Before a recent flight I received an email that I could preorder my snacks for the flight. Apparently I am late in the game, this service has been available for certain flights for a while, but probably not on the ones I was flying on.
First I didn’t think much of it, why would I care to order a snack box. But it occurred to me that it is the first segment of my trip home at 6 am, a short layover, and practically until the afternoon I would not have an opportunity to grab breakfast or lunch. Now I could order what I needed, not to mention that it also has accessibility implications.
Generally when the flight attendants come around with food for purchase, I ask them what is available. But this is an awkward moment. If they read the menu to me, I hold them up in the isle and I feel bad about wasting their time. In the meantime, there is no way for me to make an informed selection unless they read the menu to me, and sometimes I need to eat. I usually settle with asking for the first thing that sounds good enough to me, and we never get to the end of the menu. But it is definitely not comparable to being able to read the menu at my own pace. Of course I could use my phone’s camera and a character recognition program, but usually there are all kinds of papers or books in the seat pocket to go through just to find the menu.
So here is where the preordering is useful. I can go through the selection of meals and drinks, which I was never able to do before, and pick the snack that I like, not just the one I settle with. At the moment drink ordering wasn’t available, but I can live without it. Of course, it is necessary that the app is fully accessible and works well with the screen reader, but I didn’t have any problems with it on the United app.
This service was a really nice touch to the travel experience.
