Food Review: Executive Platinum Complimentary Drink and Snack on US Airways

US Airways Chairman’s Preferred members and American Airlines Executive Platinum receive a complimentary snack and alcoholic drink when traveling in economy on either airline, which is a unique perk to top tier elite status amongst all of the major US airlines.

Here’s the full policy: AAdvantage® Executive Platinum and ConciergeKeySM members can enjoy a complimentary* beverage from our standard alcoholic selections as well as one of our snacks, where available, when flying in the Main Cabin on board American Airlines, American Eagle®, US Airways, and US Airways Express. The snack on American includes any food item on our menu. The snack on US Airways includes any item from our à la carte menu.

On a US Airways flight from Washington Reagan to Tampa, FL I was seated in economy due to a delayed American flight from DCA to Chicago, where I would have missed my onward connection to Tampa.

When beverage service began, and the flight attendant reached my row. I showed her my boarding pass noting my AA number and oneworld Emerald status (which is Executive Platinum, but it doesn’t show up clearly on US boarding passes). She was confused by me giving her the pass, and I explained that I wanted a glass of wine, and wanted to prove my status.

She was a little confused on the policy due to the merger, and left to find a list of elites in the front of the aircraft. She returned with the manifest noting my status, and then offered to take my drink order. It’s worth noting that she mentioned US Airways Platinum also get a food and beverage offering, however she was mistaken and should have said Chairman’s Preferred. It turns out, a US Airways Platinum in the next row over got a free gin and tonic out of the deal, because of the flight attendant’s incorrect assumption.

I ordered a glass of white wine and a bag of check mix. Because this flight was under 3 hours only true-snacks were available and no sandwiches.

She proceeded to get me my requested items, and delivered them to me. The wine was a Casa Amada 2014 Chardonnay, and the bag of Chex Mix was larger than a snack size, which was more than adequate for the 2 hour flight.

I’m a big fan of this free food and beverage in economy, as it acknowledges elites who would have otherwise been offered an upgrade and complimentary food there. On flights longer than 3 hours, you’ll have the chance to choose a sandwich or salad, which, in my opinion are sometimes better than what is being offered in First Class at times.

During the merger you might encounter difficulty amongst flight attendants not knowing the true policy, so if you’re in doubt (or, they’re in doubt), I’d suggest saving a picture of the policy from the website on your phone so you can show them if you need.