pWe flew for the first time with our PA/TNA son this past week. We chose to fly United because of their great assurances of being Peanut-free and I was specifically told they could provide a peanut/nut-free environment./p
pI made the reservations months in advance and had the peanut allergy info. put "in their computer" when the tickets were issued. We reconfirmed it by phone, and at the airport when we checked in./p
pUnfortunately, that made NO difference! When we checked in at the gate, they had no idea what we were talking about. I asked the agent to make sure there would be no peanuts/nuts served on the flight... they said, "well, it just depends what they have on board." It makes no difference what you do in advance, apparantly, it is the luck of the draw as to what is available on the plane at the time. They do not serve bags of peanuts, but they serve a "snack mix" of 3 different varieties. One contains a few kinds of nuts with pretzels, etc. Another has just almonds with a few other assorted crackers and the other is a "may contain" but just pretzels, chips, etc. We were just blessed that they had this particular variety to hand out. Who was the brain behind getting rid of peanuts, but adding mixed nuts???? MORON!/p
pThey also said that in first class they would be serving mixed nuts in bags - I asked if the whole plane could get the "may contain" bag and was told "no, the first class passengers pay alot more money." THEY PAY FOR NUTS??? GIVE ME A BREAK! Luckily the flight attendants themselves were fine with it and they didn't serve the mixed nuts in first class./p
pWe had the same situation on the return flight - and thanks to many prayers - they had the "may contain" bag again./p
pThat will be my LAST time on United. Although everyone was very friendly to us, they just did not get it nor were they overly concerned for us. I even spoke to the captain on the flight who told me that my son should just "not eat any of the snacks." Yea, thanks for the tip!/p
pThankful to be back safely without incident./p
United for Spring Break - Give ME a Break!
Posted on: Mon, 04/08/2002 - 9:54am
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Becky, so sorry to hear you had such a terrible time! You worked so hard to ensure your little guy's safety. That really angers me. After all that, I bet you need a vacation after your vacation! Glad it all worked out ok and you are home safe. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] You would think by now that at least the airlines would "get it", but then again....
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Peanut/Nut-free wishes,
Victoria
[This message has been edited by vic (edited April 11, 2002).]
Not to add to your stess with a dumb question, but to educate myself - would mixed nuts be an airbourne allergy danger? I mean tree nuts or a tree nut mix.
I guess that wiping down the seats is still needed, but that is probably something that should be done regardless - due to the "who knows what the last passenger ate / brought with them"
Also I fly United all the time and have always called pre flight and have never been told that the flights are tree nut (or nut) free. If you got the agents name you should complain as that would be a totally false statement - tree nuts are ALWAYS in first and business class and the ingredient list on the snank mix is so long - we just don't eat it.
[This message has been edited by Chicago (edited April 11, 2002).]
I do consider 100+ people opening bags of nuts an airborne reaction risk. Dust, particles, whatever can be in the air that way. My little boy had one airborne reaction when we were in a room of people eating chex mix. I just can't imagine what would happen on an airplane with that recycled air. It scares the **** out of me.
I did wipe down every surface that I could with clorox wipes while David kept his hands in his pockets. I am so thankful that he did OK on the flights.
More than one United person told me they are absolutely peanut free and that there would be NO problem in getting a nut-free snack - I was told many times that they have pretzels on their flights.
Yeah, right they forgot to say the pretzels are mixed in with a bunch of other junk, including mixed nuts. The list on the one bag was very long... and at the end it did say "may contain traces of nuts" although there were none listed in the main ingredients.
Although we got there quicker, flying was way too stressful!
One other thing United fails to mention in its CSR "statement" about being peanut free on all their flights is that they still regularly serve PEANUT BUTTER. Oh... well, that. I guess that isn't considered "peanuts" by most people. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/tongue.gif[/img] to United.
I am astonished to hear all this. We have relied on United and American since my son was diagnosed 3 years ago. My understanding had been that neither of these airlines served peanuts anymore and that the snack was pretzels instead. That is all we ever saw on any of our trips. We never had a problem with the nuts in first class, altho it seems like a minimal risk, it definitely increased my stress level during any flight.
Has the snack choice changed recently to these mixed snack bags and almonds - or was I just oblivious?!?
United is our airline of choice in the USA. We have made several cross country trips. We just count on them being peanut free, not nut free (our son is also allergic to nuts. We wipe down the tray and keep him in his car seat for as long as possible, and we carry lots of Epi-pens.
I am just THRILLED that United does not serve peanuts to everyone. In my opinion, it really is the best we have here.