airplane Archives - Foodology

In Airplane Meals

United Airlines: Vancouver to Denver (UA 381)

October 31, 2017

Heading off to another adventure in Colorado to visit their gorgeous landscape created by the Rocky Mountains. I booked my flight with United Airlines as it was the cheapest option that was convenient for my schedule.

I boarded flight UA 381 on a Boeing 747 in economy on the weekend around noon. Getting through security at Vancouver International Airport is a breeze and the airport is very easily navigable.

Boarding

The boarding was delayed by 30 minutes as there was a crew member stuck in security, but it didn’t affect the arrival time as the winds were in our favour.

Comfort

The flight wasn’t full, so I had a whole row to myself, which never happens. I‘m so used to them overbooking flights. The 2 hour and 45 minute flight was smooth.

The seats weren’t cramped at all, but then again, I am 5’3, so I can fit mostly anywhere. The seats reclined a bit and the headrest to bendable to hold your head in place as you nap. Most people on the flight read a book, slept or was listening to music.

Food

We were given complimentary snacks and beverage. We got Bits & Bites and a beverage. I usually ask for the whole can of pop since I get pretty thirsty on planes.

You can purchase additional food and beverages from their onboard menu. Decent prices, but the food options aren’t exciting. Items like candy, sandwiches, and alcoholic beverages. I usually eat before or after flights.

Entertainment

There are power outlets under the seat, but no monitors. As for entertainment, you can connect your personal device to their wifi and use their United App to access movies and tvs shows for free. There was a good amount of movies like Toy Story 3, Step Brothers, Captain America, and other popular shows. I don’t mind having no screens on flights since it helps reduce costs for the airline and in turn give us customers a cheaper flight.

You can also purchase wifi access for a few dollars if you need.

Final Thoughts

With all the bad press United Airlines has gotten in the past, I found the experience totally fine. I make sure to arrive early and book connecting flights with ample time to catch the next flight and I don’t check in bags anymore. Plus, the price was really good compared to some other competitors.

Website: https://www.united.com/

In Airplane Meals

United Airlines: Toronto to Atlanta (UA 8106)

October 27, 2017

Flying out of Toronto early in the morning means spectacular sunrises with the airport in the view. We were headed to Atlanta on United Airlines, but it is operated by Air Canada Express. The flight lasted about 2 hours and 10 minutes, which isn’t a long flight at all.

Comfort

The flight boarded smoothly and has no issues at all. The seats were pretty standard size and since it was smaller plane, it had 2 seats on either side. It was pretty full, so they did ask for some passengers to check in their carry on luggage.

Entertainment

There is a screen at the back of each seat and also USB plugs if you want to charge your electronic device like your phone. They have some pretty up to date content on these screens since they have a partnership with Cineplex.

The entertainment system has TV shows, movies and games, but I opted to just look at the map as I did some work on my laptop. I always find it interesting to see where the plane is up in the air.

Final Thoughts

It’s interesting to see United Airlines and Air Canada code sharing because I originally expected I would be on a United Airlines plane, but its Air Canada. Not a big deal at all. I was just happy to get from Toronto to Atlanta smoothly without issue.

Website:
https://www.united.com

In Airplane Meals

Air Canada Rouge: Toronto to Orlando

June 6, 2016

Off to our next destination – Orlando. From Vancouver, we made a stop in Toronto (YYZ) and then got on a connecting flight to Orlando (MCO). Air Canada doesn’t offer direct flights, so this was the only option at a cheaper price.

We were on the Air Canada Flight 1864 boarding at 2:45pm and arrives at 5:28pm. The duration of the flight is 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Our gate was awesome! There were a bunch of iPads available to use for free. We were able to catch up on the news and browse our Facebook before boarding.

The plane was an Air Canada Rouge fleet – Boeing 767-300ER. The economy section has a 2-3-2 seating configurations and can seat up to 256 passengers. In business class, it has a 2-2-2 configurations and seats 24 passenger.

There are no entertainment systems on board. They want you to rent their devices from them. Since it’s a pretty short flight, you might as well use your own device.

There is a power outlet for laptops under the seat in front of you. If you have an iPhone, there isn’t a USB charger, so make sure you bring the adapter with you. Since I basically carry an entire desk with me in my backpack, I am always set.

