Since the advent of budget airlines, we have been seeing increasingly that in-flight meals which used to be served earlier is currently being discontinued completely; especially for shorter routes. One can however pre-book a meal ( where they serve you a pricey sandwich ) or end up having the over priced ready-to-eats once airborne. So, a ready to eat cup of poha/upma/ noodles or rice/biriyani which usually comes at around Rs.50, one has to pay a whopping 400 bucks. Two piece of cookies cost 200, as well as nuts or cashew. So, inside a flight one pays thrice or more the original price. Same is the case with food we find at airports. Now, while its all fine if you have no problems paying for over-priced food items, there are some ( like me ) who always tries to find a way around it ( jugaad ) and enjoy the same food at its original MRP instead of the inflated prices. So, I've found a cool hack around it - simply carry your own airport/plane lunch along with you. Its that simple :-)
You can typically carry food items like paratha, thepla or even sandwich / bread butter/jam in a regular tiffin box along with the water. Carrying food is allowed, however, one must check with the particular airline's guidelines if there are any restrictions. They should be properly packed though, and not cause inconvenience to others. I don't like carrying those typical 'cooked' things...instead I can very much carry the contents similar to the ones the airlines provide ( albeit at such high rates :o ), myself - for much less. For one, my MTR/MOM ready-to-eat poha/upma ( or Nissin noodles ) packet goes in first. They are the ones where you simply have to add in hot water. You can ask for hot water to the cabin crew once boarded. They would not refuse. Speaking of hot water, I can easily carry the small Rs.2 coffee or tea sachets ( that can be dipped ). Milk powder and sugar sachets are also available, so carry the small ones ( Rs.5 ones ). Your inflight hot bevarage as well as meal is ready. I can also carry a bunch of almonds/walnuts/pistachios and salted cashew and munch on them as a snack. Carry an apple or banana along, also some grapes - viola, a fruit salad is ready inflight. Carry fruits that are not messy and doesn't need knives. I personally don't like biscuits or cookies, but a packet of potato chips or some namkeens, oh yes, I can't miss those. Since, I'm already having tea/coffee, I must also add that one can always carry a mini thumsup/frooti or paperboat juice as well. These days you also get those packed ready delicious croissants, grab a few of those. Lastly, those mini cake slices - monginis swissrolls or britannia mumfils, they are so easy to carry and comes in individual slice sizes, best for flight journeys; thus, a must to complete your inflight dessert requirements. So, there you have it - your entire inflight lunch menu is ready - all inside your hand baggage. Hand Baggage weight allowed is 7Kgs for domestic flights, so these items will easily fit in. Once lunch is completed, when cabin crew comes to collect the trash, just hand over the wrappers ;-)
PS : Packaged food are generally not considered healthy, but for travel purpose I think they are ideal and comes in mini individual sized packs too - and so are just apt! The airlines are anyways selling them to you at exorbitant prices, so, why not buy at MRP from your local grocery and carry them with you ;-)
Address : Inside a plane.
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