4 Things You Should Never Order On A Flight

Next time you’re on a flight, you might want to spare your stomach—and your wallet—by skipping a few in-flight menu items that could leave you feeling disappointed or flat out sick.

Former flight attendant Alex Quigley, along with several current airline crew members, recently shared with Delish and RedbookMag which foods and drinks you’re better off avoiding when you’re in the air.

1. Steer clear of coffee or hot tea. 

If you’re on a red-eye or a long international flight, it might be tempting to ask for a hot coffee or tea in the morning, but according to Quigley and an anonymous flight attendant named Carla, coffee pots and the “potable” tanks used to refill them, are rarely cleaned between flights. The travel experts claimed that they can be a breeding ground for nasty bacteria.

“Try to avoid any hot beverages if possible. The canisters that hold the hot water are rarely cleaned,” Carla told RedbookMag in 2022.

The cleaning process for coffee and tea pots are also unsanitary.

During a recent interview with Delish published March 31, Quigley noted that flight attendants are ”never allowed to pour the remaining coffee brewed into the drain of the airplane” and are typically instructed to “pour the coffee out into the toilet.”

He added, “I can be honest and say I NEVER knew or saw anyone empty and refill or wash them out in between trips.”

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2. Don’t order alcohol. 

You might want to think twice before ordering alcohol on your next flight. According to Quigley, drinking at high altitudes can hit you harder than it would on the ground, increasing your chances of getting lightheaded, nauseous, or dealing with a rough hangover once you land. The cabin’s lower oxygen levels can intensify the effects of alcohol, making you feel drunk faster than expected.

“When pressure is decreased in the airplane, the body can’t absorb oxygen as well,” Quigley explained.

Flight attendant Max also warned that going overboard can lead to disruptive behavior, something that’s not only embarrassing but likely to irritate both fellow passengers and crew.

“There’s nothing worse than drunk passengers – especially a drunk First Class passenger,” Max shared with RedbookMag. He revealed that First Class riders are typically offered free alcohol as a perk attached to their fare, “where they can order a ‘double’ or even a ‘triple’ cocktail.”

3. Say no to meat.

Items with meat are typically offered on inflight menus, but you may want to ditch the club sandwich or steak for a veggie meal, said Quigley. Meat products can be tricky to store properly aboard the plane, according to the flight guru.

“You’re putting the trust of storing any meat in the flight attendant’s hands, and as we all know, delays happen, and mechanical issues happen; so you run into a situation where there’s a possibility the cooked meals aren’t actually being stored appropriately or have exceeded the storing time allotted for the meal.”

4. And that goes for fish, too!

That salmon dinner or fish sandwich might look like a solid choice when you’re starving mid-flight, but think again. According to Hazel, fish dishes on planes are usually reheated using a steam-based microwave system, which can leave parts of the fish undercooked, posing a potential health risk you probably don’t want to gamble with at 30,000 feet.

“It would come in a vacuum sealed bag. We would then peel the bag open and put it on a plate and basically boil the fish,” Hazel revealed to RedBookMag. “The top of the fish always looked good but the bottom was never fully cooked.”

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