[babysteps]

earlier this week I actually received a hot gluten-free meal on a continental flight from Newark (NY area) to San Diego. My husband ordered it when making the reservation online.

I received:
individually wrapped Jenny's macaroon
green salad (lettuce, carrot shreds, cabbage shreds)
fat-free salad dressing packet (skipped that, it had 'natural flavors')
Mrs. Dash seasoning packet
salt & pepper packets
container closed on top by foil, hand written "gluten-free" label, with plain steamed broccoli, plain-ish rice (no apparent seasoning but had that food service taste) and baked chicken breast with small amount of what was likely dried parsley.

They brought this before the regular meal service started, hooray!
Ate it happily, no negative results
The rest of coach got roast beef and swiss sandwiches, salad, and some (non-gluten-free) cookies

I can't promise this is what happens every flight. 5 months ago on a similar Continental (same itinerary, similar standard meal service) flight I received what appeared to be a vegan burger (plenty of wheat ingredients), on a bun (!). But there was a Jenny's macaroon.

[NJKen]

Gluten-free meals are available on any coast-to-coast Continental flight and on flights overseas, as long as they are ordered in advance. They are not available on shorter flights (such as from either coast to Chicago or Houston).

Had you ordered a gluten-free meal on the flight that they brought you a vegan burger? If so, then somebody messed up, but that's not what usually happens.

I wish that they would have something other than a macaroon with their gluten-free meals; they are much too rich.

Also, watch out for the peanuts that are handed out on shorter flights. Often, they have wheat flour as an ingredient (presumably to keep the peanuts from sticking together).

[astyanax]

i've had great luck with continental. there have been a few times where they haven't had the meal, but they acknowledge it (rather than trying to slip a meal with gluten to you)

the best is coming home from europe, cos they get the gluten free food in europe which is always better than here in the states

[babysteps]

Just flew back from San Diego to Newark last night.

They did not have a special gluten-free meal for me - but the attendant said that they had just started doing special meals again out of San Diego. There was one special meal (not gluten-free) for another passenger. So it may be hit-or-miss at the moment from non-"hub" airports for Continental. FYI the reservations and meal requests were made at the same time for both going out (when I did get a gluten-free meal) and coming back.

Luckily we were on an afternoon flight and had eaten our main meal at noon, and I had plenty of food (boiled eggs, hard salami, cheese, etc.) to tide me over!

[babysteps]

September 2009 update

Got a hot gluten-free meal in coach both from Newark to San Diego *and* from San Diego to Newark this last week.

Entree was different ("Jamaican Chicken" from NWK, "Hot Sandwich Pesto Turkey" from SAN), accompaniments the same:
-gluten free roll
-smart balance spread
-quinoa salad
-gluten-free chocolate chip cookie
-low-pepper no garlic Mrs. Dash

The entree was separate from everything else. Each item was individually wrapped (roll in sealed plastic, quinoa in small take-out container, cookie in food wrap). All was labeled "GFML" - as in gluten-free meal? - with full ingredient lists (of the big 8 allergens, some items had egg and/or soy; the turkey sandwich had dairy in form of low-fat cream cheese, FYI).