Why do people eat airplane food, anyway?

Actually flying Emirates I usually aim to have main meals in the lounge and just snack although will eat meal before landing at final airport to see me home or to hotel

Yes totally agree. Y, J or F I never eat the food. As it always a 777 ex TUN its the seat that makes the big difference in F over J.

Depends on the individual, some of us fly every month and cant stand the sight of plane food, others could be upgrading to F for the first time and may want to have the full experience - including the food.

certainly agree about the seats in the 777 As i usually fly J class then I go out of my way to try and avoid Emirates 777 as I really hate the seats and the cabin certainly one of the worst for long haul but I am sure there may be other contenders that I have not had the misfortune to use

Yes, it’s a fun one-liner ...... but in answer to the question - and expressing a purely personal opinion (an extremely radical one, I know) - I tend to eat ‘airplane food’ because on a 14 hour sector I often have this strange habit of feeling peckish.

That apart, it’s all a matter of what exactly is being offered. I agree with those here who don’t rate EK catering very highly, and it’s certainly not the best aspect of Emirates top cabin and its overall product. Indeed, their food is actually not much better than the likes of BA in F (with the notable difference that you sure won’t find caviar & blinis on any BA menus .... ).

Quality food and airlines are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Just a few examples that immediately spring to mind would include Swissair First (many years back) ; and, more recently, Oman Air (both J & F), and Malaysian F. I can honestly say that these have served me meals comfortably matching standards of many high-end restaurants - not least when one takes into account the limitations of onboard space & general facilities. And so in the same way that I can enjoy eating food in restaurants, I can often have the same experience in the air ; with the added bonus (as an avowed window-seat aficionado) of some occasionally very special views along the way.

I love dining with a view too, but unfortunately most of the time in Y, not in J or F like yourself. What I meant was, I too eat onboard, but I always bring my own food. I racked up about 500k tier miles (including bonus, don't know about miles flown) in a year, so eating airplane food every flight wouldn't exactly be healthy.

Wait, if you upgrade to F but are only served J meals...do you still at least get the F booze including the Dom?

If it is catered then yes. As will08 pointed out, for example, TUN is catered from DXB - so if they dont have demand for first class on either sector they may not load any F liquor.

The food is the same between J and F, but larger portions and better presented.

You don't get J meals if you upgrade to F. What I was saying is that there is little different between the meals in F & J anyway.

You'll get the F food and F booze.

@ iFlyMoreThanYou - thanks for coming back on my post the other day. Appreciated

Now that I see you do most of your flying down the back in Y (not immediately apparent from your earlier post, in fairness), I can fully understand your own particular perspective on airline food. Racking up around 500K tier miles annually is no mean feat. I appreciate it is for work reasons and not pleasure - but I sympathise in the sense that no way would I wish to be obliged to spend that much time at airports and onboard aircraft, in any cabin (and even allowing for such benefits as your Plat status must bring from time time).

Given your scenario, it makes sense that you would wish to develop a personal strategy, as it were, for food consumption before / during / after travel.

And lastly .... your username sure rings true as far as I�m concerned ! There were times in the past when I travelled (for work) a good deal more frequently than I do now (Covid restrictions aside) ; but never at the level you describe. So ...... yes ..... you do fly more than me