When I flew to New Zealand late last year, the less expensive flight option was out of JFK International Airport to Auckland, via Qantas Airlines. I’ve flown Qantas once before (also out of JFK), back in 2015 (an entire decade ago!) when I went to Sydney with my paternal grandparents to visit family for six weeks. Even back then, it was a superb flight experience, though I was a non-vegetarian and had the chicken options. From what I remember, the food wasn’t bad.
But my experience this time was far better (though it wasn’t awful to begin with). I selected the vegan meal option on my non-direct flight well in advance (you’ll need to do this too, ideally as soon as you book your flight, as you won’t be able to within 24 hours of departure, which is standard practice across airlines).
Overall, I was really happy with my Qantas experience. The flight itself was about 17 hours nonstop, but it was fairly empty and I was able to stretch out because I had the entire row to myself (including the two rows next to it). We were given pillows, blankets, and bottled water when we boarded, and the takeoff process was smooth.
Once we were in the air, the flight staff came around to serve dinner and served those with specialty options first (meaning mine was among them). I had been nervous about the meals (knowing that I had flown United just two weeks before to India and despite requesting the vegan meal beforehand, they had none for me). For dinner, I was given glass noodles with tofu and peppers, a bread roll with Smart Balance vegan buttery spread, a melon and cantaloupe fruit cup, and almonds for dessert. Overall, I really did enjoy everything on the plate.
During the flight, they had vegan-friendly snacks (most of which I slept through, or tried to, at least). The next morning, before we arrived in Auckland, they served us breakfast. The vegan breakfast consisted of a vegan egg scramble (might have been tofu?) with tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms; the same bread roll with Smart Balance vegan buttery spread and melon and cantaloupe fruit cup, as well as a crisp red apple. I’m not a fan of fake eggs (I wasn’t a fan of real eggs to begin with as they made me sick), but it was nice to see a legitimate plant-based breakfast option that wasn’t just fruit.
Overall, I enjoyed Qantas’s vegan meal options, and I had a pleasant experience on the flight to Auckland. (The flights back were an entirely different story once my flight from Christchurch to Auckland was canceled). The flight staff took great care of all of us, and constantly came around to ask if we needed anything (and made sure to periodically bring us bottled water to rehydrate). As mentioned before, I’d only flown Qantas once before, but if all of their subsequent flights are like this, I truly wouldn’t mind going again—even if it is just to sample the rest of Qantas’s vegan food offerings.
Are you flying Qantas Airlines soon and you’re vegan? If you have any questions, let me know below and I’ll try to answer as best as I can! You can check out all of my Oceania-related posts here.
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