The £1 item a flight attendant always brings on a plane – and you probably have one in your kitchen
A FLIGHT attendant has revealed the £1 item they always make sure to take on a plane – and you probably have a stash in your cupboard.
In-flight meals can be disappointing to say the least, especially if you have a dietary requirement.
But one flight attendant has revealed how holidaymakers can guarantee a warm meal on a plane.
A flight attendant from Virgin Atlantic said: “I’d always recommend bringing a sealed, just add water, instant meal such as Pot Noodles or Pasta N Sauce in your hand luggage.
“By bringing your own instant meal, it’s assured that you can have a warm meal that you’ll like mid-flight and that suits your dietary requirements.
“You’ll always have a backup snack with you just in case your meal didn’t fill up.”
Passengers can ask cabin crew members for boiling water for their instant meals for free.
The flight attendant added: “Another great thing about this hack is that pot noodles are cheap, and will cost far less than all the snacks you could buy in the terminal.”
Pot noodles can be purchased for as little as 90p from Supermarket chains like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.
Meals at airport lounges aren’t cheap, so this hack will help to save on the holiday spending too.
Another flight attendant previously told Sun Online travel that they’re more than happy to make instant cup noodles for the people on their flights.
They said: “We love a good self caterer on board and we’re more than happy to fill up pot noodles, or any other just-add-water type snacks, if you bring them on board.
“A lot of staff tend to bring them too because they’re cheap lunches that are simple to make and generally a bit tastier than other options.
“For some of our Far Eastern flights, we have cup noodles loaded on board and that’s pretty much all we do on the flight, just fill them up and pass them out.
“There’ve been times when I’ve spent as much as six hours in the air just filling up noodle cups on repeat.”
It’s not just flight attendants who are praising Pot Noodles on planes.
Last year, passenger Seema Pankhania filmed the moment she brought a tub of instant noodles on her flight with her.
In the video, she asked a flight attendant for hot water so she could make the snack.
She told the viewers: “If you’re flying and you hate plane food, make sure you take a pot noodle with you.”
There are some foods that flight attendants recommend passengers avoid on board their planes.
Alcohol
Most flight attendants advise passengers to skip the booze while on board planes.
This is because it affects bodies differently during flights, due to the altitude.
It makes people more dehydrated than usual, while fizzy drinks like prosecco or drinks with mixers, will leave passengers feeling bloated.
Salty foods
Salt has a similar effect on the body to alcohol in that it can make people dehydrated.
During a flight, eating too much salt can lead to headaches and fatigue, and can make jet lag worse as a result.
Meanwhile, this is why your plane food is always terrible – and which meal option is the tastiest.
And this is where you should sit on the plane if you want the best food.
Airlines with the best plane food
Korean Air
Korean Air won best airline cuisine in last year’s Global Traveler’s awards.
Some of their popular dishes onboard include bibimbap, a Korean rice dish, and ssambap, Korean rice lettuce rolls.
It also made the top 10 for airlines with the best plane food in CN Travelers 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards.
Japan Airlines
Coming in first place in the Reader’s Choice Awards was Japan Airlines.
The airline has partnered with six Michelin-star chefs, each of whom have three stars – so you can expect it to be good.
Passengers can choose bento boxes and miso soups onboard.
Singapore Airlines
Often voted one of the best airlines in the world, it is no surprising Singapore Airlines is said to have some of the best plane food.
Chef Dennis Littley said: “Their gourmet meals rival those of ground-based restaurants.”
Dishes include congee, a rice porridge, as well as Singaporean rice and curry options.