Which airline, and does it say anything about meals on their website, please?

People with certain medical conditions could be taken seriously ill if an expected meal is not provided.

Peter

Peter,
it was KLM, the only thing I could find on the web site is the article below, which is not very conclusive:-

Item 4 ADDITIONAL SERVICES
A separate charge may be payable for liquor, snacks, meals, the provision of in-flight services and any other additional services provided on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking and disembarking. Carrier will use its best endeavours to comply as far as
possible with special requirements, such as cradles, special meals, beverages, but is not answerable for any failure to
do so.

I think technically they are right. The obligation is to tranpost you from point A to point B. Anything extra such as meals, drinks, inflight movies etc are considered complimentary extras and if you don't receive them (the IFE is broken etc) the airline will not compensate automatically for them not being available.

I think it would be worth challenging KLM as I would have thought most airlines will consider a good will gesture to maintain your loyalty.

I recall being on a busy Virgin Atlantic flight when some IFE was not working. The crew did what they could with moving people around to workimg seat back IFE screens, gave out portable DVD players from the Upper Class cabin, but when those ran out they gave £20 shopping vouchers for passengers to use off the duty free cart.

I've also been on airlines where food has run short and the crew have managed to find kids items from their crew meals and I think snacks they have had with them (crisps, snack bars etc). On one Virgin flight the adult passenger near me didn't like the remaining choice of meals from the food service and was quite verbal about her displeasure. One of the crew came back with a baked potato covered with baked beans and cheese and explained that it was her crew meal but offered the passenger this (it was gratefully received by the passenger and defused the situation). I think this type of positive attitute is more down to the crew members or how the individual airlines have trained their crews to interact with the customers.

PS - on a US domestic flight you would be lucky to get a smile and a snack bar. The meal service is practically unknown now.

As far as i know about the flights i go on,you either get a meal included or pay for one. And i cant believe a passenger would actually take a crew members meal from them!

Crew members in most airlines are given a crew box of food, they get a huge choice of meals, not the same airline food as the passengers, they also get fresh fruit, water etc. I would they could muster up something for someone if need be.

I agree that if the meal isn't booked and paid for separately then it is a complementary service.

Sarah

I though it was different on the various types of flights. i.e. most charters you get a choice of paying for a meal or declining to pay, scheduled flights, meals or a light snack (depending on flight duration) seem to be included in the overall cost and with budget carriers you can buy off of the trolly they wheel up and down.

I do agree that the contract is to get us from 'A' to 'B' safely and the other items are extras which if they are withdrawn there would be something in the small print which covers the carrier concerned.

Still could be worth a challenge on the customer loyalty ticket though. You never know it is the season of goodwill.

There's much made of meals on the KLM website HERE, which class did you travel Jordy?

If you were 'Economy Within Europe', where were the high-quality, freshly prepared sarnies they boast about?

Peter

Peter,
They were flying Flexible Economy to Israel which is about a 4 Hour Flight.

I was really surprised this happened because the Service I have recived by KLM in the past has always been excellent.

Hopefully this was just a one off, but I've told my wife to make sure they have a good meal before embarking the return flight,

Thanks everybody for all the information and advice

Jordy

Looks as if according to the website they were entitled to a meal, and I would contact your local Trading Standards Dept after the holidays.

If they haven't delivered what they advertise, they should be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act.

Peter

As far as i know about the flights i go on,you either get a meal included or pay for one. And i cant believe a passenger would actually take a crew members meal from them!

I'd say from some of the people I've seen on flights that maybe half of them would accept the crew members food in a case like that!

As for this, if it's a service under which a meal is listed then it should be provided regardless and if not they should compensate at a reasonable level (nothing too much) and should give an apology on behalf of the staff if they were rude.

It is amazing how may passengers accept our crew food without so much as a thanks. When we mention it is a crew meal we get 'so what' and 'should i be grateful?' Very often we then have to go without for the rest of the day, which can sometimes be upto 16 - 18 hours, just for the sake of keeping the peace. After 11 years of flying I now refuse to offer my crew meal because of this. It can also turn into a safety issue from not eating for so long.

