By Ally Marotti for the CheapTickets Travel Blog
Airports wrote the book on overpriced food. Not getting your fill before you go through security, or not packing enough non-liquid snacks, could mean breaking the bank before you even take off. In the event that you didn't have time to pack your own grub, traveling on a budget means crossing your fingers and hoping the airline you chose has some complimentary goodies for you. If you really played your cards right, those free treats will actually taste good. Here's a list of the five best free airplane snacks around.
1.) Biscoff cookies -- The popularity of this delicious little cookie spread like wildfire in the U.S. after airlines began serving it. Until then, it was a treat reserved for Europeans, best enjoyed dunked in coffee. It's like a gingerbread/shortbread fusion, not too indulgent and just sweet enough. Delta serves a version that has its logo embossed on the cookie, and it should go splendidly with the Starbucks it now serves on all flights. And we can all thank our lucky stars that plenty of retailers in the U.S. now carry Biscoff, so we can get that airplane delight without traveling.
2.) Free alcohol -- Now here is a rarity. Horizon Air and Skywest, sister carriers of Alaska Airlines, serve complimentary free craft beer and wine on nearly every flight. This is a service those first-class flyers are used to, but it's novel to us plebeians. The crew picks one craft beer and one wine to serve on each flight. The libations are local to Alaska. United Airlines also offers complimentary house wine and beer for economy passengers on flights between the U.S. and Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
3.) Pretzels -- When you reach peak altitude, there's really only three food groups that matter: salty, sweet and alcoholic. The pretzel is the Sultan of Salt. After you've dished out $6 for a beer, getting a free little packet of these munchies will feel like Christmas morning. 'Free' being the key word here. Delta has your back once again for these complimentary noshes.
4.) Blue chips -- JetBlue has created a bit of a cult following for Terra Blues Potato Chips. Every flier gets a personal-sized bag of the chips, made from naturally blue potatoes. They are a bit salty and nutty, and you can feel good about them since they are all natural. Or at least a little better than you would after other airline snacks.
5.) Peanuts -- We'd be remiss not to give this classic in-flight snack a shout out. Peanuts are nearly as synonymous with flights as they are with baseball. In the days of yore they were almost always free available. Now you'll only be lucky enough to get these little packages salty goodness of select airlines like Delta. Peanuts are also a healthier option than it's rival, pretzels. Hearty? Not really, but at least eating them will kill five minutes while you stare out the window.
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