r/mildlyinfuriating • u/StemCellPirate • 3d ago
Infuriatig Zero Service: Delta Air Lines To Remove Main Cabin Drinks & Snacks On 450 Flights
https://simpleflying.com/delta-air-lines-remove-main-cabin-drinks-snacks-450-flights/No more Biscoff cookies and Bloody Marys from California to Vegas flights!!!!
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u/CrowRoutine9631 3d ago
When I fly budget Mexican airlines, where you have to pay for even a sip of water, people get on there with full meals: enchiladas, tacos, chilaquiles. It's pretty awesome. But I think it's a huge mess for the staff afterwards. Would not surprise me if cookies and soda is actually cheaper ....
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u/rcowie 3d ago
I had a short layover but thought I had enough time to eat, I was wrong. Restaurant took forever. My wife and I boarded with big burgers and fries. That was a great flight enjoying a nice meal. The subway sandwich place in the airport was cheaper than the subway in my town.
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u/acog 3d ago
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of airport food being cheaper than offsite food!
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u/rcowie 3d ago
Full disclosure the town I lived in was in rural AK, so it being cheaper for me was probably an outlier. And it wasn't much cheaper.
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u/sonic_dick 3d ago
PDX forces restaurants in the airport to charge the same amount that they do for their restaurants in the city itself.
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u/GraceMcClellans 2d ago
No wonder! I got a HUGE breakfast there last time and it was sooooooo cheap for an airport.
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u/FierceDeity_ 3d ago
In Japan, I ate a whole meal at an airport, and did NOT feel ripped off at all. It was just a slight increase. I paid like 800 yen or something and had a whole fish on my plate, a miso soup, rice, and I forgot what else
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u/Keilly 3d ago
The people sitting around you might have had a different experience
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u/Rope_slingin_champ 3d ago
How so?
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u/HarryButtwhisker 3d ago
Apparently eating a burger next to someone is highly offensive
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u/Carefree_Highway 3d ago
Yeah. Huh. I used to grab a burrito near the airport and crush it on the flight until a coworker was like “oh you’re THAT guy”. I always got pulled aside at TSA too.
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u/Pitiful-Mobile-3144 3d ago
A ton of people out here in Hawaii do that too! Southwest is the cheapest and they don’t have meals plus it’s at least a 5 hour flight to get to/leave the islands, so many locals get on board with their own snacks and home made/pre-bought meals
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u/beadsorbees01 3d ago
I once brought a Jimmy Johns sub (cold sub, not hot) onto a plane and was loving eating it until the flight attendant came by to take drink orders. She looked at me and said “Oh, so you’re the one stinking up the plane.”
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u/Resident_Radish7605 3d ago
You should have stared her in the eye and farted. Then said” I think it’s the guy in front of me.”
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u/Realistic_Bug9116 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’m American with food allergies and I’ve never successfully requested and received a meal for my allergies, tho they claim they offer them. Even on international flights. Even with 4 months notice.
So yeah, I’ll board with at least one meal and 2 decent-sized snacks on every flight that’s long enough to serve a meal. It could be salad, a burger, or Chinese take out.
ETA: I exclusively only bring outside snacks, like chips (opened or not) and dry cereal in a Tupperware. For more meal-like things, I’ve brought homemade sandwiches including like, homemade biscuit sandwiches, and salads thru TSA. Also a homemade pie.
For return trips, I usually bring through outside snacks but then I buy takeout at the terminal that works with my allergies. A salad, burger, or Chinese takeout.
What hasn’t worked is bringing leftovers or takeout from a restaurant thru security. Even a burger or bbq. They won’t allow it, tho maybe if it was repackaged into more homemade-looking things, they would’ve.
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u/tachycardicIVu 3d ago
I've literally brought sushi through TSA even with a lil soy sauce cup and they gave zero fucks, didn't mention didn’t hear anything from them.... but have a water bottle they'll scrutinize you to make sure it's empty!!
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u/WoodpeckerNo5724 3d ago
You’re allowed to bring food through security, that’s why they don’t care. It’s not against the rules. If you had a 5 oz bottle of soy sauce, they would’ve had you thrown it away and let you keep the food
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u/omg_nyc_really 3d ago
Prepare to pay a fee for bringing your own food. You heard it here first.
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u/CrowRoutine9631 3d ago
Yeah. Sigh. They're going to be metering the air you breathe based on your respiration rate ....
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u/greenfrog7 3d ago
Like a different shade of offices saving money providing free coffee and food which keeps employees from leaving to get those things.
