Paying the Price for In-Flight Food

Forget about sky-high luggage fees and consider the priceless commodity you risk when you take flight these days—your health. Most travelers are quick to calculate airfare, hotel accommodations, rental cars and souvenir expenses, but neglect to factor in the toll eating overpriced airline food may have on their health. According to a new survey, most airlines don’t offer food items that do a body good; though, some are better than others. According to the poll featuring 10 North American airlines, Air Canada and Virgin America top the list of healthiest in-flight food. Both carriers scored high marks for their healthy, … Continue reading

To Eat or Not to Eat at 35,000 Feet–Part 3

If you are taking off this summer on a much-needed family vacation you might want to pack some extra dough. In a series I dubbed “To Eat or Not to Eat at 35,000 Feet” I have been detailing the menu options available on major airlines that service the United States. If you are traveling on a budget I would suggest packing your own meals and snacks (especially if you are flying with young children), but if you are flying solo and need a few calories to keep your stomach quiet until you land you might consider the following options offered … Continue reading

To Eat or Not to Eat at 35,000 Feet–Part 2

I’ve written extensively about menu options offered by major U.S. carriers. Most of my blogs either spoke to the lack of food options for those in coach or the extravagant dishes offered to those lucky enough to travel in style up in the first-class cabin. With the chaotic summer travel season in full swing I thought it would be helpful to revisit the topic of “Eats at 35,000 Feet.” In my last blog I began my list detailing who’s serving what and how much it’s going to cost you to munch in mid-flight? Here’s a continuation of that list: Frontier … Continue reading

To Eat or Not to Eat at 35,000 Feet

These days unless you are packing some serious green or you tote a cooler on a plane as a carry on then you likely will be stuck eyeing the ham and Swiss wrap your seatmate is munching on during your five-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles. Attention summer leisure travelers (you know, all of you vacationers who fly once or twice a year): If you aren’t already aware, the majority of airlines no longer offer free meals on domestic flights. If you aren’t clear of what is being served (or not served) on domestic flights these days the … Continue reading

How Healthy Are Airline Meals?

Remember the name Charles Stuart Platkin… because he’s the guy who can answer that question. Platkin is a nutritional expert and I’ve been visiting his DietDetective.com website since I stumbled upon it years ago when I was doing a news story. It’s a useful site that provides health information and recently a new link was added that reveals just how healthy (or unhealthy) those meals you get on airplanes really are. Platkin analyzed nine U.S. airlines’ snacks and meals for coach passengers. In the end he found United Airlines serves the most nutritious food at 35,000 feet. Platkin has been … Continue reading

Cashless Flights

Prior to boarding a flight I always make sure I have extra cash on hand. I use the money to purchase food or drinks for family members who decide the snacks I packed for them are not up to par with the cookies and chips they can get in the snack boxes offered on the plane. (Which means I end up spending $5 for an entire snack box just to have them dig out the little Oreo package that contains all of four cookies.) And, yes, there have been times when I have forgotten to bring smaller bills. This, of … Continue reading

Airline Meals and Movies

I know what you are thinking… this blog is nothing but a glorified rant session detailing the things that travelers despise most about long flights: the meals and the movies. Well, surprise! I spent the last month traveling more than 10,000 miles–six different flights on three different airlines—and surprisingly I don’t have much to complain about. In fact, I plan to share only the positive parts of my flights, beginning with the meals. (I’m not saying all of my meals were positive experiences, I just plan to limit my writing to the positive ones). In this blog I will cover … Continue reading

Dieting At 35,000 Feet

Trying to stick to a diet is tough. Trying to stick to a diet during the holidays is even tougher. But, trying to stick to a diet while traveling by air during the holidays may be the toughest feat of all. In fact, according to a new study, many Americans fail when it comes to sticking to a healthy diet when traveling on a plane. Nutritionists working for the website Diet Detective, recently reviewed the food offered by six major airlines. Here’s what they found: A United Airlines’ (one of the two airlines I frequently fly on) snack box is … Continue reading

Air Travel: Good News and Bad News

Okay, air travelers, which do want first—the good news or the bad? Let’s start with the good (perhaps, it’ll soften the blow of the bad). GOOD NEWS With stiffer carry-on rules in place, passengers are looking for ways to pass the time when flying. Enter Delta’s new entertainment system. According to news reports, the carrier is unveiling “an in-flight entertainment system that gives every passenger on long domestic flights access to on-demand movies, TV, music and games.” Delta reports that the installation of the system will be complete by March 2008. Which means the airline has less than two years … Continue reading

Rating Airline Food

In the past I have blogged about the various food items available for purchase on different airlines. I even confessed that I have (on a number of flights) forked over way too much money to dine on way too little portions. And, that’s not saying anything about the actual quality of the meals. So imagine my surprise when I opened a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal and saw that the paper’s staff had made it their mission to “find the best of these unfree lunches.” The paper’s test began by “procuring sample snack boxes from six carriers — … Continue reading