American Airlines Is Bringing Back the Option To Preorder Food in Economy

Updated: October 6, 2026, 1:25pm CDT

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AA Food Preorders Begin Next Week on Some Routes
Final Thoughts

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American Airlines will once again offer the option to preorder food in the economy cabin on some flights. This is a program the carrier has offered in the past, and it’s bringing this back in an attempt to more efficiently stock its flights and ensure that passengers can purchase the option they prefer.

Here’s what you need to know about this new option that’s rolling out very soon.

AA Food Preorders Begin Next Week on Some Routes

Starting October 13, 2026, American Airlines will offer economy passengers the option to preorder food on flights between Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Los Angeles (LAX) beginning October 20. This was first noticed by View From the Wing.

American Airlines economy class seating B737-8 — American Airlines will soon offer economy passengers the option to preorder snacks and meals. Image Credit: Keri Stooksbury

Here are the main points you should know about the new program, which is called “reserved buy on board:”

Eligible flyers will receive an email notifying them that they can preorder food via aa.com or the American Airlines mobile app (iOS, Android).
Orders can be placed between 7 days and 20 hours before a flight’s scheduled departure time.
Any orders placed are loaded specifically for that flight, taking some guesswork out of the airline’s planning.
Passengers are only charged when their order is delivered to their seat, removing the need to chase refunds if an item isn’t loaded properly or a passenger changes flights.
AAdvantage Executive Platinum and ConciergeKey members can preorder their food free of charge.

During the trial period, AA will offer the following options:

A fruit and cheese plate for $13
A chicken, turkey bacon, and ranch wrap served with pasta salad and a churro for $14
An Inflight Bites snack box for $10
Doritos Minis (Cool Ranch flavor) for $6
Nuts on Clark roasted and salted mixed nuts for $11
BoomChickaPop kettle corn for $5

While the option will be tested on just 1 route to start, American says that it plans to expand the eligible route list about a month after this trial period starts.

Hot Tip:

Learn more about all the best ways to earn and redeem American AAdvantage miles in our full guides.

Final Thoughts

American Airlines will soon offer economy passengers the option to preorder food once again. This is something the airline has offered before, but we’re glad to see it return. It should ensure passengers can enjoy what they want on their flights while helping the airline stock the flight properly without running out of options or throwing away any extras that go unclaimed.

The option will only be on DFW-LAX flights to start but should soon expand to more routes and flights.