No catering on 7 hour flight...

[Totallyconfusedaboutlife]

I booked flights for me and OH last month and have just gone into my booking to try to order a GF meal for me - I'm coeliac. But there is no catering on this flight. This is OK (kind of... ) for me, but OH is type 1 diabetic and could really do with a meal half way through. I've never been on a flight this length that doesn't offer catering. Is this a new thing? The flight wasn't cheap (not Easyjet or anything like that).

BA still does food btw. I had an unusual pasta and a risotto on a recent Mexico trip

Assuming you are flying from terminal 2 have a look here and work out what you buy to take on board and eat before you fly
www.heathrow.com/at-the-airport/restaurants-a-z?&type=restaurant

My DH of 35 years died very suddenly just a few weeks ago, and yes it is nice looking out for each other, those little acts of kindness go a long way.
Enjoy your trip

I'm still puzzled as to the lack of catering on a 7 hour flight

So am I, especially as I've just been into the Air Canada flight and it says they still do catering on flights into North America as well as leaving it
Admittedly it mentions a boxed, pre-prepared meal, but with the number of American/Canadian folk who are diabetic I'd be amazed if this isn't taken into account somehow

Oh, @Wotagain, my condolences on your husband's unexpected recent death.

@Funkyslippers

Yeah, complimentary meals on aircraft are long gone. But they usually have hot food you can buy

Not on all airlines they aren't

@Totallyconfusedaboutlife This is odd, I've just found this on the Air Canada website. Unless Heathrow to Toronto doesn't count as international as Canada is still considered by some to be part of the Commonwealth?
www.inflightfeed.com/air-canada/#air-canada-economy

OP I work in the airline industry and it seems odd to me too that there is no catering on an Air Canada flight from Heathrow - are you flying to Toront? Normally if booking Air Canada directly with them, you can select special meal at time of booking, if you have booked via an agent, they should be able to book it for you. Feel free to PM me the date and route and I can double check for you on my flight system if there is a meal service offered on that flight via my flight booking system

@Strawmite

I’d just buy a meal deal (or even two) and DH can have them on the flight. I think the days of in flight meals unless for real long hall are probably over really. Appreciate its tricky in your circumstance! If he wants something hot they may add boiling water to a pot noodle (not sure if that’s something he’d eat but needs must!).

Meal deals aren’t exactly great for a diabetic

My husband and son went on a long haul flight with no catering. They just took sandwiches and snacks. Personally I think it was better food than normal airline catering

Hmmm, have you thought about packing some of your own food or buying something beforehand 😂 sorry I couldn’t resist!

I find it weird that long haul doesn’t have a meal provided! I found the short haul ‘pay for what you want’ was limited to really carby options like sandwiches and toasties.

I hope you have a lovely holiday!

I travel a lot and am coeliac. Few tips. DM the airline via Twitter - they almost always reply instantly. It's the only way to speak with them without being hold for hours. It's worth creating an account if you don't have one just to message companies directly. Even the DVLA replied within a day and their customer service really is awful.

Secondly never ever turn up to the airport empty handed! Pret A Manger for example is very poor for coeliac food. (I know this is mostly about your DH but don't you get caught out either!) I will eat most things but you'd be surprised how limited airport options can be. It's easier for meals; wagamamas at Gatwick was a lifesaver back in January but in terms of buying food to go, it's really not easy.

Secondly as a PP said, airlines are always happy to provide boiling water if you need it. While pot noodles can be very unhealthy and carb heavy there are alternates that are healthy and better eg rice noodle pots in supermarkets. I buy a lot as they're gf and keep them as an emergency lunch in my locker at work but recently took two on a 12 hour flight and they tasted delicious and so much better than the airplane crappy gf food anyway.

Enjoy your trip

@Totallyconfusedaboutlife
I'm so glad you posted this. We've got a 5 hour flight soon, & it never occurred to me that we might not be fed, so I've e-mailed the airline.

I hope you work something out for DH.

Loads of choice at most airports. Just avoid chicken/prawn/tuna. Anything else like cheese, egg, ham etc will last fine.

I just took a seven hour flight in the US--you could buy a rather lame meal but they weren't offering much for free. I would say bring a sandwich and fruit or whatever. Humans have been eating packed lunches for thousands of years without incident.

If I was diabetic I’d take my own food anyway.
I’ve never had a meal on a plane but I’ve heard they’re not always great.

I would take a salad with something like ham that doesn’t smell and you can get small plastic pots for any dressing you want.
Id also take a couple of snacks too.

Yes to mini cool bag. As soon as you’re through security, buy a couple of cans of Coke from the freezer and put in the bag for an hour to get the temp down. Then buy salad/sandwich just before boarding and take out the cans and put in salad, plus a fresh bottle of cold water and the bag should stay cooler for longer.

It is my experience that there is usually food on international flights between the US and Europe. But you could also bring some cheese or hummous and grapes and carrots and hard boiled eggs. ...it really isn't that long a time. And there is food to buy in the airport, too.

@Totallyconfusedaboutlife

It's a flipping good job I checked! Else he might actually be in trouble on the flight. *@rattlehum* - it reminds me of the time my GF choice when everyone else was having a rather nice looking chicken meal was a plain rice cake. The flight attendants were very embarrassed.

I'll investigate mini cool bags - thanks for the tips.

It's Air Canada.

Well, my GF meal with Thompsons was an apple and the flight attendants couldn't care less.

I remember the first time I got a 6-hour internal flight in the US 15 years ago and assumed it was an easyjet type set up where you could buy food on the plane... nope - a free bag of crisps and that was it. I was pretty hungry by the end of that flight! These days I always get food from Pret at Heathrow before doing a transatlantic work flight because even business class food on the plane is generally not very nice these days and also - and I imagine this might be even more important if you're diabetic but I'm not so I don['t know - I want to be able to eat when I want to eat and not when the airline wants to give me food. It massively helps with adjusting to jetlag to plan when I'm going to sleep and when I'm going to eat and to just opt out of the airline's schedule (I ask them not to wake me for meals etc.)

I have to take my own food on our flight as they don’t cater for nut allergies so you may need to see what you can make up that is convenient but doubtable for him to have on there, it does seem strange, even short domestic flights between airports usually offer you a small snack.

Suitable not doubtable!

@Totallyconfusedaboutlife

It's 7 hours though. Won't anything we pick up from the airport be rancid after 3 or 4 hours though?! (I realise I'm sounding quite precious here... I just don't want OH to be having blood sugar issues mid-flight...).

Can you cancel your fights and book elsewhere?

Get to LHR early and indulge in a nice meal at the seafood bar or whatever then buy your meal deal for later on the flight. Win win!

I've been on loads of flights lately (unfortunately - posted overseas) and they all had catering, I wasn't aware this had stopped? Seven hours is way too long to not have food in flight. Weird.

Which airport are you flying from?

There is plenty of choice of takeaway food at main airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh, even Bristol.

You should be able to buy something that suits each of you.

Alternatively, get something from M&S to take with you before you go - salad or sandwich etc.