In 2024, I set out on an around the world trip. This post shares my experience flying from London (LHR) to New York (EWR) with United Airlines and their Gluten Free meal offering. Because long haul economy is not fun but collecting airline points is, the flights I took were in business class using Amex Points though from what I have seen, Gluten Free meals are similar to what’s in Economy, just with a fancier presentation and perhaps an extra appetizer.
Disclaimer: As a Celiac, gluten free isn’t a choice — it’s a requirement I’d love to not have. My immediate symptoms are thankfully relatively minor, but obviously I aim to avoid any & all gluten and cross-contamination. This post is simply my personal experience: your risk tolerance / reasons may differ from mine. Always follow your doctor’s advice and always confirm before eating!
After a delicious (and fun, but you know, mostly delicious) couple of days in London, I started this post on the way to my final stop of the trip in New York and a visit to delicious GF bagels. My flight back to the states today was with United who I expected to deliver a solid gluten free experience if only because their website was so damn good about making a GF selection and sure enough, that’s exactly what they did. Solid enough to work with no issues .
Overall take: 9/10. With the exception of the mix nuts that had no info, everything the crew brought out to me was clearly gluten free and unlike some other flights I’ve taken, they left the wrappers on any specific items which was a wonderful help in knowing everything was indeed good. They did have a few GF marked self service snacks as well so didn’t need to augment with my own supplies (I get snacky on flights). Safety update: No issues 24 hours later.
Taste take: 8/10 (for business class). In my pre-Celiac diagnosis days, United’s food was solid even if not amazing and that holds just as true now. The dishes weren’t the best GF flight food I’ve had but I really appreciated getting breakfast at breakfast time, wrapped breads, and even a little dessert making it one of the better meals overall.
Portion size: Ok though a few more snacks would be nice.
Highlight: The brownie at lunch was really solid but the fruit plate was my win of the day.
What I skipped: The pre-meal nuts. As with other flights I’ve taken, it’s just too much of an unknown on any seasoning or cross contamination for a Celiac.
What it lacked: Bread refills would have been wonderful.
How I booked: United lets you configure meals online or via app, even on a booking through another airline.
The Airplane Meal
At nearly 10 hours travel time, I’m really glad United got my meal right as backpacking granola did not seem like it would have been enough. While fairly bland (the GF meals are always bland, even in fancy seats), the meals were quite well done and things like fruit and gluten free bread really helped step up the meals.
To be fair, I was one of the only people to actually stay awake for most of the flight (though it was a day flight). Had I napped more, I may not have been bored to want more snacks.
Gluten Free at the Airport
LHR: As Heathrow is a good ways out of the city, I stayed at an airport hotel last night (the Premier Inn, who has a limited but acceptable GF menu) and trekked out to the terminal a little early for my first meal of the day. Heathrow has a few options in other terminals but in T2, I found that Leon has a few gluten free bowls. While they’re honest that it’s not ever 100%, they took my allergy request seriously and got the day started right.
Since my flight was business, I also stopped into the United Lounge. Their food (buffet style) wasn’t marked but another Celiac managed to track down a staff member who was able to walk her through the Buffett (with me listening in) and said they could get some fresh servings out to reduce the CC risk, if we wanted. Didn’t find this all that impressive versus the attention of say BA’s lounge and skipped.
The terminal also has a couple general stores which, like much of Europe, are rather reasonably priced and I saw a selection of bars and such there to pack snacks.
EWR: Landing, there’s very little food available in the airport till you clear customs and even then, it’s mostly just small shops with some candy bars and such. Far better to wait till the city or wherever the next stop is if you can.
Other snacks I brought: Before heading into the terminal, I stopped by M&S at Heathrow and grabbed a couple of their gluten free bars and a bag of cookies. The bigger locations have a fantastic assortment but the airport locations can be more hit or miss. Today was more miss than hit.
Since I was not traveling from home and did have confidence in United, I didn’t pack a ton more here but do always keep a couple backpacking meals in my bag just in case.
Other posts you might like
- You can find some of my other Gluten Free flight experiences
- How I booked my RTW flights in business class with miles (and some money)
