United has long been a holdout on serving kosher wine in business class between North America and Tel Aviv.
They tried serving Covenant Mensch in 2017, but United tells me that the wine did not have many takers and it was discontinued.
United did continue to serve kosher wines in select Polaris lounges.
Effective February 1st though, United will try again. I’m told that kosher wines will be available in both directions between San Francisco or Newark and Tel Aviv. Alas, it apparently won’t be available between Washington DC and Tel Aviv.
Kosher wine is available in the business class cabin only.
The kosher options this time will be Herzog Lineage Cabernet Sauvignon and Herzog Lineage Sauvignon Blanc.
So if you’re flying United Polaris as of 2/1, be sure to have a L’Chaim on some kosher wine and tell United that you appreciate the gesture 🙂
Delta have kosher wine even in economy! So do Air Canada! Step it up UA!
I have flown bc lufthansa, klm, delta, austrian, brussels, etc. and, in recent yrs have not been served kosher wine. offered non-kosher wine, cheeses, antipasti, breads, pastries, hors d’œuvres – the kosher meals that are currently offered would have been rejected for econ 15 yrs ago. one suspects that the airlines cheat the kosher traveler by allocating less per meal. it’s hard to evaluate the caterers without knowing the amount budgeted per meal.
I always feel the meals on UA leaving the US are much worse than the meals from Europe or Israel. The biggest problem is that when served, appetizer, rolls, cake, etc are 75% frozen! Each time I fly, I put that information as well as my phone number in the survey that I am asked to fill out. Have never received a call. Obviously, doesn’t mean anything!
Because Borenstein (OWNED BY ELAL!!!!!) has a monopoly.
Their meals are absolute crap by design. They’re selling them to their competitors. Their logic is, “Want a better meal? Fly ELAL.” They make money either way.
Shameful!
I always wondered, isin’t it considered nesach if a non jew is serving it even if it is kosher?
The wine is Mevushal.
It’s interesting because on el Al business class the wine was NOT mevushal. Go figure
On elal in premium econ they offer recanti non-mevushal so i asked stewardess if they have barkan or anything else (too hard to explain mevushal) and she brought me unopened bottle of barkan to check and it was ok and bh it was mevushal 😉 lchaim!
Most of elal employees are Jewish
Dont help, have to be Shomer Shabbos. Plus there are other issues, like if they refill a cup that was drunk by someone creates stam yenam issues, the whole bottle becomes a problem
Is the wine open? Are they serving from large bottle or giving you an unopened bottle?
In Israel many people hold that its enough to be Jewish even not shomer Shabbos bc most are tinokos shebishbu. Pouring into a gentiles cup is a issue though. Elal business serves non mevushal from big bottles I believe.
As a domestic traveler who flys weekly on Delta/United/AA I do not understand why coach wouldn’t get the Kosher wine option on the TLV route
Does international coach get free wine ? Where then they are not splurging on kosher ? (If they charge like domestic coach, what’s their strategy?)
Delta has Red and white kosher wine in single serving bottles in coach on the JFK – TLV route .Yet in business class the flight attendants are to lazy to go to the coach drink cart and get you the wine …
Of you’re on united Polaris after 2/1 remember to request as many bottles as you can so united sees it going well.
this is long overdue. the kosher bc meals are horrible, in every way (except, of course, Kashrut) qualitatively inferior to non-kosher bc meals. this is the culmination of a degradation that begin in most carriers about 10-15 yrs ago.
Cathay from tlv has delicious kosher wine mevushal .
I’d be happy to have kosher wine in my last row economy seat and wish them a l’chaim too!
I am sitting in United Polaris now from EWR to TLV and they don’t have kosher wine, they tell me it’s coming but not here yet