<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Someone had asked for a summary on American Airlines dining experiences.
Sorry it has taken so long but I wanted to wait until I got back so I could
report my experiences, and I have been extremely busy since I returned.

My experience:
Breakfast - very good, I received a rice cake, melon, and hash browns with
scrambled eggs
Dinner-Meal was good, Chicken with a marinara-type sauce with onions,
peppers, and all sorts of vegetables, along with a salad with Kraft dressing, and
fruit for dessert.
One problem- the flight attendant put a roll on my tray and was very rude
when I complained about it....she finally just snatched it up and walked away.
The roll was the same roll that everyone else had on their trays so I knew it
was not safe.  Other than that, the meal was fine.

Gluten free meals are much better than regular plane food, I would recommend
it even for non-Celiacs (but of course that wouldn't be right).

Responses ranged from "they do not have gluten free meals" to "the gf meals
were great with no problems"

MAKE SURE YOU CALL TO CONFIRM YOUR GLUTEN FREE MEAL!  MY MEAL WAS NOT LISTED
WHEN I CALLED TO CHECK!

American Airlines has info on gf meals on their website, as well as a variety
of other special meals.

Here are some of responses that I found helpful, my comments are in
parenthesis:

Have never had a problem with their gf meals, although they are a bit boring.
 What I've had for gf meals when flying them is a plain chicken breast, some
fruit, a couple of rice cakes wrapped in saran wrap, and fresh veggies (carrot
and celery sticks).   They don't make any effort to provide gf snacks, so
avoid the pretzels, etc.
(Not the case with my meal, it was actually the best meal i've ever had on a
plane.  Other people reported that they received gluten free snacks.)

I traveled American in December and found their GF meal very acceptable.  At
least they did not make any mistakes.  Lunch and dinner entree was a grilled
chicken breast with rice, a salad and fruit.  My husband ordered their low fat
meal and he got the same meal except that mine had a rice cake and his had a
roll.

I fly American VERY often. Certain routes are always wrong- especially from
LaGuardia. JFK is usually fine( some mystery fish in a red sauce with rice) as
is LAX- . The Bistro special meals are the ones to be careful about- if you
see that this is the only service, you are best to bring your own. And also I
have found that when they only have a cold breakfast, they usually put a non GF
cereal in the GF meal. I have made many a meal dipping the fruit into the
lemon salad dressing...
So.. Don't chance it, bring your own just in case


I found out
thru a friend who to write to and he got compensated for the lack of his
meal and an apology for the rude attendant. (after a bad experience)

We just flew American Airlines to Hawaii and back and both times my husband
received the gluten free meal requested.  They also provided a gluten free
snack.  Just make sure to double check your meal for obvious errors.  I
thought that they did a pretty good job considering that everything else was
GF.

I recently flew to and from Dallas with American.  I was given "gluten
free" Bistro bags both ways.  Both bags were loaded with gluten.  I
don't think the people making the meals had any idea what gluten free
meant.  Take food with you.

We fly AMerican all the time.  My celiac is my 8 year old daughter.  The
meals were plain chicken and steamed vegetables.  Not very kid friendly so
we stopped ordering them and I just bring food.  We only had one problem
which was when the flight attendant gave my daughter's GF meal to the wrong
passenger.  Their special diet meal was pasta so she could not eat it.  But, they
did make a fruit plate from food
in First Class and served complete with linen.  So, they did a really good
job recovering.  (I don't know that any plane meals are "kid friendly" but I
know my 12 yr old brother would much rather receive a plain chicken breast
than pasta or "mystery meat!")

I flew American Airlines last week.  I ordered the GF breakfast out of DFW
and Washington, Reagan.  I called the toll free number on Sunday to order.
The one from DFW was as listed on the web page.  The one from Reagan
consisted of Rice Krispies, banana, yogurt, orange juice, and get this - a
muffin!  Of course did not eat the muffin or Rice Krispies.  The Bistros
were late arriving so the kitchen either made a mistake or threw whatever in
to try to compensate.  Never the less, I plan to give them constructive
feedback

I was planning a trip to Switzerland on Lufthansa.  I didn't talk to them,
but I decided to pack several meals in plastic containers and ask the stewardess
to keep them in the refrigerator.   Call American Airlines and see if you can
bring your own foods as well as snacks.  They you'll be sure to enjoy your
trip.


Thanks to everyone who responded!  I think that each experience is different,
and there will always be mistakes, but it is good to hear that most people
had good experiences!

~Eleis

*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*