Greek pastitsio (ORD), BBQ glazed short rib (IAH), chicken enchiladas (DEN), pork adobo (LAX) and kogi glazed pork (SFO).
• Magnolia Bakery banana pudding flavor rotation: We’re mixing things up in domestic first class with a new flavor of Magnolia Bakery’s infamous banana pudding — decadent chocolate hazelnut.
• New à la carte retail snacks: Customers on domestic flights can purchase unique treats like sour gummy worms from trendy Swedish brand Sockerbit or hyper-dried dark chocolate strawberries from TruFru.
• Long-haul domestic menu upgrades: We’re expanding the premium transcontinental menu to first class on other long-haul domestic flights so customers can enjoy the same elevated menu, plus a warm prearrival snack.
• Midflight tapas expansion: Our popular midflight tapas are expanding to flights to and from Japan over 6,300 miles with selections including nikumaki onigiri and yaki onigiri chazuke.

Hawaii exclusives

• Short-haul Hawaii menu upgrades: In February, we enhanced menus and service in all cabins on long-haul Hawaii flights. Now, we’re doing the same on short-haul Hawaii flights (those between LAX/SFO and HNL/KOA/LIH/OGG)! Premium cabin customers can enjoy elevated entrees from our current long-haul Hawaii menu and preorder exclusives such as seared lemongrass salmon filet, plus a warm prearrival snack.

• Freshly prepared Bistro on Board entrees: New items will be available for purchase in economy – Portuguese sausage breakfast sandwich, macadamia nut bread pudding, Spam musubi and kalua pork sandwich – to give customers a taste of aloha before they arrive or to extend their trip a little bit longer on their way to the mainland.

• New à la carte retail snacks: Hawaii customers can choose from island-inspired items like Nuts.com tropical delight mix, Better Sour guava calamansi lime gummy stars or Diamond Bakery Kona Coffee chocolate chip shortbread cookies.

This is quite an impressive list.

My Thoughts

United has invested heavily in its Hawaii service over the last year, though most of that has been on longer flights beyond the West Coast. I love that LAX and SFO now get some love with better entrees and a pre-arrival meal in first class. Economy class passengers should enjoy the Hawaiian-themed buy-on-board items. The Kona Coffee chocolate chip shortbread cookies off the snack menu will be a hit…I love these cookies!

I do love Aperol Spritz as well…I wonder how many will be boarded each flight? I would expect this to be a popular choice. Additionally, Shafer Vineyards One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent wine. While I’d be suspicious that United’s mango lassi would taste like anything on the ground, it’s a nice touch on flights to India.

This month’s domestic “signature hub entrees” also sound good, though I’m quite sorry I missed out on the bison meatloaf from Denver and the crabcakes from Washington Dulles (though I expect both to return).

In short, this is a great menu of upgrades.

CONCLUSION

United continues to invest in its onboard product with several changes this month that will positively impact the passenger experience in economy class and in premium cabins. While final judgment must be reserved until we see if there is good execution onboard and these new menu updates taste well, United is moving in the right direction by continuing to invest in its food and beverage experience onboard.

image: United Airlines