We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Taking your own food on the plane

13»

Comments

  • I always take a lttle snack pack with me as I'm a fussy eater. You can take sandwiches home made or purchased in the airport but as it's often warm they don't keep well. I usually take stuff that can't come to any harm such as museli bars, flapjack, malt loaf, jaffa cakes, mini-packs of biscuits, savory crackers etc. The prices for these in the airport are a real rip off. I'll be flying from Chicago to San Francisco with United soon and they don't feed you at all and the stuff available to purchase is foul. My snacks will keep me going until a decent meal is in sight. Even if you eat your fruit on the plane the sniffer dogs can still smell it! The woman behind me in the line at Immigration in Los Angeles had her bag "indentified" by the dog. She explained to the officer she had a satsuma in it when she left home but ate it on the plane. A search showed she was telling the truth but the guy said the dog could smell it even many hours later!
  • IamJen
    IamJen Posts: 704 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I think it's just dumb luck wrt to the fruit. A couple of years ago, my other half and I flew separately to the States. I was flying into NY and then taking the train to DC. I completely spaced about the no-produce rule, and took several apples and a pear with me. I made it through customs/immigration, etc. with no trouble. 10 days or so later, my love comes through and gets his blood pressure raised a bit because a couple of guards found a clementine in his bag. There weren't any dogs, he must've just looked like a fruit smuggler. :p

    Anyway, as others have mentioned, it's not the taking it on the plane that's the trouble, it's only if you take if off the plane in the U.S.
    Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. - Jonathan Kozol
  • Jasper27 wrote: »
    I always take a lttle snack pack with me as I'm a fussy eater. ... The woman behind me in the line at Immigration in Los Angeles had her bag "indentified" by the dog. She explained to the officer she had a satsuma in it when she left home but ate it on the plane. A search showed she was telling the truth but the guy said the dog could smell it even many hours later!

    internal exam?
  • We always take our own sandwiches to eat on the plane, as well as a bag of sweets and maybe crisps. We usually eat them on the flight, but sometimes not and have never had them taken off us.
  • gaz_jones
    gaz_jones Posts: 5,179 Forumite
    In june me and the DGF flew from Luton to Schipol (Netherlands). At luton customs they let us take through bread rolls, plastic cuttlery (knife/fork) and some salami in a packet no problem.

    When flying back Schipol customs refused to let us take our packed sandwhiches through customs which we had bought in the airport. We were told we needed 'clear food bags' which would be available at the shop we bought the sandwhich from. Walked over to the store and he said 'they didnt have any at the moment'. Was annoying as we had to quickly eat the sandwhich before bording the plane. Atleast its only an hour flight eh.
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.