You don’t hear as many jokes these days about airplane food as you did years ago when airlines served a hot meal – to all passengers – on just about every flight lasting more than 1.5 hours.

But airline food remains a popular topic and I’ve been assigned the task to come up with a “top 10” list of the world’s best airline meals for my CNBC blog, and I’m looking for your help.

I certainly have my own favorites, as shown below, but my palate isn’t quite as refined as many foodies out there (I avoid seafood and anything with mushrooms).

Have you been amazed by an airline meal? If so, I’d love to hear from you. Either leave a comment below or email me at darren@frequentlyflying.com. And if you have pictures, I’d love to see them, too. Which airlines excel at in-flight cuisine?

Here are the top 5 airline meals I’ve enjoyed to date:

• Pan-fried chicken in green peppercorn sauce with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley from Singapore Airlines’ “Book the Cook” menu on my JFK-Frankfurt flight:

Singapore Airlines Pan-Fried Chicken

• Pan-fried fillet of beef in three peppercorn sauce with russet potatoes and veggies from Singapore Airlines’ “Book the Cook” menu on my Frankfurt-JFK flight:

Singapore Airlines Pan-Fried Fillet of Beef

• Korean bibimbab (steamed rice, veggies and minced beef mixed with hot pepper paste and sesame oil) and soup on my Asiana Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Seoul:

Korean Bibimbab on Asiana Airlines

• Braised beef with pumpkin puree, snow peas, baby turnips and soy beans on my Virgin Australia flight from Perth to Sydney (and it wasn’t as purple as it appears below… the cabin lighting didn’t afford a decent pic):

Luke Mangan Inspired Braised Beef on Virgin Australia

• Tomato and saffron chicken with green olives, peas and cous cous on my Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Perth:

Tomato and Saffron Chicken on Virgin Australia

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

Related posts:

Flight Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class JFK-Frankfurt

Flight Review: Asiana Airlines 747 First Class Los Angeles-Seoul

Flight Review: Virgin Australia A330 Business Class Perth-Sydney

Here are a couple of quick airline updates from press releases issued by American and United today.

United Offers Flat-Bed Seats on “All” Long-Haul International Flights

United Airlines now features 180-degree flat-bed seats and personal on-demand entertainment in the premium cabins on all scheduled, long-haul international flights from the airline’s eight North American hubs and between Seattle and Tokyo Narita. United is the only U.S. carrier to exclusively provide flat-bed comfort to premium cabin travelers on such scheduled, long-haul flights from the continental United States.

The release goes on to state 183 of United’s international aircraft now feature lie-flat seats. Where can you still find the old “Barcalounger” seats in business class? They’re on United’s 777s operating between Honolulu and Tokyo, as Chris McGinnis reported yesterday after receiving an update from a United rep.

Today's Honolulu-Tokyo Seat Map on a United 777

According to the United Airlines Fleet Website, there are three 777s still sporting the configuration shown above: N768UA, N772UA and N779UA.

American Launches JFK-Dublin Route With Bonus Mile Offer

American Airlines today launches daily nonstop service between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Dublin Airport (DUB), adding a new destination to American’s extensive network and giving customers traveling from Dublin nonstop connections out of JFK to cities throughout North, Central and South America . The new flight is in addition to American’s existing nonstop service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Dublin and complements its 12 other daily nonstop flights from JFK to Europe.

The new JFK-DUB flight is operated with a Boeing 757-200 sporting 16 angled-flat business class seats and 166 in economy.

Here are the bonus mile offer details for the new route:

To celebrate the new service, American is offering AAdvantage^® members up to 20,000 bonus miles every time they fly a round trip on the route, including travel on American-operated flights marketed by British Airways or Iberia. Customers flying on Business Class and select Economy Class fares (booked in Y, B or H) will receive 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every round trip, and those flying on all other Economy Class fares will receive 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every round trip, from June 12 through Sept. 15, 2013. To participate, members simply need to register prior to travel at aa.com/offers using the promotion code AADUB.

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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One of the most popular posts here on Frequently Flying is my Airfare Pricing Buckets & Airline Fare Basis Codes Revealed! entry from a couple of years ago. It’s still very much valid in decoding domestic United Airlines fare basis codes, as revenue management post-merger with Continental kept the same logic.

What has changed – just a bit – is the alphabet soup of fare classes used. And with the fairly recent addition of the super-discounted N-class on United, as well as all Star Alliance carriers now using the same letters for award redemptions, every letter of the alphabet is now in use at United.

