We are flying from the US to Munich and then on to Stockholm on Lufthansa in July. We received notice from Lufthansa that catering staff are on strike and meals/beverages on short and medium haul flights are compromised. No mention of long haul flights yet. If anyone has flown from US to Europe in the past few weeks can you tell us what the meal situation was on the flight? Was anything provided? Should we be be packing food? It's a long flight from US to Munich and then on to Stockholm. I don't think we will have enough time in Munich to go through passport control and also have to stop for food.
Thanks!
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8856 posts
I doubt that the catering on the US to Munich stage will be impacted. They usually contract this out to a catering service at the departure airport.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14632 posts
I agree with Carol but will add I always travel with food.
My go to when leaving from the US are bagels as they are sturdy and travel well. I usually take 2 along with some small packets of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter to cover a couple of meal services. I'm vegan and sometimes I've had the meals not loaded or they are so awful that the bagels are a better bet. Back up to that is dried fruit (raisins and apricots) and some individual packets of nuts.
Posted by
Massachusetts
1045 posts
I just returned from Italy via Lufthansa. On the Bologna to Frankfurt flight, they announced that there was a strike and apologized for not being able to provide us sandwiches. They handed out granola bars and drinks (water, various juices, and soda). This was a short flight and lack of food was not a problem at all. On the Frankfurt to Boston flight, food and drinks were served as usual.
Posted by
OP
28 posts
Thank you everyone for the information. This is all very helpful. It sounds like we are fine from US to Munich and limited food for in-Europe flights. Maybe the strike will be resolved in the next few weeks.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6923 posts
If you decide to bring food, make sure you learn what kind of food you are allowed to bring to Europe and what you are not allowed to bring.
Posted by
OP
28 posts
Good point - thank you. We know what is and isn't allowed to Germany but will research Sweden.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7102 posts
With the quality of airline meals, a catering strike might be a blessing in disguise.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5528 posts
With the quality of airline meals, a catering strike might be a blessing in disguise.
Absolutely! Even business class food on intra European flights has taken a nose dive and I now appreciate BA's decision to charge for overpriced M&S food in economy because it means I know in advance to buy something better and cheaper from somewhere like Pret A Manger in advance and eat it on board. However, their centenary beer brewed by Brewdog is quite nice and you can't buy it anywhere else.
I'd also like to reiterate what others have said regarding the US to Europe portion of your flight. The catering will be covered by a US provider so will not be impacted by the strike.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6923 posts
I think the rules regarding food are more or less the same for the EEA, so e.g. no meat or any kind of dairy at all.