Your tips for avoiding airport food prices? Where do you eat?

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Soon we’re taking a four hour flight with our three year-old. It’s easyJet so the on-board food is crap: greasy and horrible and really don’t want to give them money. But there again airport food is also super expensive. Do you have any hacks that I’m not thinking of? I was thinking of sandwiches, but I imagine they’d just go soggy and not so fresh between leaving the house and the long way to the airport? Our flight is at 3.30 p.m. so we’re hoping to be there around 1.30 p.m.

We eat before we head to the airport. Then the kids get boots meal deals to take on the plane - one doesn’t like sandwiches but they have sushi or pasta salads as options for him.

We buy a French stick the night before or morning if there’s enough time. Either cheese, ham & pickle in it, or chicken salad. Has always been fine by time we get on the flight.

We buy meal deals from whichever shops there are at the airport and take our own snacks.

If you make the sandwiches with crusty bread rolls then they don’t go soggy,

We pay for the lounge so eat and drink there

Do you mind if I ask what sort of food you packed for the flight that stayed decent? We're moving abroad on Friday and have a 20 hour flight to get through with a nut allergy 6 year old! I didn't know you were allowed to take fresh food on planes!

If you toast the bread before making the sandwiches it stays less soggy for longer. For kids, really simple fillings (just cheese or just ham/quorum) don't go soggy.

If you are feeling really organized and want lots of veg in your sandwich, you could pre cut tomatoes/cucumber/lettuce then store it in foil/Tupperware to add to a sandwich just before you eat. And don't be afraid to spend a bit more on something convenient/nice - crusty rolls or sliced cheese for example - because it will still be much cheaper than airport food!

I was horrified by the price of all airport food last time we flew. Definitely not willing to pay that much again!

I’m not the commenter, but you can freeze sandwiches and then they will defrost over the flight and keep other things cold.

Many flights I’ve been on sell you charcuterie boxes, they are very overpriced but quite common as a purchase item.

Yes, you can. And they are much more accommodating about liquid and gels than on short haul package holiday type flights.

I always took a few yogurt pouches frozen because they aren’t a liquid/gel when they are frozen. They keep everything else cold and of course she can eat them.

Then I’d take sandwiches, rice crackers and cheese, ordinary biscuits and absolutely loads of fruit. Beef jerky I’ve taken before. I always find my dc are far less hungry on a long haul flight than on an ordinary day because they aren’t moving about. There will be some elements of the meals that she can eat. We used to fly on emirates and they got a box of snack type food. Crisps and things,

just go to m and s and get a sandwich?

Part of the airport fun is being fleeced for a meal before you board! CBA with producing a whole picnic before heading off on holiday - what a faff. Why not have it go out for a big breakfast/brunch before you head to the airport and then just get some snacks for the flight there.

If airport is not such a long journey stop and have a decent meal before you get to airport, then take water bottle and biscuits and cheese, fruit etc. My friend and I were flying to Greece in May from T5 (Heathrow) and found that the "expensive" restaurant was the best value before boarding the plane as we had beautiful soup and a sourdough roll (good size) and water to drink. It was cheaper than Pret and very substantial, but it was just us two adults.

I suggest you pack a huge salad and a whole chicken (cooked of course). It’ll do you for the flight and dinners for the week, probably a sandwich or two also.

I carry as little as possible through security.
When we had small children, we fed them once through security and got them some snacks/drinks en-route to the plane. DH and I can cope with skipping lunch but would have coffee. It's a four hour flight, not long haul.

Not what you're really asking, and not for a child, but I have solved this problem completely by having the travel day as one of my fasting days.

We either use the Wetherspoons at the Airport, which is more reasonable than the other establishments, although still far more expensive than the same food on the high St. I know what people think of Wetherspoons, but I don't think it's any worse than any other chain pub food, better than some.

Or I'd get a Tesco meal deal or similar. Packaged sandwiches seem to travel better than homemade ones.

We pack fruit, breadsticks, put sandwiches in Tupperware, make a savoury or sweet muffin or two, take some veg sticks and hummus, flapjacks and cereal bars.

Yes but the difference being I’d be putting the sandwich in the fridge when I got to work an hour later; vs sandwich is kept in my bag from 10am leaving the house > 2pm eating it

Sandwiches or pasta salad work fine. We just bring them with us. Package them correctly and they don’t go soggy.

I've never once refrigerated a sandwich or salad at work. I just leave it in my bag, even at the height of summer. It's fine!

I’ve never put my lunch in the fridge at work. It gets nicked. Equally, I never put them in the fridge at school. Never been soggy or ill.

If you are worried either freeze them or choose shelf stable ingredients, potted chicken, marmite, jam or chocolate spread on thick white bread.

@savoycabbage

I always took a few yogurt pouches frozen because they aren’t a liquid/gel when they are frozen.

Just a gentle heads up that ex-UK you might fall foul of security doing that and have to give them up, certainly at some UK airports I can think of.

DfT/HMG considers semi-liquid food as
liquids and you are not supposed to carry frozen liquids in handbaggage.

www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/liquids

I don't like eating on planes (and hate being next to someone eating smelly stuff), so I normally get something from Pret and eat it before boarding