Here’s a current alphabetical list and description of what each letter translates into (bold letters are award/upgrade classes only):

• A – First class
• B – Economy – Full fare (even though Y-class is the highest level in coach, it’s still considered a full fare)
• C – Business class
• D – Business class
• E – Economy
• F – First class – Full fare (“FN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• G – Economy – Discounted
• H – Economy (“HN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• I – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award class (“IN” is expanded award availability for GS/1K/Plat elites)
• J – Business class – Full fare (“JN” is expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders, as well as an upgrade class from Y-fares for elites)
• K – Economy – Discounted
• L – Economy – Discounted
• M – Economy
• N – Economy – Discounted
• O – First Class (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award (“ON” is upgrade class on 3-cabin aircraft)
• P – First/Business class – Discounted (“PN” is upgrade from B/M-fares for elites; only GS/1K can upgrade from M)
• Q – Economy
• R – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – Upgrade bucket (“RN” is expanded availability for elites)
• S – Economy – Discounted
• T – Economy – Discounted
• U – Economy
• V – Economy
• W – Economy
• X – Economy – MileagePlus Saver Award (“XN” is expanded availability for elites)
• Y – Economy – Full fare (“YN” is an expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders)
• Z – Business class – Discounted (“ZN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)

As far as the revenue fare classes above, here’s the order from highest to lowest in terms of where each class falls on the spectrum of overall contribution to United:

F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, N

One important thing to note is that the leading letter of your fare basis code, not necessarily which letter it books into, is what determines your flight mileage accrual. They can be different, which is often the case for “Y-UP” fares where you purchase a coach ticket that books directly into first class.

Another example is what I encountered earlier this year on my mileage run to Tokyo. United had an unadvertised promotional first class sale which booked into “A” class, but my fare basis code began with a “P,” so I only earned redeemable and Premier Qualifying Miles based on the “P.”

I think this causes a lot of confusion for some travelers as the “A,” in my example, was the only thing that appeared online or on a ticket receipt. To see the fare basis code, you have to click the “View Rules and Restrictions” link during the booking process, which yields something like this:

Questions? Comments?

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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US Airways held its annual Media Day event in Phoenix today and several people I follow on Twitter were present providing updates throughout the day. Among them was Jake Redman, a BoardingArea blogger, who sent out the following that piqued my interest given my obsession with amenity kits:

And he followed that tweet up posting a small portion of US Airways’ video shown during the event, highlighting some of the new products and features the airline plans to introduce. Say hello to the soon-to-be-short-lived new US Airways amenity kit:

Gratuitously Screen-Grabbed Image of US Airways' New Amenity Kit

Another View of New US Airways Amenity Kit

The kit will debut in July and includes skin care products from Red Flower, such as lotion, lip balm, and a facial towlette. Also included will be toothpaste, a toothbrush, mouthwash (yes!), facial tissues and the usual eyeshades and socks. It looks pretty average for a business class kit, but I’ll be keen to acquire one as it’ll be the last US Airways branded kit.

There were other interesting updates from the event, including the fact that US Airways (but not American) will match United’s recent $50 increase in change fees. I have to imagine American will hike their change fee rates in time.

As far as the amenity kit, I’m sorry that Red Flower will likely get a shorter-than-planned market penetration of its products. I think this will be the first time they’ve had their items promoted on such a large scale. When United and Continental merged, United ended up ditching their fairly recent partnership (at the time) with Murad and went with a new skin care manufacturer (Philosophy) for the new kits.

Which manufacturer will the merged American go with? Whoever it is, I hope American keeps the new tablet case for its first class offering.

Related posts:

Amenity Kit Reviews

American Airlines First Class Amenity Kit – Eames Tablet Case

United Airlines Global First Amenity Kit Review

United Quietly Raises Change Fee by $50, Will Other Airlines Follow?

I posted the third annual TravelPlus Airline Amenity Bag Award winners over on my Road Warrior blog last week. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention them here, as many of you know I’m an amenity kit aficionado.

Not surprisingly, the top honors in each category went to non-U.S. carriers. United Airlines, however, did receive a readers’ choice nod for “collaborative initiative” for its Global First amenity kit. Here were the results:

First Class Female – Emirates Airways supplied by Harmony-gategroup
First Class Male – Etihad Airways supplied by Watermark
First Class Unisex – Singapore Airlines supplied by Harmony-gategroup

Business Class Female – Virgin Australia supplied by buzz
Business Class Male – Qantas supplied by buzz
Business Class Unisex - Turkish Airlines supplied by FORMIA

Premium Economy – Condor supplied by Skysupply
Economy – Virgin Atlantic supplied by Harmony- gategroup
In-flight Amenity Gift – Singapore Airlines supplied by Harmony- gategroup

Children’s under 6 – Qantas supplied by buzz
Children’s over 6 – Qatar Airways supplied by buzz

Ethically Sustainable – Finnair supplied by Skysupply with a Highly Commended Award going to Cathay Pacific supplied by Watermark

I’ve got a lot of work to do to build up my collection, as I only have one of the above – the Virgin Australia female business class kit. TravelPlus photographer David Jenner has a great photo collection of the winners here.

