Airplane Food

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I just booked our annual trip to Rio in the fall. United is now doing a ā€œthree course mealā€ in coach. A snack of cheese, cracker, etc., the main and a dessert i.e., sorbet. Looking forward to trying it.

Weā€™re also going to Iceland, a 7-1/2 hr flight from Seattle to Reykjavik and they serve NO food. I honestly donā€™t care. I can carry on scrumptious stuff.

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They do on the afternoon flight.

I mis-wrote. They donā€™t have free food. Except for children and they do provide a hot meal which I think is pretty nice.

I remember pointing my companion in life towards an online article which explained how to pack for a weekā€™s beach holiday and get it all into carry-on.

Nope, it didnt make any difference to the usual practice. Thankfully, the airline we use most often has a 22kg checked luggage and a 10kg carry-on. Then thereā€™s the bag of carry-on food for the flight.

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The world has changed when I started flying for work in the 80s service and food quality was quite good. Today, at a continuing downhill slide, air travel is no better than a bus. On Greyhound (for example) you get nothing except the odd stop at Dennyā€™s or Cracker Barrel.

On short hauls I bring my own food. On long hauls (mostly international) I order a special meal and STILL bring my own food.

People should remember that US airlines arenā€™t govt. subsidized like many/most foreign airlines.

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I have no taste to begin with on a flight . I could care less . Iā€™m not looking for any kind of experience . Itā€™s like road food . Taco Bell , M Dā€™s . I just want to get to where Iā€™m headed . The food is going to be great .

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So you elaborate on my opinion of it being ā€œfuel.ā€ And nothing more than that. When weā€™re on ā€˜road tripsā€™ McDā€™s is often our choice (our dog loves their fries!). Get from point A to B or wherever without starving is the goal.

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Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, KLM etc are subsidized by the governments ? I would be interested to see your numbers on this. It is different with sime if the aurlines from some of the gulf states but most European Airlines get little if at all subsidizes

And they would only be what used to be known as the national flag carriers. There are also the not inconsiderable number of airlines flying international flights that were not the flag carrier. Just looking at my local airport in north west England, I see another seven British owned airlines flying international (and an eighth flying internal only), as well as British Airways.

Iā€™m not aware that there is a specific taxpayer subsidy for any of them. That said, airline tickets sold are not subject to Value Added Tax but that is common across all companies selling airline tickets in the UK - so no tax if I fly transatlantic on British Airways or Virgin. Also no tax if I fly Delta.

In terms of the four European airlines you mention, I would be surprised if there is a specific government subsidy as I would assume any such would contravene European Union competition law. But Iā€™m no expert on either the airline industry or EU legislation, so would be happy to be advised that Iā€™m wrong.

The bibimbap served on Korean Air is pretty good, as airplane bibimbap goes.

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I think my using the term ā€œsubsidyā€ was incorrect. There are many ways that airlines get compensated by their governments and the US isnā€™t immune from all of those. I used to work in the business and obviously things have changed. Hereā€™s a link if anyone is interested in wading through it. Iā€™m not :slight_smile:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5307883

That hardly affects how the food would taste.

I hear what youā€™re saying. But the amount of money spent can affect the food. If I were in charge (I have aspirations to be "Czarina of the Universe), Iā€™d have all the food be deli-type. Nothing hot/warm. Wait for me :slight_smile:

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Totally agree with you on ā€œitā€™s just fuelā€ - but as the potential seatmate for the next 10 hours on that transatlantic flight, for the love of God, back away from the Taco Bell.

:laughing:

I hear ya but people dislike different odors. Peanut butter is often complained about. Overcooked vegetables. Iā€™ll take Taco Bell smell anytime :slight_smile:

Iā€™m all for people bringing food aboard a plane, but itā€™s a small, tight, enclosed space with recirculating air. They have to realize that any hot intense food is going to fill the whole cabin with its odor. So please, folks: no pizza. No seafood. No chalupas. No curry.

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See, as I replied above, I have no problem whatsoever with food smells. But perfume? Yuck.

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Westjetā€™s food is like that- itā€™s actually not horrible because you can buy sandwiches, and boxes of stuff to nibble on, cheese and crackers, cheese and fruit basically ā€œfuelā€.

Iā€™d much prefer that to rubber chicken in tomato sauce, some mushy overcooked vegetables and some sort of blah pasta.

http://www.westjet.com/pdf/travel/basics/2016-March-737-EN.pdf