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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Is your Googleganger subprime? 1/6/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, January 6, 2008 Nonrepulsive airline food? Maybe, if you pay extra for it By Christopher Elliott Tribune Media Services Airline food. The very mention of those two words is enough to provoke a strong -- and usually negative -- reaction from any passenger. But let's add another word. Good airline food. Laughing yet? Maybe not. Maybe you've heard all about airline efforts to improve in-flight fare. Continental Airlines recently unveiled new menus featuring hot gourmet sandwiches such as roast beef and oven-roasted turkey with gouda cheese on marble rye bread. Delta Air Lines introduced new signature entrees from celebrity chef Todd English, such as smoked salmon and egg salad croissants and roast beef steak cobb sandwiches. This summer, Charlie Trotter teamed up with United Airlines to serve up meals such as sweet crab salad on fresh bok choy and citrus-cured smoked salmon. Yum. It would be tempting to say that the now-profitable airline industry has turned a corner when it comes to customer service. But that might be a little premature. See, there are a few things the airlines aren't telling you. 1. "There's no food on this flight." Read the announcements of these new in-flight menus carefully, and it's clear that the food offerings are extremely limited. For example, the Todd English sandwiches were initially only available on flights between New York and Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Last month, they were expanded to flights longer than four hours. So what will your friendly flight attendant on the "new" Delta offer you on shorter hops? Usually a choice between a package of dry roasted peanuts, Biscoff Cookies or honey peanut butter crackers. 2. "Hope you're not on a diet." No one has to tell you that the snack packs offered by airlines are loaded with calories and unhealthy fats. But the latest DietDetective.com survey of airline food (www.dietdetective.com/content/view/2873/3) suggests it may be a lot worse than you think. "The individually packaged snacks are oversized and have mega calories," the survey's author, Charles Stuart Platkin, writes of American Airlines in-flight cuisine. One carrier, Northwest Airlines, admitted that it doesn't track the nutritional information in its on-board food. Smart air travelers know better than to indulge. Instead, they buy their food at the airport or bring their own on the plane. 3. "Our in-flight cuisine is awful." Have a look at the latest Zagat airline survey (www.zagat.com/airline), and you'll see that with few exceptions, the food really is terrible. The major airlines are bottom-feeders, scoring 5 out of a possible 20 points (US Airways, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines) or 6 (Southwest, United). Delta got a 7, which is about 35 percent -- still an "F." Still don't believe me? Then check out real photos (www.airlinemeals.net/indexMeals.html) of airline meals from the site Airlinemeals.net. 4. "Exact change only, please." If you think you're going to be enjoying any of these new and improved airline meals on your next flight, you better either bring cash or pray for an upgrade. The Charlie Trotter meals are available only to first- and business-class passengers, and only on select transcontinental flights domestically. Ditto for the Todd English food, although you can buy some of his selections in economy class for between $2 and $10. So what do the rest of us get to eat? On United, $5 buys you a Trader Vic's turkey wrap, roast beef sandwich or a chicken sandwich. Each is served with a bag of chips. American Airlines offers $5 Italian wraps, a turkey and cheese Ciabatta or an Asian chicken wrap. 5. "There's a secret menu -- and it's better." Your airline probably won't volunteer this information, but the food is even better if you order from the "secret" menu. And often, the economy class meals from this menu are better than the fare served up front. I'm talking about entrees for passengers with dietary restrictions, such as vegetarians, vegans and diabetics. Be sure to contact your airline at least a day in advance to order the meal, but it's well worth the call. So there you have it. Airlines only offer the fabulous in-flight fare on a handful of flights and make you pay for it when you're sitting in the cheap seats. The rest of the food is pretty dreadful. Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at celliott@ngs.org).

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