This time on the flight, I asked them for a whole can of soda. You can ask for a whole can and its free. You might as well since you do get a bit dehydrated from the flight.

They have food and snacks that you can purchase on the flight, but I never buy anything.

As we began descending to the Orlando International Airport, the weather changed quite dramatically from the dull cloudy skies to bright blue. Very smooth flight too with no issues.

Now, our journey to Disney World and Universal Studios begins!

Website:
http://www.aircanada.com/

In Airplane Meals

Air Canada: Vancouver to Toronto Red Eye

June 1, 2016

Air Canada Flight 1172 from Vancouver (YVR) to Toronto (YYZ) departs from YVR International Airport at 12:25am and arrives at 7:55am at Pearson international Airport. Total time of about 4 hours and 30 minutes.

As this is a domestic flight even though we were on our way to Orlando, Florida. There are a lot of connecting flights that go through Pearson International. Air Canada didn’t have a direct flight to Orlando.

We check-in online 24 hours ahead of time, checked our seats, and got our tickets loaded onto our phones. We also had to check a bag in, so it cost us $25USD. Pretty annoying how it’s in USD, but we didn’t have a choice.

Since it was late at night, going through security was seamless. Staff were very friendly and if you are Canadian, you can show your passport, Drivers License or Government issued ID.

None of the shops or stores are open, so you won’t have anything to do to kill time waiting for boarding. There is Wifi, so as long as you have a device of some sort, you can browse the internet.

It was a packed flight, so they asked that anyone with a carry on that wanted it checked in for no additional price can do so.

The row configuration is 2 -2 in Business class with 14 seats and then in Economy class, a 3-3 configuration with 169 seats. They use their Airbus A321-200 fleet.

The seats have a USB outlet, touchscreen entertainment system and an outlet for charging other devices like laptops.

They have pretty recent movies like Star Wars: The Force Awaken.

Once the plane lifts off, they offer passengers a complementary beverage and the option to buy any snacks or meals off their menu. I went with water because I always get so thirsty on flights.

Most of the flight, everyone is sleeping. There was a bit of turbulence, so there was announcements once in a while to make sure people have their seat belts on .

Once we get closer to Toronto, they offer another complimentary beverage.

This time I went with tomato juice since it tastes a lot better in the air. There were studies done where loud noises suppress sweet flavours and enhance savoury ones.

The flight wasn’t eventful, which it shouldn’t be. We were able to sleep through the plane ride with no issues. I can fall asleep even with the loud engine noises as it is a consistent noise.

We got to Toronto and had a long layover, so we explored the city for a little bit a met up with a few friends before heading off to Orlando.

Website:
http://www.aircanada.com/

In Airplane Meals

Air Canada Rouge: Vancouver to Los Angeles

February 15, 2015

Air Canada Rouge is a budget airline, which is owned by Air Canada of course.

We found some good discounts a few months ago, so we booked Air Canada Rouge to go to Los Angeles. It was only $287 for economy class, which was a great deal as tickets are usual around $500 or $600. Definitely looks for coupon codes and do a lot of research before booking any flights. Good thing we had Mandu to keep an eye out of the prices for a few weeks.

We had no issues lifting off from Vancouver. It was a tiny bit delayed because of a few people from connecting flights.

The economy seats were quite cramped. You get what you pay for. No entertainment and you do have to pay for checking in bags. Since we were only gone for 5 days, the girls and I just carried a small carry-on to avoid extra fees.

All the food needs to be purchased off a menu, but we decided to wait till we got to LA to eat. You only get 1 complimentary beverage during the flight since it’s just under 3 hours. Before getting on the plane, I made a stop to Starbucks to grab a Venti water.

The flight is pretty boring as there really isn’t much to look at outside the window except for mostly farm land. I just brought my laptop with ear buds to keep me entertained. Some other people just slept the entire way there.

Once we were flying over LA, you can help but to stare at the vast size of Los Angeles. From the place, we could see the Hollywood sign.

Overall, the flight was smooth and not any complaints. Just remember to bring some entertainment on board, so you don’t lose your mind.

