Travelling long haul with DC who has nut allergy

[BlackeyedPetitsPois]

After some advice please if anyone has any experience. Thank you.

We are flying long haul (9+ hrs) with British Airways soon. DC (8yrs) has a tree nut allergy which requires them to carry EpiPens.
(I have a signed GP letter to take with us to allow us on the plane with the EpiPens.)

Does anyone know if we would be allowed to board early to wipe down the surfaces of our seats, tray tables etc?

We are taking our own food for DC so any suggestions for long flight other than sandwiches? Could we take pot noodle/pasta style meals which just need hot water?

Any other advice would be very welcome!

Here:
https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/travel-assistance/medical-conditions-and-pregnancy

When travelling with us, you must let your cabin crew know of your food allergy when boarding your flight. Our teams, including Customer Services, are not able to share your allergen information with cabin crew before your journey.

To allow for cleaning and inspection of seats, customers will be able to pre-board the aircraft following presentation of a medical letter for the epinephrine/adrenaline auto-injector to staff at the gate. Customers must bring their own suitable wipes.

I would contact the airline, it sounds like your DS has a very severe allergy if it can be triggered by touching something that has come into contact with tree nuts . They might be able to seat you at the front or back so your more isolated ( well as much as you can be on a plane)

This sounds very negative but if he is touch reactive - then you'd need to wipe everything- toilet doors / flush etc - to me that sounds really scary and high risk

My son is now 19 and isn't touch reactive - and flies quite happily but we didn't fly until he was a lot older - 14/15 and aware enough to manage his allergies.

I'd also book fast track security - some times he's had his bag pulled apart - other times not bothered but it gives you some peace of mind .

As for food - I am not sure what else apart from freeze dried foods you could take - I've seen people on Instagram use a de hydrator to dehydrate normal food - and then use hot water - for people camping / hiking - might be worth looking in camping shops - noodles / miso soup might be an option if he likes them - or maybe more of a picking bento box with all the things he likes

Depending on how severe you anticipate the reaction to be and the level of sensitivity eg ingestion, skin contact, airborne. Travel with tree nut allergy but sensitivity is at the ingestion level (reaction is quite violent). We carry multiple epi-pens and antihistamine and reliever inhaler. Only food we have brought with us eg sandwich, cooked meal, wraps, pasta, fruit, snacks.

We have been able to, we always warn the airline in advance, they should also do an announcement to passengers informing them that they cannot consume x product as well. You do have to take your own wipes, it’s handy to have a little pack that are just for going to the toilet.

You should follow this guy on Instagram. He's currently traveling in South America but he has loads of hints and tips on his account https://www.instagram.com/_maycontain?igsh=MWFhdW8xY2t0Znd2dQ==

I think it's too risky to fly long haul with a DC who is so allergic. I wouldn't do it.

We have been able to, we always warn the airline in advance, they should also do an announcement to passengers informing them that they cannot consume x product as well.

FWIW the BA company policy on announcements and lots of other good stuff is spelt out in the link provided by @theemmadilemma and might be worth careful reading..with regard to announcements specifically the bit that states:

”Upon request, Cabin Crew will make an announcement so that other passengers are aware of your allergy.”….(my emphasis).

That’s not the same as saying BA cabin crew will tell passengers not to consume x product, it’s just a polite request/hint.

Quite a few airlines actually won’t enforce a total aircraft wide ban and the assumption that cabin crew must enforce one, or even make an announcement along those lines has caused led to problems in the past.

I flew long haul to Asia earlier this year (not with British Airways) and we were given peanuts on the plane as part of our inflight meals. I assume there was nobody on board with a known allergy but it did seem like a strangely potentially controversial snack item.

Ah but they are cheap.

If someone on board has informed the crew of a nut allergy they will make an announcement after the preflight safety routine saying no nuts will be served and please don't eat nuts if you've brought them on board

It is not at all unusual for people whose main source of protein is nuts (eg vegans) to have already got an open packet of nuts in their pocket that they have been eating in the boarding lounge, long before this announcement is made.

Honestly if your child's life actually depends on no one in the plane eating nuts, I wouldn't take him on a plane.

I have traveled for years with this allergy myself. Just inform the airline and then wipe the tray down etc yourself when you board.

And don't worry, it will be fine.

I was on a flight recently where there was an announcement that a passenger was severely allergic to nuts. I am sad to say that a rowdy stag do nearby opened up bags of peanuts and completely ignored the request not to consume nuts. I would have been petrified if my child had a nut allergy.

If it’s to East or South East Asia, then I would advise the OP not to go at all. There is no avoidance of peanuts and they are served as free snacks in many places. It is not controversial there. Just imagine going to Thailand and ask a restaurant not to serve peanut satay. Or similar in Malaysia. Food is often cooked in peanut oil too.

I am imagining it’s long haul to the US.

You've warned the airline yes

A child died on a plane when an arrogant man opened up a bag of nuts and the dust travelled through the air con system killing the child

The airline had warned all passengers there was someone on the flight highly allergic to nuts so could passengers refrain from eating them

This man laughed ha ha no one tells me what to do opened his nuts up, child dead.

They airline have to be told to warn passengers

I would never trust going on a plane with a serious nut allergy that causes death

As we know Epi pens do not always work successful and being stuck up in the air there is absolutely nothing you can do

@RookieMa depends on airlines. You are very ignorant if you think it’s actually seen as banned in many parts of the world. The OP is flying long haul. Even though it’s British Airways. To many, not eating peanuts is like asking all women to wear hijab.

See Malaysian airlines nut policy https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/hq/en/plan-your-trip/health-medical.html or Cathay Pacific https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB/flying-with-us/inflight-dining/special-meals-allergies.html

I fly often and many meals have peanuts. I can’t see if they use peanut oil too.

Basically I wouldn’t trust flying if it’s touch reactive nut allergy!

I’d be interested to see an actual detailed report on that incident, do you have a link? In the mean time:

”They airline have to be told to warn passengers”

There’s a tremendous amount of misunderstanding going around what the airlines must and must not do…AFAIK there are no standard announcements, or standard procedures, it’s down to individual airlines and is usually as detailed in their T&Cs….most make best efforts but some make pretty much zero provision at all for allergies and certainly won’t make aircraft wide announcements.

FWIW to quote in part the world wide representative body on this, IATA:

“Consider alerting the Cabin Crew in charge that you or your child has a severe allergy”…..”However, be advised that many airlines will not make specific broadcast announcements to passengers for these cases”

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/ccbdc54681c24574bebf2db2b18197a5/allergen-sensitive-passenger.pdf

I've been on a Ryanair flight recently that announced a passenger had a nut allergy and please could passengers refrain from eating nuts on the flight.

I was on a flight where we were all asked not to eat nuts.

Some woman sat opposite us said her DCs aren't going hungry and gave them their peanut butter sandwiches. The stewardess just ignored the fact they were eating nuts.

This. I wouldn’t even risk it.

Maybe your child should eat a hot meal before boarding.

I have take pot noodles type things on planes and the crew have given me hot water.

Sorry you have to deal with this, sounds very stressful.

I would absolutely stop eating nuts if asked on a plane. (athough once I had already opened them). I try and avoid bringing nuts on flights.

My friend has a severely allergic DS and they tried to board long haul. Airline staff wouldn't make the announcement and said that many pax carry on snacks with nuts and they couldn't police it.
My friend and family walked off the plane and didn't board

also, i think i have seen nut free meals in the special meals section but I understand if you don't want to risk it.