If you are going to fly, chances are you will crave a snack at some point during the trip. To eat well while traveling and ensure that you do not break your budget, it is important to have some healthy snacks ready to pack and take with you. Of course, the question becomes which snacks are both cheap and healthy at the same time?
Buying food at the airport is expensive, but plenty of affordable snacks can be packed at home to take with you. From nuts to sandwiches, travelers have found that having a healthy snack ready and available saves them both money and calories. This is essential for healthy traveling.
There are quite a few advantages to thinking ahead and packing a healthy snack to take with you on the airplane. You never know how long you will be forced to go without food once you are on the plane. In addition, food at the airport tends to be expensive and riddled with calories. Continue reading to discover eight great snack options to take with you.
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What’s Considered a ‘healthy snack’ for flying?
A healthy snack while flying is one that provides you with energy and sustenance without tacking on unnecessary calories and fat. You do not want to eat something that is going to leave you feeling lethargic or bloated. These are both feelings that you do not want to have while you are stuck in a small airplane seat for hours on end.
Many types of healthy snacks will serve you well when flying. Look for high protein items and ones that fill you up without packing on the calories. If you can do this, you will feel better and arrive at your final destination much healthier and happier as a result. In addition, you want to eat something that satisfies your hunger without making you feel guilty.
Which Airlines Give Free Snacks?
If you do happen to forget to bring any snacks with you, some airlines will give you a variety of free snacks while you are in the air. However, you cannot rely on your airline offering these, and the selection is usually limited.
Here are some of the airlines that currently give away free snacks on their flights:
- Southwest Airlines – Keep in mind that they no longer offer peanuts on any of their flights. You will be lucky if you get one bag of pretzels.
- Alaska Airlines – They still provide passengers with Biscoff cookies. You will also get a choice of a beverage, and reports are that the drink selection is quite extensive.
- United Airlines – They also now offer Biscoff cookies as their standard snack. Some flights departing in the morning also have a stroopwafel as an option. There is also a selection of coffee, juice, and soda available.
- Delta Airlines – Flight attendants will come by with a snack box that you can choose from. Depending on the flight, you might have a choice of crackers, chocolate granola bars, Biscoff cookies, and more. There is also beverage service available on most Delta flights.
- American Airlines – They have scaled back to offering free snacks on flights over 250 miles. There is a choice of Biscoff cookies or pretzels. They also have free non-alcoholic drinks available.
- JetBlue Airlines – They are similar to Delta in that they offer snacks ranging from pretzels to popcorn. Drinks are also free, but keep in mind that they only serve Pepsi products.
To be fair, there are other airlines that do offer free snacks, but many do not. The bottom line is that these snacks are not going to hold you over very long if you are on a long flight, particularly if it is delayed. It is usually best to bring your own snacks and then be pleasantly surprised if you do not have to tap into them.
Learn more about airline policies regarding bringing food and drinks on the plane in our informative guide titled Can I bring food and drinks on the plane.
The 8 Cheapest yet Healthiest Snacks to Buy for a Flight
While there are hundreds of different snacks out there that you can buy, not all of them are suitable for plane travel. You want to look for snacks that are both healthy and cheap. This is not always a winning combination, but we have put together the following list of eight such snacks that should serve you well.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruit is an extremely energy dense snack that you can enjoy on a plane. Through the drying process, just about all of the water from the fruit has been removed. You will find a variety of fruit in the typical pack, with the following being the most common:
- Raisins
- Dates
- Prunes
- Figs
- Apricots
An advantage of dried fruit as a healthy snack to take with you is that a pack can be preserved and held longer than fresh fruits. This makes it ideal for long trips. You will also benefit from the fact that dried fruit is very nutritious. One serving of dried fruit has roughly the same number of nutrients as fresh fruit. It is simply condensed into a smaller package.
Rice Cakes
This is a low-fat snack that is rather filling. If you do not like the taste of regular rice cakes, you can also find them with different toppings included to jazz up the taste a bit. They are made from puffed rice that has been compressed together to form a circle. They also last for a long time, making them great to bring with you on a trip.