It’s an event I’ll be marking on my calendar to attend next year in Hamburg and it also coincides with the Aircraft Interiors Expo the same week.

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I previously posted three other American DC-10s – one from 1977 sporting a “Dining in the Sky” section, another from 1985 in a three-class international configuration, and a high-density coach layout operating to Hawaii. And here now is American’s standard version seen flying the skies in 1985 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps.

The map doesn’t identify seat pitch information, but this layout is more akin to what was flying pre-deregulation with greater comfort in coach. How do I know? Well, I have a map of this same aircraft two years later I’ll post in the future showing additional rows in economy, bumping the capacity in the rear cabin up from 234 to 256 seats.

A couple of neat things to note on the map below are the carry-on luggage racks and the coffee bar near the rear lavatories.

In first class you’d find me in a window seat mid-cabin, such as 3A or 3J. And in coach I always loved sitting near the engines as they had such a distinctly fantastic howl.

Where would you sit?

American Airlines DC-10 'Standard' From 1985

Related posts:

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American Airlines DC-10 Hawaii Seat Map

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I’m an avid collector of amenity kits and have an ongoing series reviewing them. They’re a fun item to collect and I love seeing each new generation an airline debuts, wondering if they’ve spruced it up or cheapened it down.

Earlier this month, The Business Journals ran an interesting piece discussing their allure, evolution and marketing power for not only the airlines, but also the brand name items within.

And I’ve always wondered what the true cost to airlines is for the final product and this article gives a little hint. The author spoke with a top U.S. executive of an international airline to reveal the following:

“The stuff is all over the map,” he said. “An amenity kit can cost an airline anywhere from $4 to $30 a unit. No one agrees whether it’s great for brand identity or it’s something that we’re afraid to get rid of because we’ve always done it. And the logistics are a nightmare. First you have to source them, usually in China, and then palletize them for shipment to the head office. Then you have ship them in containers to the international stations. The kits have to fit on the metal carts in-flight and you have to figure out how many to carry and how to store them.”

Thirty dollars sounds steep to me, but then again, some airlines offer exceptional kits packed with high-end cosmetics that would retail for top dollar in their full-size counterparts. The kits from Asiana, Emirates and Thai come to mind in this case. I’d have to guess the spend by U.S. airlines is nearer the $4/unit mark.

And about those high-end cosmetics, another article quotes a L’Occitane sales executive as barely marking up their products when pitching them to airlines. It’s pretty obvious why: simply for the large-scale exposure.

L’Occitane marks up products as much as 600 percent for retail sale, whereas the markup is closer to a razor-thin 12 percent for an airline deal. This level of discounting is typical of airline amenity contracts, especially at a time when major carriers are strapped for cash.

That article was 2007, admittedly, but I’d have to imagine there’s still very little up-front profit today in a skin care manufacturer’s airline deal, if at all. And back in 2006, Travel + Leisure calculated the value of some amenity kits based on what the per-ounce retail price would run for the cosmetics. Air France came in on the low end at the time at $49 with its Clarins products, and Japan Airlines at the top at $137 for its Shiseido and Clé de Peau lotions.

I will undoubtedly continue to grow my collection and while I’ll miss it this year, I definitely plan to attend the annual Airline Amenity Bag Awards next year in Hamburg. I’ll be in heaven!

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Flight 651 from Los Angeles arrived at JFK this afternoon six minutes ahead of schedule and became the first reconfigured p.s. Boeing 757s to take to the skies. For the fleet followers, it’s ship number 5996 (N596UA) and will be operating as flight 535 back to LAX this evening at 5:53 p.m. If you’re unfamiliar, p.s. service refers to the “enhanced” international style flights operating from New York’s JFK Airport to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

United posted a couple of new photos on their United Hub page, including the first I’ve seen of the economy cabin showing the forward portion of Economy Plus.

Economy Plus on the New P.S. 757

The BusinessFirst cabin uses the same pre-merger Continental lie-flat seats found on some existing 757s (and other aircraft).

BusinessFirst Seats on the New P.S. 757

In total, the new layout sports 28 BusinessFirst, 48 Economy Plus and 66 regular economy seats. And Economy Plus on this bird is reportedly real E+ with 36 inches of pitch as opposed to the 34 inches on the “old” p.s. birds.

While the seat map is an indication of the likely version of p.s. bird you’ll be flying, last minute aircraft swaps can happen. As such, it will be a virtual crapshoot in the coming months until the fleet is fully completed by the end of the year.