This like a lot of other topics revolves around the blame culture. Someone must be made to pay.

Why cannot people accept that at times things can and do go wrong.

Are we to complain that we got a meal and someone did not. That it caused us stress to know that someone went without?

If you should have got it and did not then a polite letter to the airline will most likely result is a refund and apology.

As for crew meals they are what they say. Crew.

fwh

I agree with fwh - things happen and in the scheme of things it's not that important. I accept however that if you paid for a service you should either have it provided or be reimbursed if it is not.

On a lighter note, in June this year I was in row 2 of a flight that had just left Gatwick and when the cabin crew came to hand out our meal they had run out of my first choice!!

Prosecute? Trading Standards? KLM? That's a suggestion for only those with too much time and money on their hands.

Maybe they should have cancelled the flight and had everyone dumped in Amsterdam until the next days flight.

You wouldn't get a 12 hour journey without a meal. If the crew were unable to provide sufficient food (a la when the gate gourmet strike happened) alternative meal vouchers were provided so everyone could eat beforehand.

However I laugh at the idea that I should prosecute BMI as I didn't get my advertised 'sandwich' on my flight from London - Manchester. The crew, despite running down the cabin chucking food and drinks at the passengers just couldn't make it to me before the plane had to descend.

Disclaimer: I DON'T work for KLM.

Prosecute? Trading Standards? KLM?

Yes, a flight is like any other commodity, it should be as advertised, and if a meal is included in the price it should be provided.

Peter

When getting a meal you have to be careful too we recently got back from Egypt where we flew with First Choice from Gatwick FCA648 and 649 on our outbound journey my Vegetarian meal came out with a pudding which contained Pork Gelatine!!!!!. I only noticed because I was reading the label as my husbands meal took so long to come out. Next time you fly be careful and read the label

I always have to check my vegetarian meal for the v sign, so many people think just because there's no actual meat flesh that it's suitable!

I remember comming home from Tunisia a few years ago, I pre booked a veggie meal weeks in advance, someone a few rows ahead of me took the meal without booking one! When I refused the beef pie they checked the list and I was the only one who had booked a veggie meal but someone else had taken it!

Their first response was "can you have a little bit, it's not going to make a difference to the animal!"

Then one of the crew asked me if she could go through the crew meals, I refused that!

So I had a cupa soup! (with the V sign on the lable) that was the nicest airline meal I'd ever had!

Peter of York

I'm afraid you have an optimistic idea of how local trading standards work. The best you could hope for here is a suggestion from them that the passenger should sue the airline for breach of contract. Except when you tell them that it's a Dutch airline on a flight from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv (i'm guessing) even that advice may be withdrawn. The website is registered to a Dutch address and what they actually say is that "KLM is continuously working on improving onboard products" (maybe they should work on delivering them!) so the chances of proving they contracted to provide anything and that, if they did, the contract is covered by English law are rather slim.

If the loss had been more significant it may be worth contacting the European Consumer Centre who are set up to deal with EU cross border disputes.

What we have all learnt from this is that you can't trust KLM to supply food.

I would also like to add that in my recent experiences Alitalias "food" was so far removed from the description on their website that the writer should get an award for fiction, Swiss did what they said (and not what most people hoped they meant) and Air Berlin gave much more than they'd advertised.

But what gets me going is the consistent failure of airlines to deliver a decent cup of coffee whether it's inclusive or paid extra. What's harder to do

A) keep an airliner full of passengers flying at 500mph 37000 feet over the ground before landing in the right place with everyone still in the same number of pieces as when they took off

or B) put some ground beans in a jug of hot water?

if they can't manage the latter how the hell can they be trusted to do the former???

I'm afraid you have an optimistic idea of how local trading standards work. The best you could hope for here is a suggestion from them that the passenger should sue the airline for breach of contract .........

It probably depends on where you are, here in York I have found them to be very good to the extent of it costing one travel company £4,000 for failing to enter into a meaningful dialogue with me in respect of false 'trade descriptions' in a brochure.

Peter