Here’s a tip that’s taking off.
A flight attendant admitted that there is a “seating strategy” behind meal service on a plane — and that some rows hold an advantage over others.
“Often meal service will begin at the front of the cabin and progress to the back,” Joyce Chan of Cathay Pacific airline recently told Delish.
“Choosing a seat towards the front may increase your likelihood of being served earlier.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, being up front in a higher-class seat also provides more meal options that can be preordered to a traveler’s liking, she added.
And the opposite can unfurl for folks seated in the far back seats in coach, as they are sometimes forced to pick from whatever is left when food service eventually gets to them.
That’s why travel and food expert Melissa Leong suggests bringing your own food from home — or at least doing a little research ahead of time.
“Having an idea of what you might be served can help you decide whether it might be best to pack your own snacks, or just sit back and enjoy the in-flight service, such as it is,” she wrote last fall.
“Mini magnums for dessert? Yes. A dish of food whose individual ingredients can no longer be distinguished? Maybe pass.”
She suggests packing sweet and savory snack items, plus yogurt or fruit smoothies in small containers to clear security limitations.
However, if you’re stuck needing to eat on a plane, Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist who focuses on how environments impact taste at Oxford University, has some recommendations.
“Anything with umami taste, so Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomato, etc., and, of course, to drink a bloody mary given the double dose of umami both from tomatoes and from the Worcestershire sauce,” he previously told The Post.
As for drinking, go with wine made at a high altitude rather than sea level as it will taste similar at cruising height.
“I would also pick wines with a sweet fruity nose, as this may withstand the conditions in the air better than a tannic oaked wine,” Spence added.
