While economy plane fares are usually not associated with a wide range of wines and spirits, airlines have increasingly been offering more than the standard bottle of house red and house white for $15 a plastic bottle.
Alaska Airlines recently partnered with local West Coast brewery Fremont Brewing for purchase in the main cabin, while Canada-based Porter Airlines recently expanded its menu to feature ready-made cocktails such as margaritas and the Old Fashioned.
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The latest airline to revamp its alcohol offering is the “big three” carrier United Airlines (UAL) . The Chicago-based airline just announced that it will launch an all-new wine menu in partnership with women-owned labels Maker Wines and Just Enough Wines on domestic flights starting from Oct. 1.
These are the new drinks you’ll soon see on United’s menu
The new wines will be served in cocktail-style cans and include a Just Enough Wines Rosé with hints of watermelon and guava and a Maker Brut Bubbles with notes of citrus and white flowers. All four new wines, which also include a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon, come from the California Central Coast wine region.
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These wines were already being served as complimentary offerings to United’s business travelers but are now also going to be available for purchase in economy.
United said that the decision came after crunching numbers showing that it sold more than 20 million glasses of wine on its flights so far in 2024, which is 1.5 times more than it sold in beer and spirits. A large portion of the numbers — 3.2 million glasses of wine — also came specifically from domestic flights where it was not included with the fare and purchased independently through the in-flight menu.
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United says it’s ‘thrilled to offer rosé and a higher quality brut’
"Our new economy wine list is giving travelers more variety and better quality,” United Managing Director of Hospitality Programs Aaron McMillan said in a statement. "After the overwhelmingly positive response to the addition of rosé in United Polaris business class, and ongoing fanfare for sparkling options, we're thrilled to now offer rosé and a higher quality brut bubbles option for our economy passengers, delivering a more premium experience onboard."
Each 250-milliliter can will sell for $12 and come with a plastic cup for those who do not want to drink directly from it. The wines will be available on any domestic flight long enough to offer beverage cart service with alcohol options — usually flights that take longer than two hours.
The wines will also be complimentary to those who may be traveling in economy but have Premier status with the airline.
United further said that its new wines were part of its “holistic wine program overhaul” and “ongoing investment in elevating its food and beverage offerings.”
At the end of 2023, United’s Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella told The Points Guy that the airline hasn’t “bounced back as well” from the pandemic when it comes to food (people have been complaining about what is available and what is served) and voiced a commitment to improving its menu options of which the new wines are now part.
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