I fly about 100k a year, I can do a four hour flight standing on my head. For anything longer than 8 hours I bring Tylenol PM, but I never bring food. Sitting for hours pretty much wrecks my guts so I try to just drink a lot of water.
I always make a unique entree at home and then stop for some side dishes at Dean & Deluca.
This! They’re quite rare (& probably less so now in the US because of newish laws) but if you’re even on one of those stuck-on-the-tarmac for hours flights or if you have 3 minutes to go two terminals over for you connecting flight they are a meal replacement (for $1-$2.49)
Meh, it makes plain water into flavored water, with some added things thrown in; vitamins, caffeine, etc depending upon the flavor chosen. IMHO, you’re probably better off taking a multi-vitamin, but if you don’t want plain water, it’s good.
Southwest Airlines, which is what the OP is flying, doesn’t. Or nothing other than snacks, at least.
Many of the US-based carriers no longer provide free meals even on transcontinental (e.g., LAX-JFK or SFO-JFK) flights. Not that the food was ever good, but those flights can be five hours or more.
For a 2.5 hour flight those snacks are pretty much all that’s needed. I just flew BOS->FL, which is roughly 2.5 hours and the can of soda and bag of pretzels was fine. We did bring a ziplock of grapes on the flight down because we had an extended time before the flight.
I usually eat at home, or at the airport, if I’m going through one with decent or interesting food. If I’m going through airports with poor food options, or won’t have time to eat there, I bring packets of nuts or a hiker’s power bar to have in case of delays. Once I brought deviled eggs, but some people are bothered by the egg smell. Once I brought mozzarella sticks. Jet Blue still provides snacks.
Alcohol or Xanax so I sleep through the flight.
Xanax is already on my menu.
For any flight less than 6 hours, not a thing. No food, no alcohol the day of the flight, in fact. Unless it’s a red-eye, then I’ll eat breakfast.
I usually bring a little bag of M&Ms to nibble on, and a bottle of water I’ve bought at the airport. Sometimes when there’s a connecting flight and I have a bit of time, I’ll grab some fast-food thing and take it with me, but only on longer flights. For a short one, just the M&Ms. They’re my comfort candy, and easy to eat while reading. (Not a big air travel fan.)
So were you on the 7 am flight with the all the screaming babies? Me, too! 4th row.
I popped a Xanax, then put on my iPod and sort of dozed off.
I do like to try to get breakfast at the Boston Beer Company. The eggs Benedict carry me through and past lunch. Didn’t have time that am, though.
Ah, nope. When we flew Southwest in November, it was the first time in about three years, but we’ve been part of their frequent flyer program for a long time. So we were actually quite surprised we got flagged for TSA-Pre. Then again, I’m a fed and have flown for my job so my name is probably on a list somewhere.
As someone else upthread said, it’s a flavor enhancer. Some flavors are better than others. I’m partial to Berry/Pomegranate, Fruit Punch and Lemon. Ordinary water just doesn’t work for me when flying.
Southwest still has the youngin flight attendants but they are full of themselves and don’t want to work. I’ve found the older FAs have a personality and sense of humor the youngins lack.
As others said, for a 2.5h flight you may bring some nuts, protein bars or chips from home and buy a bottle of water in the concourse shop, or just go for the cup of soda and tiny bag of pretzels they give you. I tend to fly with a couple of the bars in the underseat bag in case there’s a delay.
And hey, Southwest is the archetypal budget airline but it’s usually decent if by no means spacious transportation.
A large cold sub sandwich you can munch on throughout the flight, and a large bag of chips or some other snack. Bring a big bag of pretzels just to usurp some of the power the pretzel-nazi flight attendants have over you. A big bottle of water. It’s important to stay hydrated on flights, IMHO, and I don’t trust the toilet swill they serve.
My own tip: foam rubber earplugs (unless you’re using some kind of listening device).
They block out virtually ALL noise, including engine roar AND screaming babies, but mysteriously, you can hear all the announcements perfectly clearly. THIS(or the like) is what you want. Accept no substitutes.
7:30 AM flight, row 5, but no screaming babies, and it wasn’t even close to a full plane. It was actually a pretty easy and uneventful flight.
I usually took a peanut butter sandwich and some ‘clean’ candy like M&Ms.
Even on a scheduled short flight, you could be one of the unlucky ones that gets to spend 6 hours on the taxiway. Always good to have an emergency supply of water and something to eat.
Man, I’d starve if I didn’t eat anything for an entire day including a 6 hour flight.
But I agree that for a 2.5 hour flight one probably doesn’t need to bring any food onto the plane.
I would not bother to bring any food for just a 2.5 hour flight. But I do like to bring plenty of water. Usually that means I end up paying a zillion dollars for a bottle after security.