4.5 hour flight and no free refreshments?

[BlueJeansNiceTop]

Granted I’m more of a long haul traveller on decent airlines that give you complimentary meals, drinks and booze.

But I’ve just come off a 4.5 hour TUI flight and was astonished not to even get a free cup of tea. Is that the norm now?!

Yes it is

Yes, completely normal.

Yep totally

Blimey!

Yeah - the cheaper airlines don't offer anything. Free refreshments are the reserve of the more 'flagship' carriers who charge more.

You clearly have been spoiled in the past

Yes normal with Tui though they do come round with a trolley and you can buy food and drinks if you want one.

Yes, but if you fly in Scotland on Loganair you still get a cup of tea and a tunnocks caramel wafer :)

Like you OP, I'm used to proper full service airlines, but I was on BA recently.

I had no intention of encouraging them with their paid-for M&S refreshments, but I can tell you an instant coffee/tea/hot choc - where it's pre dispensed and just add hot water) is £2.45.

A kit kat is £1.20, and a tub of instant porridge, £1.70.

The guy next to me ordered a couple of toasties and a drink; and it cost him £20 or so.

They sent me a link asking for feedback after the flight. The rest of it was fine, but for a supposedly decent airline, this just felt so cheap and nasty.

It is made very clear at the time of booking that refreshments and meals are an optional extra with short haul airlines these days. With the advent of low cost airlines like Ryanair other airlines have had to compete on pricing and have stripped out everything other than conveying the passeneger from A to B. So extras like choosing a specific seat, putting your luggage in the hold and food and drink are all payable extras.

The last flight I took where everything was included was a Virgin Atlantic flight to Orlando a couple of years ago.

Normal.

Yes, but if you fly in Scotland on Loganair you still get a cup of tea and a tunnocks caramel wafer

Sold! I'm going. I love Tunnocks wafers.

Holy crap, KLM always give you something, even if you're in the air for 1 hour! And they're what I'd consider a pretty standard (ie not up-market) airline

I was on a US-Ireland flight last year that didn't even have screens. I was in a state of shock. That was a long 7 hours I can tell you.

The KLM 'weird cheese sandwich' thing and stroopwafel is legendary.

On other airlines I pick up a picnic in the airport because I can't get my head around paying through the nose on board.

Bangkok Airways give you a full meal for the flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui and it's only about an hour long.

Take off, chuck meals at you, clear up, land lol

I’ve found easyJet coffee & muffin the best value as it’s £4.50 and so a similar price to many local independent coffee shops. At least with easyJet you get a very large coffee for that price. Everything else seemed to be very expensive £9 for sarnie & drink

Glasgow airport has a boots, meal deal!

I fly klm sometimes every week and always every other week and am heartily sick of the cheese sandwich!! Last week I nearly died of shock as it was ham!! On the flight back it’s always the egg wrap with a strange plastic cup of water with a peal off lid which soaks you if your not careful when you open it.

I like KLM. They do reasonably priced business class tickets flying out of London City airport, which is actually much nicer than Heathrow as it’s very compact. Not that I fly business often but have done so for 12 hour flights. I hate BA now, they have become exactly like the budget carriers. Last time I considered booking something with them they wanted an extra £90 to choose our seats! So I went with another airline. I will do budget for journeys of up to 2 hours but past that I’d rather pay more and be treated decently! Otherwise the whole thing is stressful and uncomfortable.

Yep. It's the norm in my experience.

I used to fly often as a child (back in the 70s/80s) and remember being constantly plied with mini cans of coke and peanuts.

I fly to USA now and again to visit family. My most recent flights have been with Thomas Cook. So it's long haul - we get two meals usually - dinner and breakfast- served with tea/coffee but that is it. All booze is to be purchased. However one flight was with American Airlines and they were offering free alcoholic drinks. As i was flying for 9 hours alone it was a very nice treat to sit and read my book and drink free wine.

When I fly short haul now I get a meal deal in Boots - sandwiches, crisps, water and maybe a chocolate bar. Then on the plane i only need a coffee (which is usually crappy ) to go with my chocolate.

But you know that ‘free’ refreshments are not actually free, right? It’s just that you’ve already paid for them in the price of your ticket. The airline has already charged you £1, £2 or maybe even £5 or £10 for that ‘free’ cup of tea and snack.

Budget airlines are about giving you choice.

The norm. This is why Boots meal deals are so popular in airports.

I flew with Titan airlines recently on a 6 hour flight and from memory they only actually carry drinks on board! No food whatsoever. Luckily we had eaten breakfast at the airport.
Also, have flown BA a couple of times in the last year or 2 and was surprised that they have completely done away with short haul complimentary refreshments, I’m sure it always used to be included no matter the distance of the flight.

And LoganAir also gave my DC a teddy on their first flight with them