Website: http://flyrouge.com/

In Airplane Meals

Air Canada: Flight from Vancouver to Korea

October 22, 2013

M and I headed to Seoul, South Korea from Vancouver via Air Canada. It was the cheapest option that required no stopovers. As long as I get to my destination without any issues, I am fine with flying Air Canada. A lot of people think Air Canada is pretty crappy, but I’ve never had any issues.

This plane model had a 2-3-2 configuration, so sitting on the sides was great because we didn’t have to bother a stranger when going to the washroom.

Our seats also had a USB port on the left and an outlet on the right. Not all seats will have the outlet, so when choosing your seat, refer to their plane layout.

About an hour after takeoff, we were given out first meal with 2 options – chicken and potatoes or beef on rice. It also comes with a salad, brownie, bread, water and another drink of your choice. A popular option was ordering wine or beer. Since it comes free, might as well booze it up.

Chicken and Potatoes

Beef on Rice.

Then they dimmed the lights and created an artificial “night time”. I didn’t mind it since it helps to combat that time difference.

After this, they gave us our next meal! Japchae aka Korean sweet potato noodles with pork. I guess they customized the meals since we are flying to Korea. There is also fruit, bread, and a drink of your choice.

Japchae

We took another naptime and then about an hour before we land, they gave us an option of having cup noodles. It was chicken flavour and the stewardesses were calling it chicken noodle soup. I thought it was funny.

Chicken Flavoured Cup Noodles

All the food was decent and the stewardesses were nice. It was an ok flight and we survived those 10 hours without any hassles. Other airlines have better food, but I don’t want to pay more just for the food. A lot of people told me to take Cathay Pacific or Korean Air, but it wasn’t an option because it was way more expensive during the time we wanted to travel.

In Airplane Meals

WestJet: Food Options (Vancouver to Chicago)

August 28, 2013

WestJet is my go-to airline when I just travel around North America. It’s cheap, it’s reliable, and no hassles. At least that’s what I’ve encountered over the past few years.

During my trip to Chicago, I decided to go on WestJet since they had a decently priced direct flight of about $600. The flight was 3.5 hours long and I would much rather pay that amount than save $150 and spend 11 hrs connecting.

The flight take off was pretty smooth, but I was quite interested in their food offerings.

I pulled out the food and entertainment menu. You can select a few items to purchase and snack on during the flight. An alternative plan if you plan on eating is ordering your meal ahead of time with WestJet. The options change every month, but it doesn’t drastically change.

The prices were alright and not too inflated. As I knew wouldn’t be purchasing any items on the flight, I decided to just snack on the complimentary beverages and chips.

When they come by your seat, they usually ask if you want Snack A or Snack B. I usually ask for both. Don’t be afraid, they are always happy to give you both.

The choices were corn chips and cookies. I also got my self a cup of ginger ale.

About 2 hours later, they come back again passing out complimentary snacks and beverages. But the second round of snacks do differ. This time it was the Nacho Cheese Corn Sticks, a cookie and a drink.

They also offer small cups of water just before landing if you need to rehydrate. The staff all very nice and professional.

As it was a short plane ride, I won’t think I really minded what they provided us since I wasn’t expecting anything amazing. Plus the plane tickets are cheap, so everything is quite standard.

Website: http://www.westjet.com/

In Airplane Meals

Cathay Pacific: Beverages and Meals from South Korea to Hong Kong

September 3, 2012

It was finally time to leave Seoul after 5 good days of enjoying this beautiful place. Time to head back to Hong Kong and eat more. hahaha. It only takes 3 hours to get to Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific offers you one meal and some beverage service. My flight was around 5pm.

I don’t know the model of this plane, but the plane did look a bit old and was definitely different from the plane that I arrived in Korea on.

They provided us a pack of peanuts and a beverage of our choice. I saved the pack of peanuts for my little sister since I know she loves plane snacks.

The meal was also crappier compared to the other meal I had with Cathay Pacific. I was waiting for the ice cream to arrive, but it never did. We got our choice on entree, fruit, bread and another beverage.

I got the chicken with rice. It was ok, but not my favorite airplane meal. There really wasn’t anything special about this particular meal.

I guess with airplane food, you can’t expect what you’ll get. How was your experience with Cathay Pacific in terms of food?

