Us Airways

[lpellegr]

I'm flying next week, going to Birmingham via Frankfurt, and wondered if anyone had had experience with gluten-free meals on US Airways. I'm going to assume that it might not be edible and pack extra food accordingly, but I'd appreciate any thoughts from someone who had been there and done that. One good note, though - the conference I'm going to provides a free lunch every day and they will actually have gluten-free meals available! You go, UK. Hear that, US? You need to catch up.

[lpellegr]

Okay, I have some answers to my own question, for everybody else's information. I called them 2 days before (there's a number on their website somewhere) to request the gluten-free meals, and on the flight they knew which seat I was in and had my meal on the cart with the rest. I got rice (95% white, 5% wild) with a nice fish filet and some bok choi, a salad with a cup of dressing (which made the fish more interesting), some really good strawberries, and a rice cake and margarine. Later (it was a transatlantic flight) they brought a gluten-free breakfast: a rice cake with margarine and jelly. Could have been more interesting, but at least it was edible. I had also brought a sandwich and homemade peanut butter cookies and bananas, so I was set. The woman on the phone said that I was also set for the return flight and wouldn't have to call again, so we'll find out tomorrow. But I'm taking a bag of Babybel cheeses and the rest of the cookies, and might spend the rest of my pounds on food at the airport, just in case.

I have to say, the snack on the second leg of my flight (Frankfurt to Birmingham) was something I had never seen on a plane before - individual pizzas! Not gluten-free, unfortunately, but they smelled great. Sure beats a bag of peanuts.

[lpellegr]

And the return flight from Frankfurt to Philadelphia: chicken breast with sauteed peppers, polenta, and cheesy sauce, salad, fruit, and rice bread. Not bad. The "arrival snack" was a sandwich with the rice bread, but I felt like they forgot something - one half had lettuce and tomato, the other had lettuce and cucumber, but no meat or cheese! A veggie sandwich? Odd, but hey, when you're hungry after a long flight, you eat it.

Do we obsess over food? Yeah, a little.