Fortunately, over the past 10 years, it's gotten a bit easier to request a gluten free meal on an airline. I don't like to count on getting it -- or putting too much faith in the airline getting it completely right. So we always make sure our son packs a fair number of back-up snacks for the flight, especially if it's more than a couple hours long. (Plus, you never know when your flight may be delayed from taking off for several hours...that's happened to us twice...once by about 5 hours and once until the next day!) But it is nice when it all comes together and you can get a decent (and safely gluten free) meal on a plane. I always check the policy of the airline and then either put the notation in the system when booking the flight -- or call the airline directly to make the request. It doesn't hurt to do both -- and confirm about a week before the flight that they have the information correct. Here is a list (by no means exhaustive, I am sure) of some major airlines and their policies (or lack of) for offering gluten free meals, along with... Read more →
Gluten free on an airplane
This week, we are sharing a post from the mom of two kids (and wife of hubby) with Celiac and gluten sensitivity. You'll get a chuckle out of her all-too-familiar trials and tribulations as she and her family fly across the world on a somewhat regular basis. She has some great tips that you may not have thought about...and others that are definitely great reminders as we all begin the summer travel season. An expat living in Singapore now, you can find Karen Horan's contributions to the Celiac community in southeast Asia on the websites listed at the bottom of this post. Enjoy...and send us your own stories of gluten free travel! My official title is “Global Domestic Engineer, specialty ‘Human Development’. I have two full time clients who are currently 10 and 13 years old. By my calculations I have roughly 10 years left of full time work, then I can become a consultant on an ad hoc basis. My teenage client was diagnosed with Celiac Disease when she was just 3 years old and her younger brother and father are both gluten intolerant. After many years in my job, I was feeling pretty good at handling a medically... Read more →
No matter which airline you choose to fly when traveling, the topic of whether you're "flying the friendly skies" when it comes to gluten free noshing on a plane is a heated one. Some people have had good luck when requesting in-flight gluten free meals (fortunately, our family is in this camp), while others prefer to bring their own gluten free snacks on board. Of course, whether you even have food service available depends on the type of flight you're taking. Most carriers now only serve full meals on international flights. Other, shorter flights may or may not have "snacks" or boxed meals available for purchase, but finding something that's gluten free can be hit or miss. I thought I'd offer some tips to consider when next hopping on board a plane: 1.) If you are booking an international flight, I'd recommend researching the airline's policy for gluten free meals. Most airlines now include gluten free meals as one of the many special request meals available, but you will need to request that in advance. Our experience on two international flights -- one to Paris in 2011 and one to London in 2013 -- was surprisingly good. With the exception... Read more →