The new airline-managed system, available through apps, websites, and email links, replaces the external pre-order portal to provide customers with greater convenience and faster booking access.
Lufthansa Group discontinued the pre-flight-shopping.com meal pre-order service and launched Culinary Journey on October 27, 2025.
Passengers now see a notice that the Preflight Shop is no longer available and are redirected to airline-specific Culinary Journey pages for Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines.
The platform, accessible via airline apps, websites, or pre-departure emails, streamlines meal pre-ordering by consolidating digital menus, pre-order options, and customer feedback.
Passengers enjoy a unified online experience for all flights and travel classes across the three carriers.
Platform Access and Multi-Carrier Integration
Culinary Journey automatically presents meal selections based on passenger bookings. The system supports multi-leg journeys with different Group carriers, allowing passengers to pre-select meals for all segments through a single platform.
“For the first time, customers flying with Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines can see all their food and beverage options for their flight at a glance – even on connecting flights with different airlines,” according to Caroline Drischel, Senior Vice President Customer Journey for the Group.
Long-Haul Business and First Class Offerings
Long-haul passengers can choose from up to nine main courses, some exclusive to advance orders. This ensures preferred dishes are available regardless of service order or cabin location.
Short and Medium-Haul Service
On shorter flights, passengers can pre-order buy-on-board items such as sandwiches, bowls, salads, and cakes, with a 10 percent discount for advance orders. This system also supports better catering planning and reduces food waste.
Operational Parameters
Meal pre-selection is currently available only on long-haul flights departing from Frankfurt and Munich. The service does not cover flights from outstations, including transatlantic departures from North America.
Pre-orders are typically available about three weeks before departure, though timing may vary by route and date.
Service Features
The platform includes a direct feedback mechanism that allows passengers to share meal preferences and comments to inform service development.
The Culinary Journey system replaces the previous pre-flight-shopping.com interface, which operated as a shopping-style experience and required passengers to navigate multiple flight segments separately, even when only one was eligible for meal selection.
Images courtesy of Lufthansa.
Nik founded Inflight Feed in 2012, blending his passion for inflight dining with over a decade of experience in the airline industry. For the past 13 years, he has travelled the world, exploring and reviewing airline meals across countless carriers.
CNN Travel, The New York Times, and BBC World News have featured Nik’s expertise. When he’s not on the ground, you’ll find him at 35,000 feet, camera in hand, capturing the unique flavours of air travel. Follow his inflight meal adventures on Instagram: @InflightFeed.