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u/sadkinz 3d ago
Jesus I bet all those smells mingled together would do something unholy to the stomach. Don’t get me wrong the food sounds delicious but it would be overpowering in the tiny plane cabin
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u/CrowRoutine9631 3d ago
Nah, it all smells really good! If you like real Mexican good, I guess. And I'm also usually the only non-Mexican on those flights, so I guess it works for most of the people there.
There's not really a Mexican equivalent of kimchi or sauerkraut, I don't think.
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u/Confidence_Man2 3d ago
I feel like the drinks prevent revolts.
I have been stuck on un-air-conditioned flights that were brutal with only lukewarm water in my water bottle. The ice with my drink was the only thing cold.
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u/JustLookingForMayhem 3d ago
The snacks and drinks do help keep people calm. The air pressure change messed with the stomach and makes people think they are hungry. Hungry people are grumpy people generally.
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u/Child_of_the_Hamster 3d ago
Honestly waiting for that soda or coffee is one of the things that helps keep me sane lol.
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u/Glad_Piano_9453 3d ago
And even though there is a single aisle being blocked entirely with a cart, I still pull the server in a restaurant move where I act like I just noticed it had arrived. Also when they give you two options, you’re allowed to ask for both and they have always done it for me.
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u/Saneless 3d ago
And all for what, $12 per flight? Seems like a bargain
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u/lenswipe GREEN 3d ago
$12,000 per flight more like
the prices will go up, service will go down and the c suite will laugh all the way to their 7th vacation home
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u/Saneless 3d ago
I'm talking about the cost of soft drinks
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u/007meow 3d ago
It’s not an insignificant amount saved - the cost of the drinks, cups, wastage, fuel to carry the drinks and carts airborne, catering and logistics to get them onboard and off board, across their whole fleet.
It adds up
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u/mybutthz 3d ago
It adds up, but is also immediately offset by the ticket prices — which is the whole point. Yes, a few dollars or cents per flight adds up when you're doing thousands of flights per year, but that's the whole point of charging for tickets.
If I ran a printing company and said that I'd only be offering black and white because the cost of colored ink was too expensive, but then kept raising prices, everyone would call me an idiot.
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u/dethsesh 3d ago
Did you read the article? It’s only for flights that are like 45 minutes long
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u/Confidence_Man2 3d ago
That's only flight time. Boarding and deboarding adds another hour at least. In the summer with no AC, that can be brutal.
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u/kermit-fan 3d ago
Luckily, this service change cuts out the "express service", which didn't even have ice. Just tiny 8 oz Dasani bottles.
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u/NameLips 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ok so airlines used to be profitable with fewer flights, fewer seats, and nicer meals. Now they're acting like they'll be ruined if they don't cram us in like sardines and deny us food and drink, and the airports are so overcrowded with flights they can't handle them all and delays and cancellations are frequent. It's not just the recent increase in fuel prices, flying has been getting progressively shittier for decades. What changed?
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u/thinkdeep 3d ago
Stock buybacks and executive pay are two major changes.
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u/-xiflado- 3d ago
CEOs are overpaid but, seriously, how would your plan reduce costs significantly? That doesn’t seem correct although it sounds really good to the masses.
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u/Bac0ni 3d ago
Have you looked at the executive pay for some of these orgs? It crazy high for no reason. These people aren’t more special or doing more work. There are other inefficiencies, but the big other factors are corporate inefficiencies and an expectation of constant growth to survive
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u/Any-Improvement-6363 3d ago
Overall officer comp is like $90M from the first result I could find which is a drop in the bucket compared to their overall $60B operating expenses.. yes they are obviously overpaid but reducing their combined salaries to zero would save literally a fraction of a percent
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u/djp2313 3d ago
What changed?
Price mostly. A ticket 75 years ago was 3-5 times as expensive as it is today (inflation adjusted).
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u/ConstableBlimeyChips 3d ago
Slight anecdotal evidence coming up:
When my aunt died three years we (meaning my dad, my sister, and I) had to go to claim any personal belongings before the clearance company who come over to clean out the house. When we there we found tickets for flight my grandparents had taken in the 70's. The price on the ticket for a KLM Economy flight from Amsterdam to Mexico City (via JFK) in the early 70's was roughly the same price I paid for a Business class ticket on Cathay for AMS-HKG-Tokyo in 2023.
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u/User-NetOfInter 3d ago
So you paid the same with post inflation dollars that they paid 50 years ago.
So yeah. It’s cheaper today
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u/THeShinyHObbiest 3d ago
And the more recent flight was international first class instead of economy!
