Flying Gluten Free on KLM with Celiac (Economy Class)
One of the reasons I decided to start this blog was my struggle to find anything current about GF airline food. Oh sure, we all rip on airports, and that’s fair, even a-m-a-z-i-n-g GF cities often have worthless airports for us. But I’m talking after the flight takes off, what the airline has to offer, how it tastes, and how safe it feels. So, this post is my kick off to a series on exactly that: flying gluten free.
This trip was a rather last minute booking from PDX (Portland, OR) to AMS (Amsterdam, Holland) on KLM. I nerd out on airline points almost as much as GF bakeries and love “travel hacking” myself into a fancy seat but this flight was a steal of a deal. $203 for a fully back of the plane, economy status seat (and then $65 to move up to an exit row). But, you know, when it comes to GF airplane food, that can be real nice because they leave the meals covered unlike in the front.
KLM gluten free overview: 7.5/10
Ordering a gluten free meal on KLM
KLM makes special meal requests easy with the process working entirely through their website/app. Since I booked directly with them, I had no issues making the selection online and it immediately, and consistently showed up anytime I would view my reservation… which I checked about 74,832 times. They do require selecting special meals at least 24 hours ahead and I always try to get my order in as soon as I book, which is a pain if you ever want to shift flights, but just how it goes.
Given their clear messaging and the general European standards around allergens, I did not feel like I needed to bug airport staff to double check. Plus, I had plenty of snacks (delays, missed meals, blah food… always pack snacks).
What KLM served on the plane
As is usually the case, meal service started not long into the flight. While some airlines bring speciality meals well before or after everyone else, KLM had mine ready to go right around the same time. After the usual “hi Ted, you have the special meal, right” check, I got my meal and dug in.
The first thing to note is that both KLM meals came covered and marked. Did they uncover to heat them? Maybe but the labeling, both a card on the tray with GFML and my name/seat and then on the entree felt real comforting given that you don’t get ingredients. The sides don’t get the same treatment but as you’ll see, these ones felt about as GF as it gets.
As for the food, my first meal was a typical “free-from-everything” economy catch all (that’s GFML, LFML, NLML, VLML, HNML, AVML) dish with a spinach and cauliflower with rice main, a side of veggies & hummus and fruit dessert. Hello fiber bomb! I’ve flown KLM twice this year and it was the same dish, same basic combo and while not a ton of calories, the flavor on the main was really good, a nice dash of spice. Paired it up with a New Cascadia GF bagel both times for a heavier meal.
The second meal was breakfast. On both my flights, they gave up on the one size fits all and served eggs with potatoes and more veggies again done quite nicely though looking at the Chobani yogurts everyone else got, I was a little jealous as those are GF marked. Sides were fruit and more fruit so I supplemented with more of that bagel and some chocolate (hey, it was only like 9pm at home!) That meal also came out completely covered up and marked as GFML.
They also served snacks a bit after dinner. On my first flight, everyone got a GF brownie which I didn’t try then. On my second, everyone got a not-GF cookie (which I obviously skipped) but later on, they came back by and dropped off a brownie totally unrequested. This time I did try it and while not amazing enough to finish it when I already had a pack of Mikiko Mochi donut holes to enjoy, it was decent enough.
Airport food options
Portland (PDX) airport GF eats
PDX (my home airport) sits just 15 minutes from at least a dozen incredible, 100% GF spots but the airport? Blah! Just blah! Mikiko Mochi donuts (100% GF) does have an amazing but temporary location before security. Beyond that, options are limited and I rarely eat much here. If you do need something, Burgerville, a local area burger chain, is known for doing a decent job on GF (buns stay wrapped, fries are usually done on their own) but the busy, airport location isn’t for everyone. Beyond that, it’s mostly yogurts and packaged snack life.
Amsterdam (AMS) airport GF eats
Amsterdam Airport doesn’t have much in the way of GF eats but it isn’t entirely devoid of options either. On my first KLM flight, I had enough connection time to leave the airport and enjoy some proper meals in Amsterdam.
For my second, I only had a few hours, not nearly enough time to escape. Thanks to Find Me Gluten Free reviews, I spotted Leon, who serves up GF chicken nuggets. I won’t call them amazing and it’s most definitely a fast food type shared space, but they seemed to take GF seriously enough and I had no issues or reactions even eating fried food at what was essentially the middle of the night.
If you’re not connecting or have an annoyingly long layover where leaving the airport entirely isn’t an option, Amsterdam Airport has a mini mall once you exit customs that includes a decent sized grocery store where you can find packaged GF snacks, fresh produce, some labeled fridge stuff, and yes, more yogurts. It’s a bit of a hassle to redo security and all but a little walk to see the sights and get a better snack is worth it for me.
My take on flying KLM while gluten free
For a super cheap long-haul economy flight, KLM absolutely nailed the flying part. Sure, having a choice of normal meals would have been so much fun but looking at my neighbors, I doubt the taste varied much though they did get a solid sized meal portion. The combo free-from-everything meal they serve was decent though certainly not my favorite but it is common on economy flights and felt plenty safe. Good enough for a cheap flight for sure but not what I’d pick if I had my choice.
And as always, bring plenty of snacks too. You never know when a meal gets missed, mixed up, or you get stuck in an airport for unexpected hours.