In Airplane Meals

Cathay Pacific: Meals and Beverages from Hong Kong to Korea

August 6, 2012

I decided to take a side trip to South Korea. I’ve always wanted to go and this was my chance to do so. Lots of things to see and lots of things to eat! The only seat available was on a late night flight from Hong Kong to Korea with Cathay Pacific. The flight wasn’t very long and we were even offered dinner.

I don’t think anyone on the flight wanted to eat since everyone was already taking a nap when they woke us all up. I love food, so I did manage to wake up and have a few bites.

We had bread, watermelon, choice of drink, Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream and choice of entree.

I chose the penne pasta with cream sauce. I always choose to order a pasta dish as those are generally more delicious and better executed than rice dishes. Even though there was no meat in this dish, it was actually a pretty decent meal!

Cookies and Cream Haagen0-Dazs Ice cream too! Yum! It was definitely a treat at the end of the meal! After consuming all of this food, I went back to sleep. hahaha

Overall, the food on Cathay Pacific wasn’t bad. Since it was only a 3 hour flight, I didn’t expect there to be food, but there was!

In Airplane Meals

Air Canada: Meals and Beverages from Vancouver to Hong Kong

July 18, 2012

When I went to Hong Kong from Vancouver through Air Canada, this 13 hr plane ride was accompanied with dinner and drink service throughout the flight. My family and I were all seated in Economy class and had a total of 3 meals. Each meal, you could choose your own drink to go with the meal.

We boarded the plane at in the early afternoon and then arrived near dinner time in Hong Kong.

Our first dinner meal was a choice of chicken and pasta or Rice and Beef Stirfry. Each set contained a brownie, bread, salad, water and your choice of entree.

I chose the chicken and pasta and it tasted good. It wasn’t amazing good, but the texture from the tiny balls of pasta and the chicken worked well together. It was a decent first meal.

My mom ordered the rice and beef stirfry. It wasn’t as appealing as the chicken and pasta. The sauce was a bit salty and the rice was just rice.

Four hours later, they present you with another meal. This time there are less side dishes, but fruit and bread with the entree. You had the choice between pasta with meat sauce or rice and chicken.

I love chicken, so I chose the rice and chicken option. It was very similar to the rice and beef stirfry from earlier, but with chicken instead. I really didn’t like it.

My little sister loves pasta, so she got the pasta with meat sauce. I tried a bit of it and it was really good. Not restaurant worthy, but good food considering it was on a plane. There was just enough sauce to cover all the penne pasta.

Another 4 hours later, they provided us with cup noodles and a half a turkey sandwich. I actually hate cup noodles, but I just ate it anyways. Not my favorite meal, but you have to eat in order to not starve yourself. At this point in the meal, I am pretty sure everyone on the plane just wanted to sleep.

I also noticed there was a lot of carbs hahaha. My little sister is mildly allergic to gluten, so she had to pick wisely what to eat.

Besides eating and sleeping on the plane, most of the time was spent with my sister rewatching old episodes of Adventure Time. If you don’t know what Adventure Time is about, please watch it! It’s my most favorite cartoon at the moment!

What is also super cool about the airplanes is that it has a usb charger and a socket charger. It’s pretty awesome if you are on your laptop or any electronic device. None of the programming on the plane interested me, so I didn’t even watch any movies on the plane. I spent most of my time on my laptop.

In Airplane Meals

WestJet: Food Options for Flights

May 16, 2012

CanuckGirl and I headed off to Toronto from Vancouver on WestJet for a little bit of a Summer vacation. The flight is about 4.5 hours, but there was no information anywhere about snacks or food on the flight. I’m a newbie when it comes to travelling. To be safe, I grabbed a few nibbles before boarding.

As we boarded, we were informed by the stewardesses that we would receive 2 rounds of complementary drinks and snacks. All other items can be purchased off the menu.

At your seat, you should be able to find their food and entertainment menu.

They have meal combos too and they aren’t too expensive. You can only pay by credit card and no cash!

They have a bunch of other snacks too that you can order. It’s a bit expensive, but at least you won’t starve to death.

You can choose from juice, pop, coffee or tea when the stewardesses come around to offer the complementary drinks and snack. As for the snack, you can choose from a cookie or Bits n Bites.

As it was a short plane ride, I won’t think I really minded what they provided us since I wasn’t expecting anything at all. Plus the plane tickets are cheap, so everything is quite standard.