I previously blogged about how United will handle discontinuing selling first class. In summary:

• All p.s. flights will operate as 2-cabin regardless of actual configuration starting on Jun. 6. By the summer, we expect to have already reconfigured several B757 aircraft. However, in order to minimize the impact of unexpected substitutions, we will only sell p.s. flights as 2-cabin.
• Wondering about who gets to sit in those first three rows in the previous United First cabin? We’re reserving these seats for customers who had previously booked in United First, as well as Premier members who are already confirmed in United Business. Specifically, Global Services, Premier 1K, Premier Platinum and Premier Gold members can select one of these seats at any time if available, and Premier Silver members will have access to them at check-in. Note that during the transition, these seats will be branded as United Business, rather than United First. Nearer to the end of the reconfiguration process, we’ll start marketing the premium cabin on all aircraft as United BusinessFirst.

Not living in Los Angeles anymore and with my gradual slowdown of United flying, I probably won’t be on a p.s. flight anytime soon. I will, however, miss the dance floor ahead of row 9 on the current p.s. birds. And I honestly want a pair of those leather business class seats for my home!

Related posts:

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Flight Review: United Airlines Flight 534 LAX-JFK p.s. Business Class

A Quick LAX-JFK-LAX Mileage Run

American Airlines last December rolled out new amenity kits and they finally offer separate kits for first and business class passengers. Previously, American provided the same “premium” kit in both cabins. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the current first class offering, and here now is the business class kit for this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please see my introductory post. And a special thanks goes out to blog reader Albert for sending me this kit to review!

[Note: I recently asked my readers if I should change my scale to a 5- or 10-pointer and while the 10-point scale is “winning,” many were unable to vote due to the poll not working for them. I will likely change it to a 10-point scale in the future, but I’m leaving this review under my current system.]

American Airlines Business Class Amenity Kit

Bag/Container: American again partnered with Eames for the case, which in this edition is a rectangular, reinforced canvas zipper bag sporting a silver tag bearing the American “brand” near the lower-left corner, sans the popular eagle. As with the exterior, the single compartment, nylon-lined interior features the Eames Dot Pattern. Reusability is medium in my mind, though I wish the case were a bit longer. Score: 5 out of 7

Interior of American's Eames Business Class Amenity Kit

Skin Care: In a switch from the first class kit, American went with Akhassa skin care products, including body lotion, facial moisturizer and lip balm. If you’re a lime fan, you’ll love these products as each are lightly infused with the refreshing citrus oil. Both the hand lotion and facial moisturizer absorb rapidly, and in my opinion are slightly less greasy than the Dermalogica products in the first class kit. And the lip balm is delicious! The enclosed product information (“romance”) card includes a URL and code for the Akhaasa website offering a 15% discount. Finally, a scentless and brand-less moist towelette rounds out the skin care items inside the kit. Score: 5.5 out of 7

Eames Amenity Kit

Oral Care: A half-size, medium-bristled toothbrush with a plastic cover and tube of standard flavored Colgate toothpaste are included with the kit. American thankfully increased the size of the toothpaste from the previous version, which was tiny. Mints would have been a nice addition, but this category is acceptable for a business class kit. Score: 4 out of 7

Comfort Items: Eyeshades and socks are banded together with a paper ribbon. The eyeshades have an adjustable Velcro strap, which affords a comfortable fit. For single use, the socks are fine, but aren’t the most durably made. Additional comfort items include soft earplugs and a package of tissues. Score: 4 out of 7

Intangibles: I do quite like it when airlines partner with a bag manufacturer, thereby adding a bit more exclusivity to the kits over a generic case. An added bonus in the kit is a pen, handy for filling out customs and immigration forms. For a business class offering, I think this kit is better than what most European carriers provide. Score: 5 out of 7

Total score & comments:

The bag and skin care items are the highlights of this kit and American earns a well-deserved score of 4.63.

Related posts:

Amenity Kit Review Introduction

Poll: Should I Change My Amenity Kit Review Scale?

American Airlines First Class Amenity Kit Review – Eames Tablet Case

It’s time for another Vintage Airline Seat Map and I’ve selected a Continental Airlines MD-80 (Super 80) seen flying the skies in 1987.

According to PlaneSpotters.net, Continental had about 42 in its fleet and the version appearing below offered 16 seats in first class and 130 in coach.

Sitting up front is always fun on takeoff, as it’s so quiet given how far away you are from the engines. As such, I’d opt for 2F in first  and 6A or 7A in coach.

Where would you sit?

Continental Airlines MD-80 Seat Map

Related posts:

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Top 10 Viewed Vintage Airline Seat Maps