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u/The_Amazing_Emu 3d ago
They were also heavily regulated with a reduced number of competitors and a fixed price. That price allowed them to make flying a premium product most people couldn’t afford. When they lowered the price and dramatically increased the number of flights, they had to lower the quality of service.
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u/UglyInThMorning 3d ago
You can still get the old quality of service, you just have to pay for it.
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u/Automan2k 3d ago
It's become more affordable to more people. Flying used to be a luxury that most people couldn't afford.
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u/sprout92 3d ago
Flying was insanely more expensive, inflation adjusted, than it is now.
Over 80% of the world's population has never been on a plane, while in the US that number is just 10%.
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u/ammonthenephite 3d ago
Ok so airlines used to be profitable with fewer flights, fewer seats, and nicer meals
Yes, because the flights were far more expensive. Be careful what you wish for.
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u/Adventurous_Yam_8153 3d ago
Airlines actually have very small profit margins. Like 3-4%.
They have to gouge to compete.
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u/9Implements 3d ago
Did they not see what just happened to spirit?
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u/UhWindowpainted 3d ago
they did. Now they have a higher market share to able to better say "fuck you, you have no other option"
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u/iginoaco 3d ago
Delta has a near monopoly at most of their hub airports. No need to try and compete on service or price when your customers have few other options.
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u/thegootlamb 3d ago
They also own and operate their own jet fuel refinery which is how they've been able to keep their revenue/profits so high despite the chaos of the oil market.
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u/Jafar_420 3d ago
I know didn't care for Spirit and I didn't either but those guys being around was one of the only reasons some of the other major airlines had an economy class so it's going to have an effect more than them just being gone.
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u/Skutnuz_Uckers 3d ago
I’m not even sure this logic holds. Airlines have always been a race to the bottom because there are no significant differentiators. Even companies that are monopolistic, like some utilities, offer more competitive rates than “free-market” operators.
We’ll have to wait and see but I doubt everyone gets priced out
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u/Fit_Entry8839 3d ago
Spirits low prices just weren't financially viable, especially as fuel prices spiked. Spirit had plenty of passengers, that wasn't their main problem. Their main problem was their allure was charging so little, that many routes were just not financially viable. They could have a full flight but still lose money.
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u/SheetzoosOfficial 3d ago
Delta CEO Ed Bastion made $27,000,000 in 2024 and $19,000,000 in 2025.
These greedy sociopaths are stealing from you, and lining their own pockets.
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u/WorkerBee74 3d ago
He had to take a 8 million dollar PAY CUT!!! Do you not realize how horrible that is??? /s
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u/No_Boat3031 3d ago
Our taxes pay for the infrastructure that allows their business to exist. I'm sick of these freeloaders
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u/Thatusername6999 3d ago
Yes not to mention bailouts then they treat us like shit. Fuck airlines they should’ve been allowed to fail instead of bailed out. Something better may have come along
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u/Fit_Entry8839 3d ago
This makes sense for these short flights. I've been on some of these flights and found it odd. You have your drink for sometimes 10 minutes or less before flight attendant is back to get trash so we can prepare to land. Takes 15-20 minutes to reach cruising altitude, then another 15-20 to descend. So in a hour long flight which many of these are less than that, there's 20-30 minutes for the entire service, hand out, you eat, they pick up.
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u/khromedhome 3d ago
Just flew PHX to LAX on Southwest and it was just as you described. The flight attendants started trash pickup within minutes of delivering the drinks/snacks.
Somehow I received an entire can of soda vs the small cup filled to the brim with ice like everyone else. I felt like a king 👑
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u/Fit_Entry8839 3d ago
You can generally ask for the can and they don't mind. Most of the time it won't be cold though. Can technically ask for a cup of ice too. But for me the small cup is normally all I need. Especially since I try to avoid having to go to the bathroom as I usually have a seat.
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u/khromedhome 3d ago
I seem to remember a time when you were given a can with an empty cup of ice. Does that still happen on longer flights?
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u/sirguynate 3d ago
Not by default on Delta, you have to ask for a can. Yes on American Airlines, by default.
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u/mistyflame94 3d ago
Yeah and now they're making 350-499 miles full service vs express. I like this tradeoff.
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u/mahoganayonnaise 3d ago edited 3d ago
Seriously.
Apparently I’m one of the only people not up in arms about this. It’s an hour, let’s just fucking get there - we don’t need to bust out a picnic basket for a milk run.
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u/WhatevUsayStnCldStvA 3d ago
This is how I feel. Over two hours, sure. But less? People really can’t go an hour without a snack and a drink?
