Peanut Allergy and Airplanes

With dear grandparents, aunts and uncles on the other side of the earth, airplane travel is a regular occurrence in our family. Even though Tanner has a severe peanut allergy and tree nut allergies, we can't let that stop us from staying connected. Compared to 14-hour plane rides, domestic travel is a no brainer! Every few months, we find ourselves banking more frequent flyer miles. Of course, it is with measured safety precautions that we prepare for every trip. For the parents that are apprehensive of airplane travel with food allergies, here are a few tips:

• Pick the right airline. Obviously for us, Southwest is out of the question. We are relatively comfortable with American although they do serve/offer snacks with nuts on their flights.
• Call ahead and ask about their food allergy policy and don't hesitate to inform your ticket agent and your flight attendant about your special needs.
• Be prepared with medication. Along with our auto injectors, we carry a note from the doctor and chewable Benadryl tablets. In our years of traveling, I've only had security check the Epi-pen once and only because I volunteered it.
• We bring our own snacks for the plane and wipes to clean off airplane trays or tables at the airports.
• We cover our seat with a Plane Sheet (see photo above) and now that Tanner is four, we remind him not to be rooting around in the seat pocket or floor. Sometimes he actually listens!

A previous post from last year contains more detailed tips for traveling with food allergies.