LH Lisa,
From what I can gather, you are in a fortunate position to choose between either a seniority system or a fair share system.
I have tried both systems and though it may not be perfect I for one like the seniority system.
I am not junior but nor would I consider myself senior.
I don't write my own roster but I am fortunate that I have a little bit of say in where I go and for that I am grateful.
Some people like long trips, others prefer short trips, some like to head to one part of the world, others prefer another part.
With the seniority system, at least there is an opportunity for most crew to express a desire for the kind of trip they would like.
Given where you sit in the seniority system, I understand your disillusionment with the system particularly as there are no new crew coming in after you but who is to blame for that?
You appear to be looking for alternatives to the bidding system and I think that's a good thing and I am open to ways of making the system fairer but if the alternative is simply no seniority, I'll stick with the status quo.
When I was under the fair share system, the trips were shorter and it was possible to request days off.
I would request the weekends off and often I would be home 3 out of 4 weekends a month.
I was also able to bid for holidays online as they became available.
That was some of the the positive aspects of it.
Oh! and checking in to hotels/room allocations were definitely not in any kind of order for F/As and there is no seniority for work positions.
Given that the lack of weekends off and the inability to get the holidays you asked for are of concern to you, maybe just maybe you should give fair share a try?
You can always come back.
BTW, I haven't seen seniority used for crew meals for years.