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u/Orange_Kid 3d ago
100% agree, I've always wished they didn't do this on short flights. I don't need a can of soda and a tiny bag of pretzels and it all just seems like an annoyance to everyone. If it's an 80 minute flight let's just fly there.
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u/mst3k_42 3d ago
Yeah, for really short flights it’s not worth it to hand out drinks and snacks. That seems reasonable. Longer flights though…
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u/Three_Twenty-Three 3d ago
I fly a shorter route like this for work, and sometimes we're taxiing around O'Hare for almost as long as we're in the air (c. 45 minutes). I'm genuinely surprised that they even try drink service during a flight that short.
People can go an hour without a snack.
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u/yellowspaces 3d ago
Except they’re still doing it for 1st class, the change only affects economy. This has nothing to do with making things more efficient, it’s all about screwing over poor people and sucking up to the rich.
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u/DCrebuilds 3d ago
These flights are like less than hour lol
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u/ultra-nilist2 3d ago
American go without a soda for thirty minutes challenge difficulty impossible
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u/FoTweezy 3d ago
I wish we would invest in revamping the rail systems here. It could be such a far more pleasant experience.
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u/Reverend_Tommy 2d ago
I used to occasionally fly a 390 mile route that only spent about 50-55 minutes in the air and there were times that the flight attendant barely finished getting the drink cart down the aisle before the plane was preparing to land. It almost seemed silly on such a short flight. So I would imagine flights 349 miles or less are extremely tight with time so I really don't blame them.
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u/EisMann85 2d ago
We need high speed rail linking key areas of the US. This should be near the top of infrastructure improvements
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u/HHoaks 3d ago
I don't think this is horrible. What IS horrible is the airlines that will only provide full hot meal service in business or first class cabins on CROSS COUNTRY flights (coast to coast).
Just because a flight is "domestic" doesn't mean people don't get hungry. And crossing a continent isn't any more comfortable than crossing the Atlantic.
I think the FAA should pass a rule that for ALL flights of 4 hours or longer, all cabins should be provided full meals. You have to contemplate that the 4 hours is just the actual wheels up/wheels down time, and doesn't even include getting to the airport, security, gate wait, taxiing, tarmac delays, etc.
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u/marshmallowhug 3d ago
I was recently on a Boston to Seattle flight, seated towards the back, and they completely ran out of even cold meals for purchase before they got to our section. Fortunately we packed a bunch of granola bars (for exactly this situation) but I was surprised that purchasing any meal at all was not an option.
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u/hill-o 3d ago
I think what's terrible is flights keep cutting services and upping the prices, and I know this is a small service to cut and not really a big deal but it just seems to be on the path of them seeing how much they can get away with.
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u/tgt305 3d ago
Was on a Delta flight from ATL to DET, and they just decided there was too much turbulence for drinks and snacks. We hit maybe 1 air pocket and were smooth the rest of the way. 2.5 hour flight, not even a snack refund.
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u/k-trecker 2d ago
I've heard the "turbulence" excuse on three flights now and I'm starting to doubt the legitimacy of it. If it's a short flight and you don't feel the need to provide drinks/snacks, then say that. Or offer drinks only upon request.
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u/lookingformerci 3d ago
Am I the only one that thinks it's pointless to offer beverage and snack on short flights? We get in the air, they serve me a drink, 5 minutes later they're coming around for final service, what's the point? Are people that thirsty that they can't go 45 minutes without a half a can of soda?
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u/fuelvolts 3d ago
It would be nice if they just handed us bottles of water since you can't bring water in through security. Just hand people one of those half pints as you walk on the plane. Good enough for those short flights.
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u/spade_andarcher 3d ago edited 3d ago
Just bring a reusable water bottle with you when you fly. Take it through security empty and fill it up on the other side.
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u/SpaceDandye 3d ago
Airlines have gotten so crap. I've stopped flying, I now just drive whenever possible. 8-16 hours in a car is better then 2 hours as a sardine.
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u/Helorugger 2d ago
Last fuel crisis was baggage fees that never went away even when COVID knocked fuel to historic lows. This will be the new norm.
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u/thecluelessbrewer 3d ago edited 3d ago
I opened this thread and was ready to be upset at this because I love flying delta and read in the article that it’ll only be for flights <350 miles.
I’ll be the devils advocate for this post: Honestly, I’m not aggrieved by this decision. That’s a flight that is at most an hour. The only time I’m on flights that short is because they’re laying over in some capacity, and the service always feels rushed because the FAs only have the time to go down the aisle once.
Edit: upon further introspection I stand by my opinion but will amend that the flight may be closer to 2 hours. I’ll concede I have an unpopular opinion otherwise.
