How to Obtain Special Meals on Airlines
It can be tricky to get special meals (kosher, vegetarian, vegan, or without a particular allogen) on airlines. Here are some suggestions for improving your chances. I use vegan food in the hints, but the same ideas apply for other special meals.
This article is about a year old, but I’ve just updated it because Australian Airlines is no more so it’s pointless to complain about them. Maybe their demise had nothing to do with this article…
These wonderful airlines have provided me or my family with vegan food:
- Singapore Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
- Lufthansa
- Continental
- Malaysian Airlines
Any international airline should be able to provide you with vegan food, unless they are one of those redneck ones. My suggestions:
Use one of the reliable airlines above, or any other airline that is not based in Australia. update: A few months ago I did succeed in getting a vegan meal on a Qantas flight. I think this is a one in a million fluke but I will keep you updated.
When you are booking specify meal code VGML, and say “Vegan, dairy-free vegetarian”. Watch out for bookers that put VEGM (vegetarian) instead.
Ring up the airline the next day and check that your meal preference is in place (80% of the time it won’t be there)
Ring up the airline a few days before the flight and check if its still there (50% of the time it won’t)
When you check in your bags check again (50% of the time it won’t)
When you are getting into the plane, talk to the staff and check they have it (20% of the time they won’t). Be as friendly and polite as you possibly can. Try to be their favourite passenger because you are adding complexity to their job.
After you have sat down, watch for someone with a clipboard identifying seats that requested special meals and make sure they find you. Confirm the meal code. Sometimes they have stickers, try to stick it in a prominent space on your seat.
At this point, and when the food is being brought around, watch out for people that the staff might think are vegetarians. For example, some flights have a really good Indian vegan option. If there is a person of Indian appearance nearby (and you don’t look Indian) the staff will try to give it to them instead of you, no matter how much they don’t want it.
Special meals are almost always handed out first. Watch out for this starting and try to make eye contact with the staff (and smile).
If your meal comes, check the meal code immediately. Don’t open anything until you are confident it’s yours. Then open the container really fast, and see if it has what you expect inside. It is essential to do this before the person leaves because no one wants to trade food that is already messed with.
Mostly the basic contents of the food will be up to spec., but extras may not (for example, you might get a wrapped up piece of cheese). I think these things are added in afterward, so it doesn’t mean there is anything seriously wrong.
One remaining problem is getting drinks. People that didn’t request special meals get drinks with their food. You will probably have to ask for it separately after your meal arrives, and the staff might think you are one of those fast drinkers. Try to ask for something when you get your meal (I found this only works 30% of the time).
After your meal arrives, try to keep an eye out for violent passengers. People that receive special meals are sometimes assaulted because they received their food early.
When I first started trying to get food on flights I assumed that booking would be enough – I suspect that the success rate of this alone is less than 5%. Now, through following the technique above, I have raised my success rate to almost 80% (not including Qantas’s 1% score).
If you have any further tips (apart from the obvious “don’t bother, just bring everything yourself”) I would appreciate receiving them.
