Taking food on the plane !!

Hi we are flying to orlando on saturday and because we decided not book inflight meals we will need to take some food for the journey !. ( 9 hours is a long time without food ) . I%26#39;m just wondering has anybody else took their own food on the plane ? could you give me some ideas of what to take ? there is 4 of us ! i know from other people you can%26#39;t get your drinks untill you get through departures thanks for any advice !

Taking food on the plane !!

So surprised to hear your airline charges you extra for food on a trans-atlantic flight, even Thomas Cook have provided it as a free service!

You will really need to take your food in a chiller bag as there is not alot savory apart from crisps you can take on board that isn%26#39;t chilled %26amp; it it gets too warm, which is a likely scenerio you could all end up getting ill %26amp; ruining your holiday!!!

Only suggestions i can give is sandwiches, salad, pasta or coucous pot, biscuits %26amp; cake.

Trouble is if you buy all this at the airport shops it will be pretty pricey %26amp; if you bring from home or your local supermarket, how do you know if you are going be delayed for hours at the airport, in which case your ice-packs will have pretty much defrosted by then!

Sorry to sound so negative but i think it is perhaps false economy, plus think of how much extra hand luggage weight this will cause!!

Taking food on the plane !!

lauralou is right, is there any way you could contact the airline and amend this?

Otherwise you will be taking up valuable space in your hand luggage too.

I have done this before, mainly flying US airlines that no longer serve meals such as United. On a 5 hour flight from Hawaii connecting to a 5 hour flight to DC it was too far to go(they still serve meals on transatlantic flights). I brought a chill bag with a selection of sandwiches, grapes, biscuits, crisps (cookies and chips-USA) and even a package of supermarket ahi sushi. Drinks we bought on board or in the airport after security.

Thanks for all your replies ! I know we perhaps should have just paid for meals! oh well ! will perhaps buy items which don%26#39;t need to be kept chilled from supermarket and then get sandwiches from airport ! the fact that we are having to travel up late on friday stay at the travellodge at glasgow airport ready for flight on saturday at 11 am doesn%26#39;t help !

Like lauralou I am surprised you have to pay for food on a long haul flight. Usually all food and drinks are free. I would ring the airline and make sure this is right.

On internal US flights everyone seems to board with hands full of sandwiches and drinks, but I have never seen anyone in the UK on a long haul with their own food.

When we went with Thompson%26#39;s they allowed us to take our own food. and for those with allergies like nut allergies this is a good point.

So we all had nut allergies? know what I mean..

We bought 2 little cooler bags from Asda the kind that will hold 6 cans. Made sandwiches the night before wrapped in foil and put in a zip sealer bag then place these and the cooler bag close to the freezer unit in the fridge overnight and fill the rest of the space with chilled fruit . we Only put them in the cooler bag and zipped them up the very last thing before we left home. And put them into your carry on bag. If you dont combine both they wont let you take more then One piece of carry on luggage per person.

These were still cold when we were eating them flying over New York.

We have always taken sandwiches on the plane regardless of whether in-flight meals are included as the food is often so terrible! If you buy pre-packed ones from a supermarket or wherever the day before you go and leave them in the fridge until the last moment they should be fine for most of the flight.

I wouldn%26#39;t book in flight meals out of choice either - Thomas Cook wanted 拢15 per person last year which is so expensive for the rubbish you actually get (although we managed to negotiate them for free in the end but that%26#39;s another story...!). Fruit and crisps, biscuits etc as suggested above sound like a good idea too.

Have just realised you are staying in a hotel the night before so you won%26#39;t be able to keep food in a fridge. Not sure what shops are at the airport up there, but if there is a Boots they usually have a decent seclection of sandwiches etc for pretty reasonable prices - think their meal deal is 拢2.49 (?) which would get you a drink %26amp; crisps/bar of chocolate etc aswell.

The very first thing to do is to call the airlines you are taking directly and ask them for sure what kinds of foods if any you can take. I do know most airlines in the US have very limited foods you can take now due to possible terrorists tatics (liquids, gels, etc) I always used to take a paper cooler sack ( like the ones they put ice cream in at the grocery). It is about the size of a lunch bag and I put whatever we wanted in. Now I can%26#39;t. Suggestions for you if they allow it would be: Beef or any kind of jerky, little prepacked peanutbutter or cheese crackers, apples,banana,cookies,pretzels,peanuts, or any prepacked snacks that are non perishable. It isn%26#39;t the healthiest way but nothing would spoil that way and it would keep you from getting too hungry before you land. Best wishes to you.

punz

Vikki G - Thomas Cook used to charge extra for meals on long-haul but now from May 2007 they provide it free of charge as standard as well as soft drinks. They are copying airlines like Virgin by providing complimentary 4 course main meal %26amp; a hot snack, free headsets %26amp; complimentary newspapers %26amp; just like Virgin free icecream or popcorn during the movie presentations.

They must be worried about the competition!