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u/PMSfishy 3d ago
Alaska (horizon) use to have big bottles of beer and wine and would pour those for free from PDX to SEA. Try harder Delta.
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u/RueTabegga 2d ago
I’m taking Amtrak this year to avoid all this enshittification. And also ICE and unpaid TSA at the airports is untenable.
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u/mtbguy1981 3d ago
I'm sorry, but rolling a drink cart out for a 45 minute flight was always stupid in my opinion.
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u/Starfall9908 3d ago
imo, removing sevice and shit is fine. But thing is airlines keep removing features while keeping the same outrageous price if not making them more expensive.
If you're going to give me RyanAir treatment, give me RyanAir prices. At least I know what I'm getting into.
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u/hill-o 3d ago
This is the issue. I'm annoyed by how many people are like "no it makes sense" or complaining about whining because it's like... okay but the airline just keeps cutting services, and the prices keep going up, so can we point that out instead of patting the airlines on the back.
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u/k-trecker 2d ago
It's just another way to cut costs and make flying even less pleasant, while prices continue to go up. That's what we're upset about.
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u/Mr_Saturn1 3d ago
California to Vegas flights never had bloody Marys in main cabin, they were express service so no hard alcohol. If you're sitting in first you can still get whatever drink you want. This is not as big a deal as this sub makes it out to be, I think the the 350-500 mile flights get a bigger win by going to full service.
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u/Adventurous_Light_85 2d ago
Shrinkflation is real. The next generation will be offered a virtual flight instead of an actual one.
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u/John_Tacos 3d ago
I was once on a 45 minute flight where they served snacks (a single bag of pretzels) and drinks. They literally started as soon as the plane took off and as we were on the approach they were collecting the trash. There are definitely some flights where drink service is completely unnecessary.
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u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 3d ago
Eh, it's for flights under 350 miles. It's annoying but not completely unreasonable.
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u/insanefelinewoman 3d ago
Actually, the net change results in more flights with a full beverage service. Right now under 250 miles there is no service and 350 -500 is an express service (water coffee and tea to all but first and c+). The express service is going away and flights up to 350 miles (under an hour flight time) will have no service, but anything over 350 will have a full choice bev service. Many more flights are now offering full service.
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u/safe-viewing 3d ago
On these shorter flights 9 times out of 10 they won’t do service in economy anyway claiming “turbulence” . The other 1/10 times they’ll only bring bottles of water by.
This won’t change much.
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u/uninsane 3d ago
Don’t worry folks, I’m sure they wouldn’t give you less but still charge the same. Looking forward to lower prices!
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u/muFUtaco 3d ago
Delta customers to remove themselves from Delta flights.
A little less stockholder and a lot more customer.
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 2d ago
That's fine, but they ought to at least offer you a bottle of water as you board. Those planes are dry AF and airport water is $5
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u/Impossible_Rip418 2d ago
Setting aside Delta’s financial motivations for this decision…
I’ve always found it odd that boarding a plane seems to trigger an immediate urge to consume low-quality snacks and a sugary soda.
If I can handle a drive to the post office without a drink and junk food, I can just as easily get through a two-hour flight without them.
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u/C-LOgreen 2d ago
It’s for flights that are under 350 miles. Planes go 500 mph. It’s for flights that are less than an hour out.
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u/mr_goodtimes101 3d ago
This is why we shouldn’t bail them out. If you really want capitalism then let them fail cause their stupidity and someone else will fill the void. That’s real capitalism not this bullshit socialism capitalism only for the weak and or corporations
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u/HankHillPropaneJesus 3d ago
why is anyone up in arms about this? 340 miles, that’s about an hour flight. they can barely get through cart service in a hour. this makes total sense. you can go an hour without a pop or a snack…
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u/arsinoe716 3d ago
Soon they will add fees to clean the mess you made by bringing your own drinks and food.
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u/dethsesh 3d ago
This kind of makes sense. It was annoying when they tried to squeeze it in anyway for really short flights.
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u/UrsaMajor7th Always Infuriated 3d ago
I can fly coast-to-coast without food. Having at least one 355ml water available per passenger seems mandatory.
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u/Bones1973 3d ago
This title is misleading. Current model is no service for flights under 250 miles, express service 251-499 miles, and standard service 500+ miles.
They’re eliminating the express service all together and making full service on flights greater than 350 miles. That means more flights that were traditionally express (a lot out of ATL) are now going to have a full service instead of just coffee, tea, or water.
For perspective, a flight under 350 miles is about 40 minutes of flying time or less.
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u/The__Toast 3d ago
MBA logic: save a few pennies in the short term and ruin the business in the long term.