12/09/09: Looking for a meal at 30,000 feet Dear Russ, I’m actually asking you this question from the DFW airport where I am changing planes. What is the official rule for brining food on to the plane? By this I mean can you bring food through security or do you have to pay the high prices inside the airport terminal? I just got off a flight where you had to buy all your food and they ran out of almost everything, such bad service. Any advice or tips? Thank you Hungry in 32A Dear Hungry in 32A, Great question! Especially for all those people who do not travel frequently. Here is the long and the short of it; as you may know the TSA has the 3-1-1 rule (3oz or less of liquid or gel, 1 quart size zip lock bag that everything must fit in and 1 zip lock back per person) and for this reason you can NOT bring a bottle of water, can of soda or any liquid that is more than 3 oz. and fits in your quart size zip lock bag. You can however bring food that is not liquid, like a sandwich, bag of chips, fresh fruit, snack bars, candy bars, cookies, etc. You will need to put these items inside your carry on luggage and they will need to go in to the X-ray machine at the security check point. If you have special dietary needs then it’s best to bring your own food and currently all domestic airlines will serve water, soda, juice, coffee and tea complimentary on board. When you purchase food within the secured area of the airport terminal, you will in most cases pay a higher amount then you would on the street. Some airports around the country have laws by where even airport vendors have to charge street prices, but they are few and far between. Once you get through security you are a capture audience and believe me they know it. Now with regards to the airlines selling food on board, or what they call “Buy on Board Service”, I could not agree with you more on so many levels. My favorite is when the flight attendant gets on the P.A. and starts to describe the Buy on Board Service, what totally chaps me is how they seem to have the same items no matter what time of day you’re flying, like I’m going to eat a can of “Pringles” for Breakfast. My other issue is they ALWAYS run out of items not even half way down the aisle. Most of the items are small portions for not a small price. For example, I was recently on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, which departed at 9:00am, here were the choices; a chocolate chip cookie for $4.00, a ham and cheese croissant for $7.00, a tiny box that had a slap of processed cheese with four crackers, 1.5 oz of hummus dip and a tiny box of raisin trail mix for $5.00, and jumbo snickers bar for $4.00, now I ask you, does this sound like something you would eat at 9:00am? Personally I would not eat this stuff unless I had just gotten home from a hot night of drinking! Another point to remember is that most all Domestic airlines in the U.S. operate a “cashless” system on board the plane, which means if you want to purchase food on board, you must do so with a credit card or debit card, they will not take cash for food or cocktails. I hope this information helps you and I HOPE you find some good food at DFW before boarding your connecting flight. Travel well Russ   rss | atom | powered by nucleus cms