irrational fear of flying

[echappist]

I don't eat those things any time other than when a flight attendant hands them to me, yet they're a decent cookie if you don't have homemade options.

Recipe plz :)

I buy the Lotus biscuits pounds at a time from Costco. Not as good as the freshly-baked speculoos from Belgium, but more than serviceable and better than any mass-market cookie/ biscuits made Stateside.

[j44ke]

Biscoff: the cookie made famous by the airlines concern for the peanut allergic.

I was on a flight once where the lady in front of me opened a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was almost immediately confiscated by a flight attendant. I didn't see what happened to it. The lady in front seemed unconcerned. I know that peanut allergies can be life-threatening, so maybe there was a passenger on the plane who had self-identified. I did find myself wanting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the rest of the flight though.

[echappist]

Biscoff: the cookie made famous by the airlines concern for the peanut allergic.

I was on a flight once where the lady in front of me opened a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was almost immediately confiscated by a flight attendant. I didn't see what happened to it. The lady in front seemed unconcerned. I know that peanut allergies can be life-threatening, so maybe there was a passenger on the plane who had self-identified. I did find myself wanting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the rest of the flight though.

But don't quite a few airlines still offer Planter's nuts and the like as snack? Or did they remove the peanuts from those snacks?

I always associated Biscoff with the cookie butter. Never trusted myself with a jar of those, so I never bought the jar.

So when speculoos finally got popular enough that Costco started carrying B, I had to try it.

I should also add that various German grocers (e.g. Aldi's) have the German version (Spekulatius) available during Christmas time. And yes, I'd buy those pounds at a time. Speaking of which, in Madison, there's a bakery started by a German family that immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960's, and I used to load up on its spekulatius bsicuits. I should probably stop by next time I'm in town.

[rwsaunders]

Biscoff: the cookie made famous by the airlines concern for the peanut allergic.

About 10-12 years ago, it seems like there were warnings on every flight about not opening a bag of nuts on the plane, but then it eventually reverted to every man/woman/child/dog for themselves.

[vertical_doug]

Post-Covid, if you ask a random passenger not to eat peanuts because you have an allergy, they are probably more likely to spit them on you like a little kid.

I am now more worried about the toilet phantoms in Europe.


This flight was cancelled two consecutive days because of the phantom.

[j44ke]

But don't quite a few airlines still offer Planter's nuts and the like as snack? Or did they remove the peanuts from those snacks?

I always associated Biscoff with the cookie butter. Never trusted myself with a jar of those, so I never bought the jar.

So when speculoos finally got popular enough that Costco started carrying B, I had to try it.

I should also add that various German grocers (e.g. Aldi's) have the German version (Spekulatius) available during Christmas time. And yes, I'd buy those pounds at a time. Speaking of which, in Madison, there's a bakery started by a German family that immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960's, and I used to load up on its spekulatius bsicuits. I should probably stop by next time I'm in town.

No peanuts distributed as official airline snacks AFAIK. I think it is probably an insurance decision. It is one of the more serious allergies evidently. Even just having food particles floating around in the air can be enough to cause a medical emergency.

[echappist]

Ah, interesting. And makes total sense.

[j44ke]

Looking at the spice mix that is part of "speculaas" - pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg - I realized that is the mysterious spice mix that our friend puts in her muesli. She learned the recipe for muesli from her grandmother, who was the single surviving member of a Jewish family after the Holocaust. She's always thought of it as a mysterious mix of spices for a breakfast item (though it makes a good muesli!) so I'll have to mention the association.

[72gmc]

Recipe plz :)

I buy the Lotus biscuits pounds at a time from Costco. Not as good as the freshly-baked speculoos from Belgium, but more than serviceable and better than any mass-market cookie/ biscuits made Stateside.

My recipe is to be very nice to my wife and mother-in-law. Currently working through a batch of peanut butter cookies. I can see the point of not having them on a flight if someone’s allergic—my kids attended school with kids who had to carry epipens in case of nut exposure—but wow would I be sad if someone confiscated my PB&J.

[echappist]

Looking at the spice mix that is part of "speculaas" - pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg - I realized that is the mysterious spice mix that our friend puts in her muesli. She learned the recipe for muesli from her grandmother, who was the single surviving member of a Jewish family after the Holocaust. She's always thought of it as a mysterious mix of spices for a breakfast item (though it makes a good muesli!) so I'll have to mention the association.

