The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

—Marcel Proust

Chapter 12

Airline, Hotel, Cruise and Travel Tips

Chapter Overview

The suggestions for airlines, accommodations and cruise ship travel represent a variety of guidelines to consider when planning a trip away from home. These travel tips may also assist you in choosing your preferred providers based upon your gluten free dietary concerns and include:

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Overall Travel Considerations

Safely traveling while managing gluten free diets is very doable and highly rewarding. You can discover new places and experience safe gluten-friendly journeys with careful planning and a little extra effort! The best way to expand your own personal comfort and reduce the stress associated with traveling is three-fold: education, preparation and communication.

Educate yourself on your travel and eating out options based upon what you can and cannot eat. Be prepared with snacks, medications and back-up plans in the event of a mistake, accident or emergency. Communicate your special dietary requirements effectively with airline, hotel, cruise line, restaurant and hospitality professionals as needed.

Achieving empowerment when eating out and traveling anywhere in the world requires due diligence, taking proper precautions and asking the right questions.

Airline Guidelines and Checklists

Eating gluten-free while traveling by air is possible. The best approach to gaining that often elusive comfort level when flying is a combination of at least three key areas of consideration, and possibly four if at risk to anaphylaxis.

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These “how-to” guidelines and checklists are designed to assist you throughout your planning efforts, and while on board the airplane, to enjoy safe and comfortable flying experiences. The key four points, depending upon your concerns, include:

  1. Bring your own carry-on snacks for your flight(s)
  2. Understand standard airline meal codes
  3. Order your special meal(s)
  4. Communicate your life threatening condition, if applicable

Guidelines for Carry-On Snacks through Airport Security

Your first step, and your safest option, is to bring your own snacks to eat during your flight. You need to ensure that your snacks are portable and tasty as well as allowable based upon the respective airport security regulations for each departing and arriving country.

For example, when traveling within some countries, you may need to understand requirements such as:

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Standard Airline Meal Codes

Many airlines around the world are aware of and try to meet the needs of those who require special dietary meals when traveling by air. There are approximately 25 standard airline codes addressing various types of customer concerns. For your convenience, these codes are categorized as follows:

The special meal codes, their definitions and associated descriptions are defined on the following page. Many airline computer systems can only accept one standard airline code for special meal requests. For example, if you have multiple allergies and are allergic to both gluten and milk, you may have to choose one type of meal—either GFML or NLML.