If You Want The Best Meal, Choose A Seat At This Section Of The Plane

A lot of people dread flying for one simple reason: the food. Plane food isn't the most highly reputed cuisine in the world, with some airlines barely trying to disguise the lack of effort or budget they put into their meals. Beyond this, up in the skies you may work up an appetite but have very little say about what's put in front of you when it's time to eat.

If you're one of the many with a fear or distaste of food in the skies, there are a few hacks that might make your dining experience a little more tolerable. You may want to start by booking a seat at the front of the plane, as flight attendants have revealed that there is a seating strategy for their meal services. Customers at the front will have more choices, warmer meals, and be served quicker. While onboard meals aren't exactly fine dining, there are still plenty of ways to improve them.

When seated, you'll notice that meal services usually begin from front to back. On those long-haul flights, being served earlier is a blessing, as it can take a very long time to get to the back rows. Of course, customers who choose to travel First Class or Business Class get preferential treatment, and will often have a different menu from those in the economy cabin, with the option to choose their food when booking their flights.

If you happen to be seated at the back of the plane, you may be left with no options at dining time. For this reason, some passengers choose to bring their own snacks — either food purchased at the airport before the flight or food from home. Of course, these have to pass through airport security beforehand, so they need to be dry goods, not liquids. Cup noodles are a great choice, as you only need to ask the flight attendant for a cup of boiling water and you have your own meal. Some travelers even go as far as bringing their own sauces to complement bland in-flight meals. Small containers of hot sauce will pass through TSA screening with no problem so this is a simple way to spice up your journey.

You may find that plane food is saltier than usual. According to Business Traveler USA, airline meals often contain more than 40% of the daily recommended amount of sodium. This clever, and a little sinister, marketing ploy is effective because oversalted food leaves people desperate for a liquid refreshment, increasing on-flight drink sales. Which brings us to drinking. There was once a glory day when drinks on planes were all complimentary, but airlines realized that this would leave flyers with no excuse but to get tipsy on their flights. 

The lower humidity on planes, combined with air pressure, is also likely to make us thirstier on flights, but if you're looking for something more exciting than a regular rum and coke, there are cocktails you can prepare on flights yourself, per Forbes, as another type of in-flight entertainment. However, doctors recommend drinking more water than usual while on planes, as the lack of humidity may make you dehydrated.

Last but not least, if you find plane food truly uninspiring, you may be traveling with the wrong airline. Regional-specific airlines offer regional-specific food, with Thai curry available on Thai Airways and kebabs on offer on Turkish airlines. These items make mealtimes a little more exciting and flavorful. And one final hack: if you prefer to sit at the back of the plane and want to get your meal served faster, inform the airline of special dietary requirements, which will guarantee that you get your food first.