I don't know if you bake, but if you do, you should bake some speculaas using the spice mix and bring it out on your next Trans-Atlantic flight. When asked if you want biscuits, you can respond, "got my own freshly-baked ones right here."

Actually, I'm half-tempted to give this a go myself. I already make a half-arsed attempt at making mulled wine, and I've accumulated quite the collection of spices (mainly for curries). I've never been arsed enough with grinding and toasting my own spices, but I'll make an exception for cookies and biscuits. And alas, that's why I'm a tad zaftig, despite all the hours on the trainer.

Also, as a word-nerd, I'm pleasantly disappointed to find that these are not twice-baked, as suggested by the name of biscuit (twice baked).

PS. Feel free to move the latest exchange over to the baking thread :)

[Chik]

Recipe plz :)

I buy the Lotus biscuits pounds at a time from Costco. Not as good as the freshly-baked speculoos from Belgium, but more than serviceable and better than any mass-market cookie/ biscuits made Stateside.

I'm not really a fan of speculoos generally, but whenever I pedal past the Lotus factory not far from here, the smell is intoxicating.

That said, these guys (I don't dare to even try pronouncing or even spelling their name) in Ghent make artisanal speculoos that I think are really rather nice: https://www.deduytschaever.be/

[echappist]

I'm not really a fan of speculoos generally, but whenever I pedal past the Lotus factory not far from here, the smell is intoxicating.

That said, these guys (I don't dare to even try pronouncing or even spelling their name) in Ghent make artisanal speculoos that I think are really rather nice: https://www.deduytschaever.be/

D'oh, we walked on the north side of that plaza (to and from St. Baaf's) and completely missed the shop to which you linked (on the south side). Note to self, walk on both sides of the plaza next time when I visit a place as a tourist.

I did get my fill from a bakery in Brugge though; so all good in the end.

[rwsaunders]

I fly Alaska Airlines 2 x month and a decent amount of their meals contain tree nuts...almonds, coconut, etc. From the AAAAI, as I guess that 30% of 0.5-1% of the population who are allergic to both tree nuts and peanut (not taking into account the percentage of those allergic, who fly) doesn't cause concern. I'm surprised that the pet dander issue doesn't come up more often.

Although 30% of peanut-allergic individuals are also allergic to tree nuts, having a tree nut allergy does not necessarily mean an individual is allergic to peanuts. Individuals with tree nut allergy can also typically consume seeds without difficulty, such as sesame, sunflower and pumpkin. They also usually tolerate macadamia nut and pine nut, which are also both seeds. Although the Food and Drug Administration labels coconut as a tree nut, the vast majority of tree nut-allergic individuals also tolerate coconut without difficulty, since coconut is not truly a nut, but rather a fruit. Nutmeg, water chestnut, butternut squash and shea nuts are not tree nuts (the term “nut” does not always indicate a tree nut) and are generally well tolerated by tree nut-allergic individuals. All individuals with tree nut allergy should discuss these specific dietary considerations with an allergist familiar in the management of food allergy.

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...food-and-drink

[Chik]

This is a slightly different sort of fear related to flying.

Apparently, at Salzburg airport, there is a customer service desk expressly for passengers who arrived in Austria but had thought they were going to Australia.

I assume that when the boarding pass gets scanned at the gate, the system validates that the passenger is getting on the flight indicated on the boarding pass, not just recording the passenger details. As such, I assume that instances of passengers actually getting on the wrong flight are very few. However, the existence of said customer service desk implies that there are more than just a handful who end up in Salzburg instead of somewhere in Australia.

I actually recall reading about some bloke a few years ago who planned a trip to Australia and found an incredible deal on the return airfare, only to find out upon landing somewhere in Austria -- I'm guessing it was Salzburg -- that the cheap flight wasn't taking him to Australia.

I'm guessing these passengers are from anglophone countries but cannot even imagine the surprise when they are hit by reality upon landing. It's like landing in Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France (although I have no idea if Paris, TX has an airport).

[echappist]

This is a slightly different sort of fear related to flying.

Apparently, at Salzburg airport, there is a customer service desk expressly for passengers who arrived in Austria but had thought they were going to Australia.

