Food on Planes? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

ride_natty_ride · 09-05-2007, 07:38 AM

hey all...

now, first of all, i'm quite sure that if i were to be a diligent researcher and investigated airline policies, i'd get the answer to this question, but it might take longer.

i'm going to hawai'i (leaving from LAX, most likely) on the 16th, and was wondering - do airlines have restrictions on food being brought aboard? we're talkin.. a couple bags of bagels, some peanut butter, some nuts... due to the cost of living in hawai'i being considerably higher, i'm trying to bring food from the mainland for at least a portion of my stay there. any tips y'all could provide would be much appreciated; i know ya can't bring liquids on planes anymore, which is absolutely... fantastic.

much thanks,
namaste,
~ melissA

**joe7f** · 09-05-2007, 08:10 AM

Welcome to Travel Punk!

As long as the food isn't liquidy (like a protein shake), I have never had a problem bring snacks aboard. If you are nervous about doing it, you can always check that bag or ask the staff of the airline at the airport.

Have fun in Hawaii.

--Joey

**TheJake** · 09-05-2007, 08:36 AM

no liquids, creams, gels or aerosols!

Outside of that you could load up a small carry-on suitcase with just food and no one will say a word.

ride_natty_ride · 09-05-2007, 08:41 AM

good stuff... thanks, friends. and see, i KNEW travelpunk would be quicker than airline websites.

namaste,
~ melissA

**TheJake** · 09-05-2007, 09:27 AM

we do what we can.
I love stocking up on pop-tarts and fruit and whatnot. My bag at the end of a trip always has a ton of crumbs and whatnot at the bottom from my travel food. Soooo much cheaper than airport cafe's

**pinknic38** · 09-05-2007, 10:09 AM

yeah I tried to avoid the crazy cost of bottled water at the airport by bringing my nalgene hooked onto my backpack. Except security made me dump the water out into a trash can to pass through. It was no joke.

I always take stuff on planes though, if you put it in your carryon no one knows. Most flights these days you have to be on there like 10 hours to get a damn meal and then you pay for it more often than not (except if you fly Air Omni, which is awesoem about meals and their food is good, but it could be becausr they were flying us to Kuwait.. lol), so it's almost expected.

I was able to get some of those Power Bar brand Power Gels through security, mainly becuase I forgot I had 4 or 5 of them in my bag, so I think it's all situation dependent and also which airport you fly out of. Somewhere out there on the internet was a study done in late 2006 about airports in the US are "tough" on security and which ones aren't... I don't know who did it or whatever but I bet you could find something if you google it. I remember because Cincinnati's airport was among the worst for lightest security.

I wonder if this liquid madness will ever end.

**omisan** · 09-05-2007, 10:09 AM

I'm not a big advocate of big box stores, but there's usually a Costco, Wal-Mart, and supermarket within spitting distance of most Hawaii airports - a good place to stock up if you're gonna be somewhere with a kitchen for at least a week!

**marc873** · 09-05-2007, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinknic38

yeah I tried to avoid the crazy cost of bottled water at the airport by bringing my nalgene hooked onto my backpack. Except security made me dump the water out into a trash can to pass through. It was no joke.

Heres a little known fact about water in Airports. ALL Starbucks tap water is filtered. When I have worked at the airport in the past, I would get a large icewater for free everyday. I have never seen them charge anyone for it either.

**pinknic38** · 09-05-2007, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc873

Heres a little known fact about water in Airports. ALL Starbucks tap water is filtered. When I have worked at the airport in the past, I would get a large icewater for free everyday. I have never seen them charge anyone for it either.

that is an excellent piece of information! cos I remember being in the atlanta airport and paying freaking 4 or 5 bucks for a bottle of water from one of those little stands -- that was awful.