So you’ve finally pulled out your credit card to plan your trip. Where to start? Well before you begin booking everything, here are a few tips on gluten free air travel:
1. Know your airline companies.
With ever-increasing demand for gluten-free food, many airline companies now offer gluten-free meal options. My husband and I now travel exclusively with airlines that have gluten-free meals available. Usually, you can choose this option in the form of special meal dropdown menu when you are entering your personal information, so make sure you tell your travel agent if you are not booking the flight yourself. The most important thing, though, is to read and pay special attention to the description of gluten-free meal for your flight before booking, because, in some cases, you may be unpleasantly shocked as to what your gluten-free airline menu contains!!
During my research, I was surprised to discover the following for some airlines:
- economy and business class distinctions on whether or not gluten-free meals are offered on short flights
- gluten free meals that are sometimes only “low gluten”!!
- availability of airline special meals that varies based on destination
To help you when you are deciding which airline to fly, click here for a List of Gluten-free Airline Companies (in alphabetical order) that offer airplane meals that are – to varying degrees – gluten-free, and links to their official website descriptions.
2. Follow up on your flight booking.
I always call my airline company with my booked flight details about a week before the flight to make sure they still have the gluten-free meal request under my name on the information for that flight. This is where your flight information becomes important:
- If you book through one airline company but the flight is operated by another partner airline company, be sure to confirm with the airline actually operating the flight, since the information may not carry over! This can also happen when you book through a third party website (e.g. booking.com) instead of that of the airline. This will give you the chance to fix any errors.
- It’s definitely best not to wait until a day or two before the flight to call. While wireless syncing keeps the rest of us up-to-date, I have found that some airlines print out cabin staff checklists ahead of time and can therefore miss recent changes.
3. Arrive prepared.
Packing gluten-free food is a MUST. It may at first seem a hassle, but a few well-chosen gluten-free snacks tucked into your carry-on bag can make the difference between a relaxing, enjoyable vacation and a stressful, hungry nightmare! Besides human error, other factors like long flights, flight delays, being bumped to another flight due to cancellation, or long connection times can make your next safe meal unpredictable. Also, short flights often do not have special meal options. The good news is that, with minimal preparation, you can ensure what is after all one of your basic needs!
- Some of my usual snack pack choices: sandwiches (if you will be consuming them at the airport or on the early end of your flight), almonds or other low-sodium trail mixes (salty foods can cause liquid retention), crackers, snack bars, a couple of cookies, and an apple.
- Remember to avoid: liquids, perishable food, and messy or meltable food.
- I usually toss snacks, along with napkins, wipes, and a ziplock for trash, into a zippered lunch bag (remember, no icepacks!) that I include in my carry-on bag so I can easily slip it out and keep it at my feet for the duration of the flight (I try not to choose seats in evacuation rows where you can’t keep stuff at your feet.)
- Treat yourself to some of your favorites – you are, after all, on vacation! At the end of the day, you will find that you are often the envy of your fellow traveller! (In fact, my husband usually has me make an extra portion for him!)
4. Speak to your flight attendant.
Always check in with your flight attendant, especially if your seat has changed. It is best to know of any errors right away. Increasingly, airlines sometimes have some gluten-free items if for some reason they don’t have your gluten-free meal information. These items will often go first-come, first-serve, and the more I fly, the more I notice people asking. So be friendly, but assertive! Your diet is not a choice, but rather a necessity! Also, don’t assume all beverages offered are gluten-free. When in doubt about a particular drink, ask if you can read the ingredients. Flight attendants are usually quite accommodating with such requests. After all, they want to keep you healthy throughout the flight.
5. Always check your plate!
Look at your plate! This may seem the most absurd advice, but it has seriously happened to me that a flight attendant has brought me my gluten-free meal tray and there was a regular ole dinner roll on it. Luckily, the gluten-free airline meals are always hermetically sealed, which means you can always tell, and, therefore, often rescue your food. (In this case, after having removed the crusty, gluten-filled offender – a hungry teenager the next seat over eagerly asked if he could have it – and the contaminated utensils, I simply notified the flight attendant of the mistake.) Remember to always kindly but firmly point out errors for your next fellow gluten-free traveller, as we are in this boat – or rather, airplane – together!
Do you have any gluten-free airplane travel tips or snack ideas? Let us know, if you have the chance!
Safe and happy travels, everyone!