Happier Abroad Forum Community

What is your experience with in-flight service? Which airlines offer the best inclusions? Are you forced to pay $15 for a sandwich and $5 for a coke? Are the airlines starting to charge for everything? Even the use of a blanket? Extra leg room? Window seat or aisle seat? All of these used to be included for free.

What about WIFI? Do you ever pay for that onboard a plane? Is it worth it?

I recently flew on Air Portugal on a trans-Atlantic flight and I would say their food and drink service was excellent. They were not charging for every little thing. You could ask the flight attendant for something and either they would bring it to you or you could get it in the galley. They also had an excellent in-flight entertainment system. Why do they always give you those crappy headphones though? Are you better to use your own?

In this video The MacMaster shares his experience on a JetBlue flight from Orlando - JFK.

Voyager1 wrote: ↑

February 26th, 2023, 6:02 am

What is your experience with in-flight service? Which airlines offer the best inclusions? Are you forced to pay $15 for a sandwich and $5 for a coke? Are the airlines starting to charge for everything? Even the use of a blanket? Extra leg room? Window seat or aisle seat? All of these used to be included for free.

What about WIFI? Do you ever pay for that onboard a plane? Is it worth it?

I recently flew on Air Portugal on a trans-Atlantic flight and I would say their food and drink service was excellent. They were not charging for every little thing. You could ask the flight attendant for something and either they would bring it to you or you could get it in the galley. They also had an excellent in-flight entertainment system. Why do they always give you those crappy headphones though? Are you better to use your own?

In this video The MacMaster shares his experience on a JetBlue flight from Orlando - JFK.

They are getting lower and lower quality over time and charging more for little things. My impression, based on my last experience (and it has been a few years since an international flight) that international flights feed you. Domestic flights nickel and dime you for anything but water. There are also budget airlines in different parts of the world that follow this American model. I've been on a budget flight from Jakarta to Singapore or KL, Malaysia that didn't even have water to sell. I had kids, so I was a little upset about that. But I think I had something to drink I'd bought within the gate.

But the big providers on those long flights feed you. I always try to get on a non-US carrier if I can for an international flight. It doesn't matter a lot of times. For example, a Delta flight to South Korea will likely be on a Korean Air vessel.

Over the decades of travelling to Asia, I have had good food experience with Asiana Air, Cathay Pacific, especially. Korean Air was good. So was China Southern, with their cheap tickets. It can be chaotic to get a seat and extra waits for passport checks in China are frustrating. Their McDonald's also sells weird chicken patties, and their aren't enough seats at the airport. So I don't recommend some of their routes, but their in-flight service was okay. I can't really say I've had a bad in-flight experience over the Pacific Ocean as far as food and service is concerned. Those Asian carriers typically put very customer-service-focused young, fit women with above-average looks on the front lines.

For domestic flights, I take food with me. I've got kids, so the last time, I went to the supermarket, bought peanut butter or cheese crackers, a granola or some kind of other food bar, a cheese stick, chips, and beef jerky, little packs of cans of tuna with crackers, one large zip-lock full of this stuff for everyone in my family. Beef jerky is great for airplane flights, but isn't available everywhere in the world to buy. My wife probably had some cookies, too. We skipped lunch and everyone was fine because of these snacks, and we went out for dinner.

I also try to have empty water bottles for us to refill after we get past the last stage of security. Airplanes can be drier than the desert. It's easy to get dehydrated, and taking water on the plane saves us from having to constantly call the stewardess. Or you can call her once to refill an empty bottle. The bottle keeps us from having to have the tray open. We've also taken bottled water, drunk it on the way, dumped the rest, and taken the bottle on the plane.

It is good to have food on international flights. If you are coming back and have a five-hour domestic flight at night, and it is lunch time for you, they might not have anything to sell you on a domestic flight.

I don't want to pay $15 for a tuna sandwich or a 'wrap' of lettuce wrapped around lunch meat. It's often food I wouldn't eat at home or order at a restaurant.

It sucks. No better than a Moroccan Jail cell.