Flight date: July, 2025
I’ve been lucky enough to travel travel around the world since my Celiac diagnosis and yet, flying, such a big question-mark every time. Wishing for a real meal, settling for yogurt & another granola bars. Getting onto planes with unknown meals, hoping there’s a safe snack on arrival and not a delay before that one well rated place closes.
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 and sometimes, like this trip, even come with a good airport and airplane meal! This post shares my Gluten Free experience flying from Boston (BOS) to Dublin (DUB) via Chicago (ORD) with American Airlines in Economy Plus.
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
Boston is a pretty solid city for Gluten Free living though I haven’t explored it nearly enough and the airport actually has some decent options too. So much so, I’d happily take a layover there to get a real snack next time I’m flying far off again. For this trip, I had a delightful fish sandwich from Legal Sea Foods who has a few locations around the terminals and yes, each with GF marked items and protocol. Whether at the airport or before, I’ve found having real food before the plane makes the entire flight so much better as you’re not already three bars deep and hangry!
Unfortunately Chicago (ORD) was far less impressive. Find Me Gluten Free had a couple ideas but there was a long, long line in the top suggested, food court spot which always raises a cross contamination flag for me and with a good meal in Boston and my flight coming up, I found a fresh apple, washed it off, and called it a day. There are decent, albeit spendy, snack options at the various markets including some more “natural” ones.
Onto the Flights
My overall rating: 8/10
No real food was served on the short flight from Boston to Chicago as I was sitting in plain Economy, so I won’t talk about that much, except to say I bring snacks for any domestic flight unless they specifically cater meals. Some snack was offered, it was not GF, I did not ask if they had another.
International Premium Economy is just enough of a step up from regular seats that it feels like everything changes just enough to be almost enjoyable and while I’m not sure how much the meals actually differ, that was just as true of AA’s gluten free service, with one exception on the safety front that reminded me to always read labels.
How safe did it seem: 7/10
The meal should have been as close to a 10 as airline meals get. The flight crew confirmed my Gluten Free meal request almost immediate after take off, served everything separately, and many items remained wrapped. However, slowly working through my breakfast, the Nature’s Bakery bar they included caught my eye and sure enough, one of the first ingredients: wheat. I believe they also make GF products and so likely a mix up (AA credited me some miles back when I flagged it) but yikes. If I had been a little more impulsive, would have been a rough day.
How did it taste (by GF flying standards): 8/10
While not the best GF plane meal I’ve had, I wasn’t in a truly fancy seat, nor on a really long flight and the food definitely was enjoyable. The chicken entree was decent enough, more filling and functional than good food, but the sides were well done and the fruit in the morning (really just a few hours after dinner) was fresh and delicious.
How were the portions: Incredible. The flight was around 6 hours, a red-eye and despite that, I got a very solid main meal as well as a decent top of breakfast (hence having no rush to check out the bar).
What was the highlight: The fruit plate for sure. Fresh, plenty of different types, and served very chilled.
What I skipped: The gluten filled bar of course
What it lacked: Nothing, except maybe a second safety check by the catering company
How do you book an American Airlines gluten free meal? While my ticket was reserved via Alaska Airlines using points, I was able to select the meal on the AA website which did a great job showing me the confirmation in their app.