earlek

My SO and I have booked RT BE flights to AMS, LHR, NRT and SIN for the remainder of this year. My SO has recently been ordered to restricted dietary needs specifically non gluten and non dairy.

Upon request from DL this was their response:

Dear xxxxxx,

RE: Case Number xxxxxx

Thank you for contacting us.

At this time, we offer the option to select a gluten free meal or the
option to select a vegetarian meal non-dairy. I understand this may not
meet all your dietary requirements, and we apologize for any
inconvenience. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to
specifically tailor meals to meet the dietary requirements of an
individual passenger so we recommend selecting the best of these two
option and then bringing food onboard with you. Our cabin crew will of
course do their best onboard to assist you.

Thank you for your support as a Medallion member and for trusting your
business to us. Be assured, we will make every attempt to serve you
well; we are focused on the future and look forward to our continued
business relationship.

Sincerely,

xxxxxx xxxx
Medallion Desk
www.delta.com


Requesting fellow FT'ers for suggestions, best recourse if any back to DL. I realize they mean well --- I guess we could bring some meals in tupperware and ask the FAs to heat the meal. I could also be a pig and eat her meals since she apparently will have to bring her own meals.

Bummer 4 BE roundtrips and she has to bring her own food.

Grin and bear it ??? -- or substitute for tons of wine???

javabytes

So if you order gluten free and she orders dairy free, you can give her your meal and then she will have both gluten and dairy free.

Unfortunately it pretty much is what it is. If they do not offer special meal options that suit all your needs, then the agent is right that your only real option is to bring your own. Also, be aware that while DL does a fairly good job at executing on special meal requests, there is always the chance of catering mix-ups and no special meals being loaded.

earlek

lol - all good points - tnx for the support. Food cross contamination is just as bad as eating the restricted item.

I think things will change --- Have been able to get this combo diet on both Holland America Cruise lines and the Cunard Queen Mary II--- but then those puppies are floating restaurants vs the aluminum tubes.
cheers

bennos

I'm not sure how much experience FT has with BE special meals... I'd probably order non-gluten and then hope to avoid the dairy portion of whatever shows up. That seems easier than veg non-dairy and hoping that it isn't heavily starched based.

Supplement with BYOF and lots of booze, and I suspect the FAs will work with you as best they can (unless you are unlucky and get a grumpy crew).

MSPeconomist

The purser should have a printout of ingredients and descriptions of not only the special meals but also all of the BE choices, so your wife should be able to pick and choose with complete information. However, the suggestion to ask FAs to heat food that you bring is likely to be denied.

ricardobtg

Perhaps gluten free would be the best bet if you had to choose between the two?Meals aren't usually slathered in cheese and/or butter and any offending items could probably be removed from the dish before being put together on the plate.

There's also usually an option on the regular menu consisting of plain non breaded chicken/beef/fish with vegetables which should be ok no? If there is any offending sauce or item I am sure the crew could just omit it when putting the meal together. This would also avoid any possible cross contamination issues.

You can also check the Business Elite section on Delta's website with info on the menu being offerred during the months you are travelling. You can probably get an idea as to wether you could choose some of the regular items on the menu and asking the crew to work with you. This may yield better results vs a special meal where airlines usually go for the "safest" bet, meaning pretty plain stuff.

Good luck and enjoy your four trips!

nativeATL

Careful - not all wines are gluten-free, due to manufacturing processes and packaging.

gonzalesflyer

I have the same dietary restrictions and in my experience on other airlines (mostly AC) the gluten-free meals are also mostly dairy free.

exwannabe

An omlette?

OK, I suspect you could ask for a carbon free meal and get a salid. Either that works for you or not.

If one has a critcal dietary need, bring you own food. If it is really just a preference, then whatever.

peachfront

If she's that much of a fainting flower, and you're young and at the beginning of the relationship, I vote dump her. Your whole life is going to be like this, you know. Nothing is ever going to be good enough, not even business elite. Don't get me started. The princess is never going to be easier to deal with than she is today. Run, Forrest, run. Delta Airlines has politely told you the same thing. They're not gonna kiss her rump because they're not a masochistic moron. Are you? Save yourself while you still can.

jdrtravel

Its really too bad that, especially in BE, they can't be accommodating. When you are paying that much for a ticket....

I think one simple solution would be to offer a vegan option for all the different special meals. I realize that some might think this is ridiculous---but I actually think its insane that one would pay $5K to $10K and not demand a meal that meets one needs.

javabytes

What the FCM are you talking about?

Must...Fly!

hahahaha, what the?!

OP i would suggest as others have, just order gluten free and cross your fingers - but also bring some food on board with you.

nystateofmind

As long as you are not on a breakfast flight I would go with gluten free meal as that tends to be chicken or fish and veggies. Breads are usually replaced with rice cakes and dessert is fruit

earlek

she is worth it --- we are in our early 60s, been married for over 38 years, the body does change -- i am sorry you feel that dumping a person or running away from a problem is a solution --- i am sure you meant it as a joke

thanks to the rest of the FT responders --- your genuine concern and suggestions are all appreciated.