Rice cakes have many benefits as a healthy snack on a plane. One cake only contains 35 calories and has just over 7 grams of carbohydrates. They have some protein and fiber as well. If you want to stay on the healthy side, stick with cakes that are made of unsalted brown rice. These are cheap as well.
Kale Chips
If you love to eat snacks loaded with antioxidants, then kale chips are what you are looking for. You can even make these on your own. All you have to do is mix a bunch of kale with some olive oil and then throw them in the oven for a bit. When they are crispy, you have a healthy snack that totals only 150 calories per serving.
Kale chips are a healthy snack from a weight management perspective. They taste good and fill you up. Instead of reaching for snacks that are high in calories and low in nutritional value, kale chips are a viable alternative that you can bring with you on the plane. You can lose seven pounds a year just by eating kale chips for a snack.
Various Types of Jerky
Jerky is a lot of fun to eat. You burn calories while eating it. Since a typical bag will last you for quite some time, you will not feel the need to reach for something else while on the plane. That alone makes it a great cheap and healthy snack to consider while flying. There are also many types of jerky that you can choose from, so you can pick what you like.
Jerky itself is loaded with protein. A typical piece also contains numerous vitamins and minerals. Among them are included:
- Zinc
- Iron
- Vitamin B12
- Phosphorus
- Folate
Since jerky lasts for so long, it makes for an ideal snack to pack while traveling. It does not contain any odor, takes up little room in your bag, and tastes great at the same time.
Trail Mix
Trail mix is a mixture of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. This is a power snack that will really do you well while you are flying. Let’s begin with the nuts and seeds. These provide you with a great source of natural plant protein. This is considered a superfood because of the powerful nutritional components that it contains.
Trail mix is also a great source of fiber. Having a serving every day will minimize the risk of heart disease and diabetes, among other health ailments. What makes it even better from a healthy snack perspective is that it helps to curb your appetite by giving you needed energy while flying.
Granola
Granola is another option to consider while flying. You can buy a box and then divide it out into smaller sealable bags for easy portability. Among its many health benefits is that granola helps you with weight loss and can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Beyond this, it tastes great as well. Oh, and don’t forget that it can also reduce high blood sugar levels.
Granola is also incredibly cheap to buy. As mentioned, you can buy an entire box of it and then divide it into smaller containers. As long as you keep it sealed, it does not go bad and will last for an entire trip quite easily. It is also easy to pack so that you can place it in your carry-on or bag for easy access on your flight. This is really a powerful and helpful snack to consider.
Popcorn
Now, we are not talking about the microwave popcorn filled with butter. The smell will make your seatmates envious and gain you a few enemies on the flight if you do that. For this healthy snack, you will want to go for the prepackaged variety that is low in salt and butter content. It makes for a great snack that fills you up and does add unduly to your calorie count.
Popcorn is high in fiber. This is what you want when you are traveling. It is also a snack that will fill you up, so it can help keep your weight loss goals while you are traveling. In fact, popcorn has been proven to create a fuller feeling in people for much longer than potato chips, all the while providing you with fewer calories. That makes for a healthy snack indeed.
Multi-Grain Crackers
Once you get used to them, these types of crackers taste great and pack a lot of fiber. You want to avoid crackers that contain white flour while traveling because the manufacturing process takes out much of the grains. When you reach for multi-grain crackers, you will satisfy your hunger pain while providing your body with some nutrition at the same time.
These crackers also contain numerous B vitamins. This is where you get your energy from, so it is easy to see why this makes our list of cheap and healthy snacks to bring with you while you are flying.
Wrap-Up
Depending on the length of your plane trip, you might consider taking a few of these healthy and cheap snack options with you. This is a way to save some money and ensure that you have something good to eat no matter what your travel day happens to throw at you. Just remember to pack a few of these snacks in your carry-on before you head to the airport.