United Airlines is letting more Economy travelers order a fresh meal before they board. Until now, flyers on mid-length routes couldn’t reserve a sandwich or burger ahead of time because the perk only covered longer trips. The cutoff just dropped, and some of the airline’s hub-to-hub routes made the new list.
Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman said United wants customers to get more of what they value when they fly, including “more choice, more convenience and a better experience onboard.” He called the Economy meal preorder expansion one way the airline is delivering on that for millions more customers.
United Drops the Preorder Cutoff to 900 Miles
United lowered the cutoff for preordering fresh food in Economy from flights over 1,190 miles to flights over 900 miles, across North America and the Caribbean. The change opens preordering on 420 more flights a day and gives up to 65,000 more customers a day the option, according to the airline.
The newly eligible routes include hub-to-hub flights between Chicago and Houston and between Denver and San Francisco. Flights between Houston and Washington, D.C., qualify too.
MileagePlus members also get free Starlink Wi-Fi on equipped aircraft, United noted in the same announcement.
What’s on the Preorder Menu
The Bistro on Board menu covers fresh sandwiches, burgers, pasta and breakfast options, and the lineup rotates monthly. Current picks include a pork mojo burrito, a hot honey chicken and waffle sandwich, a cinnamon apple waffle and a Chicago patty melt by Jeff Mauro of Mauro Provisions. United’s signature snackboxes and snacks are on the menu too.
How to Order, and What’s Still Unclear
Orders open five days before departure and close 24 hours before it, on United’s website or in the United app. On the website, the choices appear in the “Trips” section, and you can also preorder other eligible retail items there.
Preordered meals may not be available under certain circumstances, the airline said.
In a January announcement, United said preorders would become the only way to buy fresh entrees in the Economy cabin starting March 1. At the time, the program covered flights over 1,190 miles. The new announcement doesn’t say how that rule applies to the shorter flights just added.
Watch Your App 5 Days Out
If you’re booked in United Economy on one of the newly eligible routes, keep notifications on in the United app. App users get an alert when preordering opens for their flight. United’s snackboxes are changing too: on Nov. 1, the airline will add new selections to three of them, including the Tapas box.