Cheese and crackers are now dinner? (Rant)

[1022]

Fresh off QF486 tonight (18:30 MEL-SYD 737 service) and rather than the pitiful offerings that have passed as “dinner” for the last few years, they served cheese and crackers in Y. Is this the new normal? There wasn’t a cabin announcement apologising for irregular catering.

The party pies or soggy focaccia melts they replaced were hardly a highlight of a flight, but they could somewhat fill the gap for those who didn’t have time to eat in the lounge or terminal after a full work day. Not to mention that less than 10 years ago Y Golden triangle flights used to have a choice of hot slop in a box or a decent salad.

QF’s ensh!tification continues apace.

 

[SJF211]

Nope nothing new. Took QF749 10 times last year (the 2055 SYD-ADL service). Everytime till November 29th got a hot item. Around 2 weeks later on December 14 was only cheese and crackers. 4 times since then only rice crackers and cheese. Though the crew usually describe it as a “light supper.” Always ended up with two packets though due to light loading.

 

[TheInsider]

Fresh off QF486 tonight (18:30 MEL-SYD 737 service) and rather than the pitiful offerings that have passed as “dinner” for the last few years, they served cheese and crackers in Y. Is this the new normal? There wasn’t a cabin announcement apologising for irregular catering.

The party pies or soggy focaccia melts they replaced were hardly a highlight of a flight, but they could somewhat fill the gap for those who didn’t have time to eat in the lounge or terminal after a full work day. Not to mention that less than 10 years ago Y Golden triangle flights used to have a choice of hot slop in a box or a decent salad.

QF’s ensh!tification continues apace.

Not normal, probably a late aircraft swap. Instead of delaying it further for dinner, a different aircraft was used.

Post automatically merged: Feb 5, 2025

Nope nothing new. Took QF749 10 times last year (the 2055 SYD-ADL service). Everytime till November 29th got a hot item. Around 2 weeks later on December 14 was only cheese and crackers. 4 times since then only rice crackers and cheese. Though the crew usually describe it as a “light supper.” Always ended up with two packets though due to light loading.

2055 services haven't had a proper dinner service for a very long time. Warm snacks, yes, dinner, no.

 

[justinbrett]

If you don’t get a meal on a flight that should have had one, you can try logging a complaint (there is a dedicated category for missing meal) and you’ll probably get some points.

 

[JIMMYTHEJET]

that’s why there’s the new qantas club?

Post automatically merged: Feb 6, 2025

Bring a. Take away container make a toastie

 

[Happy Dude]

Bring a. Take away container make a toastie

Don't forget a thermos to decant some wine

 

[JIMMYTHEJET]

Don't forget a thermos to decant some wine

j
More wine for you
I’ll take the apple ciders

 

[jrfsp]

This is “breakfast” HBA-SYD. Have Y offerings been scaled back even further?

 

[markis10]

No onsite catering in HBA, you get what can survive the night locked up.

 

[RooFlyer]

No onsite catering in HBA, you get what can survive the night locked up.

Its been a while since I've done J on the OMG o'clock flight out of HBA, but I wonder what they get? Two 'brekkie slices'?

 

[SeaWolf]

If the VA flight is $5 cheaper you could just drop by Woolworths beforehand and buy yourself a whole box of "Brekkie Slices"!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Fresh off QF486 tonight (18:30 MEL-SYD 737 service) and rather than the pitiful offerings that have passed as “dinner” for the last few years, they served cheese and crackers in Y. Is this the new normal?

It is a completely normal and I would argue complete meal...for a mouse!

 

[kamchatsky]

If the VA flight is $5 cheaper you could just drop by Woolworths beforehand and buy yourself a whole box of "Brekkie Slices"!

My guess is that VA flight is much more than $5 cheaper than QF. Better to just fly VA and BYO food.

 

[markis10]

If the VA flight is $5 cheaper you could just drop by Woolworths beforehand and buy yourself a whole box of "Brekkie Slices"!

And for weeks afterwards EDR will be offering you bonus points in your next shop if you buy breakfast slices

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Don't forget a thermos to decant some wine

My favourite philosopher Immanuel Decant, close cousin of Immanuel Kant!

 

[AFF Editor]

FYI, I checked with Qantas and they informed me that hot meals/snacks for dinner are currently served in Economy on domestic flights scheduled to depart between 17:30 and 18:59.

Unfortunately for @1022, QF486 is a scheduled 19:00 departure. This is the exact minute where the service cuts over to "supper".

Qantas' justification for this is that they see a gradual decline in demand for hot meals after 7pm because passengers are more likely to have already eaten dinner by that time in the terminal or lounge. They also note that they serve dinner in their domestic lounges from 5pm.

 

[SeatBackForward]

*ahem* on my last flight it was correctly called a Light Dinner

 

[servicerequired]

This is “breakfast” HBA-SYD. Have Y offerings been scaled back even further? View attachment 431258

This is the Dash 8 breakfast … geez I can remember back when Southern Australia were serving ‘warm’ breakfast pastries in a cardboard box … that was 20 years ago!

The banana bread option seems to work as an improved visual for these breakfast flights.

 

[justinbrett]

I really don't think it's going out on a limb to say older people generally eat dinner early. Nobody said it was ALL old people. And if you're the kind of person who travels solo around the world, you're probably not in that group.

I'm told reflux is often an issue so eating at least 3 hours before bed is helpful for that.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nobody said it was ALL old people. And if you're the kind of person who travels solo around the world, you're probably not in that group.

I'm told reflux is often an issue so eating at least 3 hours before bed is helpful for that.

No, not ALL; the expression was 'Except for retirees or people with very young kids, few Aussies of working aged would typically be sitting down to dinner at 5:30pm'. Grammatically, that says that retirees as a class typically eat early and I'm just pointing out that as a generalisation, by someone who I believe isn't retired and possibly doesn't mix with that many retirees, is incorrect. I am retired and almost all of my friends and neighbours are retired (none of who travel much) and I know (from visiting etc) that most would sit down to dinner at about 7pm, often later in summer,

The OP I suspect was thinking of nursing homes, which is not the same as retirees.

It was just the casual stereotyping of a class of people, by someone not part of that group and which is demonstrably wrong that warranted correcting. Most of all, it was simply unnecessary to make the point that dinner on Qantas starts too early (which I agree with), but just slipped in there for some reason.

Here endeth my sermon; its gin & tonic time.