Flight date: July, 2025
I’ve traveled around the world as a Celiac (it’s a very lucky life, even if my eating options feel otherwise at times), and by far one of the biggest “eek” moments in all that has been flights. I can be in one of the most gluten-free cities out there and still struggle to find a single thing beyond yogurt and granola bars in the airport, and plane food is questionable enough without food restrictions.
But when I got diagnosed, I told myself that, much as Celiac may change how I travel, it wouldn’t stop me from taking trips, and thankfully most of my flights have gone just fine, even if some (including this one) weren’t anything to write home about. This post shares my experience flying from Dublin, Ireland (DUB) to San Francisco, CA USA (SFO) with Aer Lingus and their Gluten Free meals in Economy.
Quick note: As a Celiac, gluten free isn’t a choice — it’s a requirement I’d love to not have. My immediate symptoms are thankfully relatively minor, but obviously I aim to avoid any & all gluten and cross-contamination. This post is simply my personal experience: your gluten free requirements & risk tolerance may differ from mine. Always follow your doctor’s advice and always confirm before eating!
At the Airport
I’ve got a much longer post on this coming up but simply put, Ireland, and especially Dublin, is a pretty amazing place to be Gluten Free. Even living by the GF mecca that is Portland, giving up my daily scone and selection of delicious local spots to head home felt rough, and the airport was a rude awakening to that return to reality despite how good the city had been, with few options available.
This is is especially true flying to the States. The USA does advance immigration at the Dublin airport and with an hour plus line ahead of me, I foolishly skipped by the few possible options the airport did have, to ensure I cleared customs in time to board. It turns out that puts you in a small holding area where there is nothing substantial for us, though I did find another bag of chips and some gummy candies to throw into my already big snack bag.
Onto the Flight
What was my rating: 5/10
For me, table stakes when flying is as simple as getting Celiac safe, palatable food. It’s a pretty low bar for me to throw out a solid rating, especially when flying on a cheaper ticket but while Aer Lingus did indeed give me something safe on the first meal (not always the case so kudos there), it was hardly a meal I’d sign up for again and they had just that one meal*. Obviously didn’t help having come in already grumpy from finding the airport so bare on real meal options but such is Celiac travel sometimes.
How safe did it seem: 9.9/10*
While I had to ask (no shade there, just noting that they may need a reminder) for my “special meal,” what came out was unequivocally gluten free in its full free-from-everything wrapping.
* However, when they served the second “meal” (some sort of hot pocket-type snack), they did not seem to have any sort of option for me,** but I also didn’t press much, as my very extensive snack bag seemed far better to stick with.
How did it taste (by GF flying & cheap ticket standards): 3/10
I meal-prep the same things in rotation, have gone weeks on (delicious) repetitive, vegetarian meals on treks, eaten chicken three times in the same day on flights, and been happy with that all. But this was just blah. Edible? Sure. Something to fill you up for 11+ hours? Not a chance.
How were the portions: Portion size: underwhelming. The main meal was totally fine, but with no GF options offered at the follow-up snack and second meal on an 11-hour flight, I was really glad I’d brought my own eats.
What was the highlight: The muffin wasn’t bad at all. Ironically it was also the one thing not GFML marked (but no issues after the flight so pretty sure it was fine).
What I skipped: The follow up meals which did not offer GF options
What it lacked: Volume, flavor.
How do you book an Aer Lingus gluten free meal? Online. Submit a request using this page and it should take just a couple days for them to process and confirm it.
The good news: 12/10
SFO, and specifically the terminal Aer Lingus lands at, is home to a dedicated GF restaurant and a few other safe options, and with pre-immigration in Dublin, you don’t have to exit the airport after landing so it was right to food time. I had two meals (there and Starbird chicken) before my next flight.