In this engaging video, Lianne Mandelbaum and Editor Gwen Smith discuss the new Allergic Living Airlines & Allergies Guide and what makes it such an empowering resource for the food allergy community.
They also cover airline issues in the news and in-flight experiences – like Lianne’s son flying on a plane serving his allergen to all.
As well, Lianne, who’s Allergic Living’s airlines correspondent and the lead author of the Guide, speaks about unintended epinephrine-carrying errors that people make. She’s got important suggestions on how to avoid them.
Those errors are also part of why it’s important to have epinephrine devices in airplane medical kits – and not just vials.
Airlines Guide: Why It’s Unique
Gwen explains that the Airlines Guide is divided into two parts Domestic (USA and Canada) and International, and the two Guide co-authors talk about what makes this list unique.
For starters, it’s a deep dive into all the accommodations questions that travelers managing food allergies want and need to know. This includes: what accommodations are (or aren’t offered). Is pre-boarding allowed and for which allergies? What kind of allergy accommodations can be requested in-flight? What snacks and meals are served? What are the medical emergency protocols, and is there an epinephrine device in the medical kit?
Lianne and Gwen discuss the magnitude of undertaking the Airlines Guide – since the airlines do not offer all this policy information on their websites. Lianne notes: “I sometimes had to ‘bother’ the airlines – an understatement! – multiple times.”
“It was a labor of love, since I think our community really needs this,” Lianne, who’s the founder of the nonprofit No Nut Traveler, says of the Guide. “I really hope this becomes an invaluable resource for anyone traveling with a food allergy – so they can make informed decisions.”
Check out the two parts of Allergic Living’s Airlines & Allergies Guide: Domestic and International.
