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United Testing 'Complimentary Sandwich' on Key Hawaii Route

April 17, 2019
2 min read
United 777-200 Retrofit Tour Polaris Economy
United Testing 'Complimentary Sandwich' on Key Hawaii Route
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US-based airlines have begun offering a full meal to some economy passengers on certain transcontinental flights — including American, Delta and United — but, in some cases, unless you're in the right seat on one of those premium routes, you're not going to get free grub.

Although United's one of the participating carriers — with a hot meal available in Economy Plus on select transcons, in this case — the airline's longest domestic flights only have "buy onboard" food, including those from the mainland US (and even East Coast) to Hawaii, an up-to 11-hour trip.

This month, United's trialing a new "complimentary sandwich" offering on one of its longer Hawaii flights, however. Economy passengers will get the below sandwich on flight 253, operating daily from Houston to Honolulu.

The reader who shared a picture from their flight offered up a mixed review:

United has confirmed that this is only a test, scheduled to run through the end of April and intended to enable the airline to "gather feedback about its impact on the overall customer experience." While the balsamic chicken sandwich on offer doesn't look tremendously appetizing, free food is free food — and on an 8+ hour daytime flight, it's better than nothing at all.

Featurred image by Zach Honig/TPG

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Featured image by With fewer Regional Premier Upgrades, 1K members will be spending more time in economy. Photo by Zach Honig.