A mum claims British Airways ruined her Caribbean holiday by leaving her so 'starving' on a nine-hour flight after a 'pitiful' meal of only crisps, popcorn, celery and other chocolate that she almost passed out. Mum-of-two Amber Fisher suffers from coeliac disease but says the airline's 'confusing website' led her to believe she simply had to inform crew of her allergy upon boarding to be provided with a gluten-free meal.
But after boarding, the 32-year-old was informed by an air hostess that she was in fact supposed to book her meal in advance. Crew then scraped together some gluten-free food from the onboard snacks and their own lunches, leaving her with a 'pitiful' meal of carrot and celery sticks, chocolate buttons, crisps, popcorn, nuts, chocolate bars and a tangerine. But the handful of treats left the hairdresser so 'starving' on the long-haul flight to the Dominican Republic in February that she almost fainted and began vomiting - ruining her trip as it gave her 'major anxiety' for the rest of her holiday.
She complained about her experience online to raise awareness of the issues faced by coeliacs but was branded a 'dramatic idiot' by commenters who claimed she should have known to prebook her special meal. British Airways said it takes customers' allergies and dietary requirements extremely seriously but, like other airlines, ask customers to let them know if they would like a special meal at least 24 hours before their flight.
Amber, from Isleworth, London, said: "The air hostess said 'we'll have to see what we can do' and then brought me that. She said 'we've taken food out of the crew food too' which was basically carrot sticks and celery sticks. I was like 'for nine hours you expect me to eat this?' and she was like 'that's all we have'. It was a pitiful amount of food.
"I ate the whole lot but it's like what you'd give a kid while watching a film, it's not an adult meal that's going to fill you up. I was on really strong antibiotics and hadn't eaten in the morning so I was just starving and it was a nightmare. I nearly passed out at the end because I hadn't eaten and felt really weak because of the antibiotics.
"I actually started vomiting into a bag as we were coming down - it was just water because my stomach was so empty. It ruined the holiday because it gave me major anxiety for days and I just felt crappy."
Amber says she was 'shocked' by the tray of food that was delivered as her in-flight meal, which consisted of a packet of popcorn, crisps, nuts, chocolate, an orange and carrot and celery sticks. The measly selection of snacks was all the more disappointing when compared to the full spread of a hot meal, side, snack and pudding that was offered to her non-coeliac fiance.
She blamed the airline's 'confusing website' for the mix-up, which says that passengers with allergies 'must inform [the] cabin crew of [their] food allergy upon boarding'. However, the site also states that customers can order 'special meals', including a gluten-free option, which should be requested 'at least 24 hours before [their] flight departs'.
But Amber says that despite the flight attendant assuring her that her dietary requirements would be logged for all future BA flights, the crew again failed to provide gluten-free food for her on the return flight ten days later.
Amber said: "On the BA website it states that you have to ask when you get on board and when I told the flight attendant she started arguing with me as if I was lying. I showed her what it said on the website and she just said 'oh that's confusing isn't it'. I emailed and complained and they just said: 'We're very sorry about this, this isn't our usual practice. We hope you have a better flight next time.' - no compensation, no nothing.
"You're paying to be on a flight, you don't expect someone to basically tell you that you're lying. It's massively put me off going with them again. The air hostess said 'don't worry we'll get it registered so every time you come on a BA flight you'll automatically get it' but when I got on the flight back they just automatically gave me normal food. So they didn't even look into what was on my chair or that I'd applied for this meal. I just gave it to my partner."
The hairdresser was diagnosed as coeliac five years ago, in 2017, after she began to struggle to keep food down. Since then she has been unable to eat any wheat, gluten or barley because her 'severe allergy' would make her ill for days. She says she often faces criticism and doubt from people about her condition, with many mistaking it for a dietary choice rather than an allergy.
Amber said: "I basically couldn't digest any food, I was throwing up everything I was eating the next morning and losing loads of weight. I can't have anything to this day - I would have brain fog for days, sweat and shake, be physically sick and look pregnant because of bloating. People think you're making it up and when you say you have a gluten allergy you're being a diva and you just don't want gluten because you want to lose weight. But with me that's just not the case, I'm severely allergic to it."
After posting about her experience online, Amber was bombarded with negative comments from unsympathetic people pointing out that she misinterpreted the airline's website and saying she should've known to prebook her food. But she has hit back, urging people to be more understanding of the difficulties faced by coeliacs. Amber said: "I was annoyed by the comments I got. I think people who don't have allergies just don't understand. I think BA handled it in a very inhumane way, expecting a grown adult to eat barely anything for nine hours on a flight. It makes you feel like you don't matter and you're not as good as everyone else because you have an allergy."
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "We take all of our customers' allergies and dietary requirements extremely seriously and our catering teams work extremely hard to ensure everyone has the meal they want, every time they travel. All our customers can pre-request one of 15 special meals free of charge, including gluten-free meals, up to 24 hours before their flight."
