Confidently Flying With A Nut Allergy

If you’ve heard scary stories about flying with a nut allergy, this post is for you. We’ve flown worldwide with nut allergies many, many times, and I’ll share our tips & experience with you.

First here are a couple of important things to know.

I’m Corinna!

At the time of writing, I’m a 16-year food allergy mom and a 6-year Food Allergy Coach. I base all of my resources on evidence-based research and then add my 16 years of practical knowledge to create trusted resources that work for food allergy families & sufferers.

As a family, we have traveled all over the world with severe food allergies even before my kids were 11 and 13. Some of our destinations have been the Bahamas, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, the UK, Italy, France, and all over the USA and Canada.

We’ve been on several Disney vacations (including Disneyland, Disney World, and Disneyland Paris), road trips as well as beach vacations, tours, a river cruise, and a Mediterranean cruise too! At the time of writing, we are currently planning a vacation to Portugal.

I think it’s safe to say that we have extensive travel experience.

My daughter has peanut and tree nut allergies and gluten intolerance, but what you learn here will work for ANY food allergy or celiac disease.

I’ve helped hundreds of food allergy families navigate the tricky world of food allergies with my coaching program, workshops, and blog.

Corinna-and-her-daughters-in-spain-after-flying-with-a-nut-allergy — Picture of my kids and I in Barcelona, Spain.

I tell you all of this so you know that this post isn’t just a bunch of random tips from the internet. You can trust what you read here. I also want you to know that flying with a nut allergy and food allergy travel, in general, CAN be safer and less stressful.

Although it took me many years to fumble through and figure it all out while making a lot of mistakes along the way; with guidance, you can have a safer trip that is less stressful right away.

If you’ve already booked a trip, maybe you’re…

having second thoughts about the trip because of food allergies
worried about taking unnecessary risks.
wondering if you forgot anything important.
hoping all your bases are covered.

If any of these are you, OR if you’ve never booked a trip because one or more of these things are holding you back, you’ll want to check out one of my most popular workshops: The Food Allergy Travel Workshop.

It’s one of the most popular because the Food Allergy Travel Workshop helps make food allergy travel safer and less stressful. I teach you what our family has learned after traveling worldwide with severe food allergies. You don’t have to learn the hard way! Even if you leave next week, you can watch and implement what you learn right now.

Make sure to check out the Food Allergy Travel Workshop before leaving this post.

I also have a series of other non-travel workshops that will help you with many of the common food allergy struggles. Go here to see the full series. You’ll find expert resources based on 16 years of research and practical knowledge for many food allergy challenges like navigating school, fear of trying new foods, dining out with food allergies, and more.

Now, let’s get to the tips for flying with a nut allergy.

If you have a child aged 2-7, grab my FREE resource that will help you get them ready for more independence. Click the photo below to learn more and sign up.

A-mom-and-daughter-looking-at-a-book-about-flying-with-a-nut-allergy

3 Questions People Have About Flying With A Nut Allergy

Is it safe to fly with a nut allergy?

This is a big concern for so many, so I think we need to talk about it first.

There have been a lot of scary stories about flying with a nut allergy. These stories usually focus on having an airborne or contact reaction to nuts. This used to make me really, really afraid of flying with my daughter.

So I did some research. Here’s what I’ve learned:

First, contact reactions can happen, but they are usually limited to where the allergen touched the skin, and they don’t usually progress to anaphylaxis. You can read the blog I wrote about anaphylaxis from touching a food allergen here.

Next is the question of airborne reaction that could occur from being inside a plane where others are eating nuts or peanuts.

I found a couple of trustworthy articles that have calmed our flying fears.

Read the first article from a local Allergist in my city, Dr. Alex Lyttle. The other article is from Allergic Living Magazine.

I found these articles to be reassuring and helped put my mind at ease when it comes to flying with nut allergies.

Because of these articles and now our safe flying experiences, we do not usually request that the airline make an announcement requesting people not eat nuts or peanuts on our flights. We also do not ask for a buffer zone because we know that we will be sitting as a family and none of us will be eating nuts. That said, if my daughter was flying and sitting by people we didn’t know, we may consider asking for a buffer zone.

Even though we do not do these things, it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be done. If you feel more confident asking for these things, then definitely do that. I don’t want to discourage you if that helps your family.

To make flying as safe as possible, we take precautions so that my daughter does not get any traces of allergens in her mouth, eyes, or nose during flights. Some of the precautions we take are pre-boarding and wiping down seats, wiping hands often, as well as bringing our own food to eat on the plane. Of course, we also bring several epinephrine injectors in our carry-on with us.

If at all possible, we choose airlines that do not serve or roast nuts (yes this is a thing!) and especially airlines that have allergy-friendly policies. We want to support food allergy-aware airlines as much as possible.

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2. How do you tell an airline you have a nut allergy?

There are 3 things we always to do tell airlines about our food allergies. The first is to let them know when booking the flight in the note or request section of the online form.

The next thing we do is call the airline (if we’re not already booking by phone).

The last way is to let the airline know when we arrive at the gate. I usually go when the gate opens before the attendants get busy and let them know my daughter has a nut allergy and I ask if we can board early to wipe down the seats.

We have traveled with several different airlines worldwide and I don’t think we’ve had our request denied yet. There was one time when Delta Airlines only allowed 2 of us to board early and the other 2 had to wait until the regular board time.

This wasn’t ideal because we work as a team to get everything wiped down and the luggage stowed before others are trying to get into their seats and we are in the way, but it was doable.

When my kids were younger, we made do with just my hubby and me wiping and putting luggage away. It took longer, but we got it done!

3. How do you travel with a nut allergy?

After many, many trips and vacations, I have a lot of practical knowledge to share about how to travel with a nut allergy.

In fact, I created a 2-hour workshop in which I teach my entire process for not only confidently flying with a nut allergy but also traveling with a nut allergy on any kind of vacation or trip.

Given the feedback from people who have taken the workshop, I know that it makes food allergy travel safer and less stressful. If this sounds good to you, then I highly recommend you check it out.

Go here to learn more about the low-cost Food Allergy Travel Workshop.

I’ve packed this workshop with our 16 years of practical knowledge after traveling with nut allergies to the Bahamas, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, the UK, Italy, France, and all over the US and Canada. We’ve been on several Disney vacations (including Disneyland, Disney World, and Paris Disney), road trips as well as beach vacations, tours, a river cruise, and a Mediterranean cruise!

The workshop also includes essential travel planners and packing templates so you don’t forget anything important, or ever have to worry that you won’t find safe food.

The Food Allergy Travel Workshop is a powerful way to feel confident traveling with food allergies. Be sure to check it out here before you go.