Travelling is one of the most stressful parts about living with a nut allergy. The feeling of being trapped on a plane for hours with no escape and the dread of being constantly alert. It can be incredibly taxing to ask for announcements on airplanes, to request nut free food, and make sure each environment is safe from traces of nuts. Exploring new cultures, new foods, new ways of communicating, all have a big impact on staying safe. It’s a massive burden, which is why preparing as much as possible ahead of time can help alleviate some of the anxiety. We built this checklist to help with that preparation, based on our experience with anaphylactic nut allergies.
Check your medication
Make sure your adrenaline auto injectors are up to date, and that you have two available at all times. For those with asthma, eczema, hay fever, the same goes for inhalers and topical treatments. Ensuring you have a supply of antihistamines can also be useful as part of your usual allergy management plan while travelling.
If medication is due to expire when travelling, make sure you have enough time to get a new prescription beforehand. If you’re worried about specific medical advice or your medication, consult a GP.
Always keep adrenaline auto-injectors in your hand luggage rather than checked baggage. Checked bags can be delayed or inaccessible during flights. Your AAIs should be accessible at all times.
Extreme temperatures can affect adrenaline auto-injectors. Try to keep medication within recommended temperature ranges and avoid leaving it in hot cars, direct sunlight, or checked luggage during travel.
Choosing a destination
Feeling secure when travelling with an allergy starts with understanding the destination you’re travelling to. Be sure to research local cuisine, restaurants, and food culture ahead of time to minimise any scary surprises. Even if being adventurous, it’s best to have some back up restaurant options so you don’t end up feeling restricted.
This can reveal things that you might not have known beforehand. For example, the Netherlands is a great place to travel with a nut allergy, with lots of options, but peanut (pinda) is used in staple dishes more than you might think. As well as roasted peanuts appearing on the tables of a lot of bars and pubs, peanut sauce (pindasaus) or satay sauce (satésaus) is very common as a sauce for fries or meat. Borrelnootjes are also popular, deep-fried battered peanuts covered in various spices. Places with these items on the menu might represent a risk of cross contamination.
Food allergen labelling rules also vary between countries. Ingredients that are clearly highlighted on packaging in the UK may appear differently elsewhere. Becoming familiar with local labelling practices before travelling can make shopping safer and less stressful.
Choosing where to stay
Accommodation can make a big difference when managing a nut allergy abroad. Access to a kitchen, fridge, or nearby supermarkets can provide safer food options if restaurants feel uncertain.
Some travellers prefer accommodation with small kitchen areas where they can prepare simple meals themselves, especially during the first days of a trip while getting familiar with local ingredients and food labelling. Knowing where the nearest supermarkets and pharmacies are located before arrival can also provide reassurance.
Translating your nut allergy
Language differences are one of the biggest risks when travelling with a nut allergy. Even when staff speak English, ingredient terminology and allergy vocabulary may not translate clearly into kitchens. Localisation is important.
Research the local terms used for peanuts and tree nuts before travelling. Some countries group nuts differently from the UK, and ingredients appear in sauces and other pre-packaged elements rather than as visible components of dishes.
We recommend allergy translation cards to show restaurant staff. These can make communication clearer and reduce misunderstandings when ordering food.
Eating at quieter times of day can sometimes make it easier for restaurant staff to discuss ingredients and preparation methods more carefully.
Booking flights
Choosing the best airline possible is important when booking flights. Even airlines with published allergy policies cannot guarantee nut free cabins, as other passengers may bring their own food onboard. There may also be a big difference between how peanut allergies are handled to tree nut allergies across different airlines.
Another thing to consider is timing of flights. Morning flights might have been more recently cleaned than those in the middle of the day onwards, as some airlines clean planes overnight. We’d always recommend wiping down your seating area, but booking morning flights could offer added reassurance and comfort.
At the airport & on the flight
First, check if your flight is with the same airline that you originally booked. Some airlines have partnerships to outsource different flight paths to others (e.g. British Airways and American Airlines). This means the allergy policy and ability to accommodate nut allergies might be different than you originally expected - it's better to find this out before you get to the airport!
Speak to airline staff in advance. Ideally, you’ll be able to request a special meal online or inform them about your nut allergy over the phone, though often these requests do not reach cabin crew staff as intended. When at the airport, the customer service desk for your airline should be able to help explain their allergy policy, and inform the flight crew ahead of time.
Doctors note with allergy diagnosis and prescription. Though most security and airline staff should be used to adrenaline autoinjectors, it’s safer to have a doctor's note explaining why you need to carry medication for your allergy. Specific device certificates can be gathered from the manufacturers of your adrenaline pens. While this is not always required, it can be helpful if medical treatment is needed abroad.
Ask the flight crew to make an announcement when boarding. As soon as you set foot on a flight, tell a crew member about your nut allergy, its severity, and that you’re carrying autoinjectors. Ask them to make an announcement that there is someone with a severe nut allergy onboard, that nuts shouldn’t be served, and that people should refrain from eating them.
Communicate calmly and clearly. Try not to feel embarrassed or angry and let that affect the way you communicate to flight staff. While allergy awareness is increasing, there will still be people who are unaware of the risks. Never apologise for keeping yourself safe.
Clean your seating area - ask to board early. Airlines will usually allow for early boarding if you tell the boarding team that you have a severe anaphylactic allergy, and need to wipe down your seat beforehand. We recommend wiping down tray tables, armrests, seatbelt buckles, and entertainment screens before sitting down, as these are high-contact surfaces.
Eating while flying
While many airlines no longer serve nuts directly, their food cannot be guaranteed as free of traces of peanuts or tree nuts. For this reason, we always recommend packing nut free snacks in your carry on luggage, so that there’s always a backup option on hand. For longer international flights, a large meal beforehand can help manage hunger.
Checking which restaurants are at the airport you’re flying from is also important. With limited time to have a safe meal, having a strategy in place beforehand helps reduce the stress of eating in the airport.
Travel insurance
Before your journey, make sure you have travel insurance in place and have declared your nut allergy with the provider. Not doing so could result in claims being rejected.
Emergency service numbers
As an extra precaution, look up local emergency services numbers and clinic locations, and write them down. Hopefully these will never be needed, but if an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis happens and you do need to use an adrenaline device, the faster you’re able to get medical treatment, the better. Some destinations may have both national and local emergency numbers.
It can also be helpful to know how to say 'allergy' and 'hospital' in the local language before travelling. Even simple phrases can make communication easier in an emergency situation.
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