I assume that when the boarding pass gets scanned at the gate, the system validates that the passenger is getting on the flight indicated on the boarding pass, not just recording the passenger details. As such, I assume that instances of passengers actually getting on the wrong flight are very few. However, the existence of said customer service desk implies that there are more than just a handful who end up in Salzburg instead of somewhere in Australia.

I actually recall reading about some bloke a few years ago who planned a trip to Australia and found an incredible deal on the return airfare, only to find out upon landing somewhere in Austria -- I'm guessing it was Salzburg -- that the cheap flight wasn't taking him to Australia.

I'm guessing these passengers are from anglophone countries but cannot even imagine the surprise when they are hit by reality upon landing. It's like landing in Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France (although I have no idea if Paris, TX has an airport).

Your post prompted me to look up whether there's any etymological relationship between the English name of the two countries.

"Austra" in Australia, from Latin, is in reference to the continent/ country being south of the equator. Of course, this probably came as second-nature to someone who has studied Latin, such as yourself. Also explains why the southern lights is called aurora australis.

Otoh, Austria was apparently a bastardized transliteration of Österreich.

And rightly or wrongly, ignorant anglophones who can't even muster a single phrase of foreign language (applicable to Brits, Americans, and Australians) sounds like the demographic for making this faux pas.

Somewhat related are football fans from England mistaking Ghent/Gent for Genk (careless/clueless Anglophones again). I mean, one has to be really dense to mistake a well-known historical Belgian city with a city whose only claim to fame is its football club.

[j44ke]

This is a slightly different sort of fear related to flying.

Apparently, at Salzburg airport, there is a customer service desk expressly for passengers who arrived in Austria but had thought they were going to Australia.

I assume that when the boarding pass gets scanned at the gate, the system validates that the passenger is getting on the flight indicated on the boarding pass, not just recording the passenger details. As such, I assume that instances of passengers actually getting on the wrong flight are very few. However, the existence of said customer service desk implies that there are more than just a handful who end up in Salzburg instead of somewhere in Australia.

I actually recall reading about some bloke a few years ago who planned a trip to Australia and found an incredible deal on the return airfare, only to find out upon landing somewhere in Austria -- I'm guessing it was Salzburg -- that the cheap flight wasn't taking him to Australia.

I'm guessing these passengers are from anglophone countries but cannot even imagine the surprise when they are hit by reality upon landing. It's like landing in Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France (although I have no idea if Paris, TX has an airport).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/trave...irport-counter

[Scott G.]

So when you book a flight to Cairo, and on landing see grain elevators
instead of Pyramids. You've gone to KCIR instead of CAI.
Beware of auto fill on your flight management system.

[echappist]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/trave...irport-counter

@j44ke, you buried the lede here :p

The problem, of course, is that none of it is true. What started as a popular but misinformed meme on the less mainstream corners of the internet has exploded into a viral gag about the mistakes well-intentioned travelers can make.

The Salzburg Airport confirmed to The Washington Post that it does not, in fact, have a help desk for sunny Australian vacation hopefuls who found themselves in landlocked Austria instead.

I mean, the main airport of Austria is VIE anyway, so if there were such a counter, it stands to reason it would be at the much larger airport.

[gregl]

When I was a young charter pilot, I quickly learned to confirm with the lead passenger the specific destination for the flight. My chief pilot taught me to phrase the question so that I didn't sound like an idiot. Instead of saying, "You want to go to PHL, right?", I would ask "Will there be a car waiting for you at PHL or will you need a taxi?" On at least two occasions I can recall, the answer was different than expected. In both cases, the weather was good and the fuel on board sufficient for the new destination. And now I know that there is an Easton, MD in addition to Easton, PA...

Greg

[Saab2000]

I’ve never been to Australia and I’m sure it’s lovely. It’s also big from what I understand, like the contiguous United States. But I have been to Austria/Österreich (not big, but bigger than the neighbor to the west - Switzerland) and it’s also a very lovely place. The spelling could be potentially confusing and as I’ve had to explain literally countless times to people, no, they don’t speak Swedish in Switzerland. Maps help.

Don’t sleep through geography class in order to avoid humility later in life. Just a small piece of advice. Also, never assume the national origin of an Anglophone. Been there, done that. I ask now! ;-) Ya know…. Don’t Ass U Me.