Special dietary req's
 

I'm on SAN-DTW in FC right now and the guy in the row in front of me is apparently allergic to milk products so he's decided to have the dietary equivalent of a dykwia moment because he missed out on the chicken salad option, the FA started up front even though we're on an odd-numbered flight and he now only has the philly cheese steak choice available; apparently anything from the Y cabin has cheese on it too. The FA did offer to pick the cheese off the philly for him before it gets microwaved but he didn't want that.

If you have special dietary requirements that would, from my experience, very rarely be met by airplane food since most involve cheese or milk products of some sort, wouldn't you make other arrangements in advance and bring something rather than get stuck with the chips and salsa snack box from the Y cabin?

Anyway, just made me curious if DL lets people with food allergies put in special requests before a flight?

Is it possible the person had a special food request order in and it it didn't get catered. I was on a LAX/DTW flight in July in F and the lady sitting across from me told the FA when he was taking meal orders that she had a special meal request in. We were still at the gate with the door open when he started taking orders and said he would look into it and came back and told her he was seeing the request but catering didn't fill the request and she ended up ordering pasta (not sure what her meal request was for).

I also flew LHR/DTW last month in J and the lady in the seat beside me had put in a request for a hindu meal and that also didn't get catered but she did eat some of the food (she was on a paid J ticket not an OP UP so I could see why she was upset).

It is also possible on a domestic flight that the person could have gotten upgraded at the gate or SDC'd which would make it impossible to put in for a special meal request.

Not beyond the special meals already offered. In this case, sounds like he should have ordered a pure vegetarian meal.

I always ask for the vegetarian meal. For years now I have had no problem in getting my request. Maybe because I am always prepared with a back up food supply! I cant imagine having a specific dietary need and not being prepared to take care of that need yourself.

Are the veggie meals better than the regular meals? I may start ordering one of those if yes lol.

IMHO it is just plain silly to depend on the airline if you have special dietary needs. Between catering mistakes, delays, IRROPS, etc. it is much smarter to pack your ownn food if you have any special needs.

I will eat just about anything but always bring along some snacks or pick up a meal in the airport just in case

'Special meal' works as a search term in this forum and on delta.com.

I have read (no personal experience) that special meals on international flights while sitting in Y can impact your chances for an OPUP. Just some food for thought.

Correct. You will not be oped up from Y on an int'l flight if you ordered a special meal.

No, not from my experience.

My son is allergic to dairy and egg. He's 15 now but of course has flown since he was about 4 months old. First class to Hawaii is the biggest challenge - usually both choices on DL have dairy or aren't safe. I tried ordering one of us a veggie meal, but it wasn't great. We try to work around what he can eat off the plate, like the rolls (they give him extra), fruit, and sometimes there is plain meat.

I try to allow enough time between flights or before any flight to let him have a good (well, filling) meal. Then bring more food along.

The flight attendants do not know ingredients, so I've said this time and again - if you have an allergy, bring your own food! Yes, it may just be plain cold food, but it will be better than a reaction at 30,000 feet! It sucks but if you are truly allergic, you need to be safe. The FA's can't be responsible for that. It's too risky.

You might want to give the bland/low sodium meals a try. They are usually devoid of a lot of typical sources of dairy or egg, especially things like sauces or cheese. Usually a plain piece of meat like a chicken breast, accompanied by plain vegetables, rice, or similar. Could be a good option if you want to avoid dairy/egg but still want meat.

I didn't know they wouldn't op up you with a meal request. Sounds like if someone has a special meal request and EF is showing the Y availability on an international flight near zero they might want to skip the meal request and carry food on board.

This is why my father avoids Breakfast flights. In addition to a gluten allergy he is also allergic to eggs and, in particular, the powdered eggs that Delta uses sets off his allergy just by putting it near him (to the point of his throat starting to close). If he is stuck he will just order the cereal option and not eat the cereal since the rest of the food he can eat and sometimes he will get lucky that the catered cereal is gluten free (when they serve Chex as the cereal option)

On some domestic flights with meals, special meal orders are no longer offered by DL. I think this includes RJs and shorter mainline flights, but I don't know the exact rule. Also, IIRC special meals must be ordered 48 hours in advance, so with a last minute ticket purchase, this could be a problem as well as when there are IROPs or the person chooses to SDC.

One thing I do not understand is why airlines could not cater as part of regular meals options that would cover many special meals

For example, a breakfast that involves Gluten Free Cereal, Fruit, and Vegetarian Yogurt would cover Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Low Fat/Low Cal, and a number of others. Lunch/Dinner can be a large salad without croutons/meat/cheese, fruit salad, vegetarian/gluten free dessert. If you need an appetizer with that you can have steamed mixed vegetables with oil/balsamic (squash, peppers, eggplant, etc.). While I would normally grill them steamed probably works better for airplanes. The catering costs would be similar and you do not have the hassle of special meals