Gluten-free meals

Since our last holiday, my wife has been diagnosed with Coeliacs disease, which now means she can't eat gluten or wheat. So, for our flights out to IAD and back from JFK in June we've pre-booked gluten-free meals for her. I was just wondering if anyone else had ever had a gluten-free meal onboard VA before and what they were like? I assume it will be the same meal in PE as it would be in economy? Also, what is the likely risk that we'll get on board and find that they haven't got the pre-ordered meal? With 6/8 hour flights, I'm not sure what we'd do if the meal wasn't there for her, as most normal meals tend to come with a sauce which is generally where the gluten/wheat becomes a problem [:(] I'm hoping that there is more chance of it all being OK in PE than it would be in economy as there are fewer passengers that they could potentially hand her meal out to by mistake.

[Decker]

I suspect gluten free is the same in all classes :-

http://www.v-flyer.com/FORUM/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15484
http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16793
http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14897

Hi

I'm vegan so can only comment on those. Make sure you prebook the special meal, and also worth double checking with them the day before.

Special meals are the same in all classes.

Can't comment on GF meals but the vegan meals are usually gross (to be fair this is the case with any airline).

I'd recommend taking some food with you just in case (mind you I eat quite often) but VS have had my meal on the plane 100% of the time (unlike BA/UA).

My wife is also a Coeliac and we've flown twice with Virgin since she was diagnosed.

First time she flew as a coeliac was to LHR-LAX in economy (sept 05) and they proper messed it up. They brought her salmon and rice with an oat cake. NO you can't eat Oats so lucky we spotted that. That was it for that meal so not very good. Later in the flight they bought her a Dairy Milk with Wafer which again you can't eat. The 2nd meal before landing isn't provided so they gave her a bag of fruit! Pretty appalling really and lucky we had taken our own GF sarnies. We complained as it was the same on the way back and got 10k miles but it really was poor.

More recently we flew to Vegas and back from LA. This was PE each way but the meal was standard economy but this time (sept 06) they were much better. Meal was chicken and potatoes I think but it was bigger and it came with a small gluten free bread roll and a plain chocolate bar which was gf. Also, the GU Chocolate Puds they serve are Gluten Free but she didn't have any so we asked the cabin crew and they brought her a couple.

2nd Meal was a GF bread roll and cheese with fruit, not great but at least they did something this time. Plus they also kept offering her fruit all the time which was nice.

This was a much better experience than first time. Overall though, I would certainly take some GF food with you "just in case". Explain at the gate its dietary and they are fine, as long as you don't take it of the plane when you land.

Also, while in the states the best places we found which have gluten free food were PF Changs (awesome Chinese with gf menu if you ask) and Flemings (gf menu available).

If you need any more help with the Gluten Free while travelling or just in general feel free to email/pm me and I'll be glad to help. Emma found it hard to adjust but has been doing it for 3 years now and is coping well.

Hope it helps.

I'm also coeliac, made complex by being diabetic (so have to have carbs) and having ulcerative colitis (all a bit of a nightmare with trying to plan meals!), I flew UC to Orlando in December - going out I had a salad to start followed by roast chicken with little roast potatoes with veg which were both very nice, I also had fresh fruit salad and the UC cheese selection. Coming back was another matter - salad again to start (very limp, almost 'dead'), then baked cod with potato wedges - this was the most vile thing I have ever attempted to eat, totally inedible [V]

Sounds like a very mixed bag of experiences! Ah well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens. We'll definately make sure she has some GF snacks in her hand luggage to nibble of just in case.