Elyse the inflight dish
costa-rican-breakfast

A Traditional Costa Rican Breakfast on United Airlines

This is the best breakfast I've ever had on an airplane.

On a recent United-Continental flight from San Josè, Costa Rica to Newark Liberty I scored a last-minute upgrade that landed me in early-morning Bloody Mary bliss. This is the first time I'm experiencing the new United Airlines after the systems officially merged on March 3rd. As an in-flight foodie, I immediately notice the change in flatware: Fruit ...

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Coach-dinner

Recently, I enjoyed a surprisingly good meal.

This meal was on an airplane.
...in Economy class.
...on a trans-Atlantic flight.
...on a U.S.-based carrier.

Yes, you read that correctly. I flew coach class on a red-eye across the Atlantic Ocean. Make that "flew coach class TWICE," in the same month. As the end of 2011 came to a close, I found myself cleaned out of Continental/United's system-wide upgrades with no desire to spend $$$ (and hard-earned miles) ...

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Iberia-tray

This is the worst meal I've ever been served on an airplane.

At first glance, the plastic and foil-cloaked fodder may seem innocuous, but beneath the lid lurks a culinary crime against the flying public. When I say worst airplane meal ever, I mean ever. Let's put this into perspective: in the past two years I've flown nearly 250,000 miles on more than a dozen international carriers. I've eaten air meals on a West African charter and on a Ukrainian regional carrier I can't ...

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Elyse_breakfast

I consider myself somewhat of an expert on inflight breakfast. 

In the past year, I've eaten a fair share of morning meals on airplanes. In the confusing throes of pre-caffination, I've asked myself many times: cereal or eggs? I've talked about it. I've written about it. Frankly, I've beaten the subject to death. Recently, I found myself blurry-eyed, crawling down yet another jetway before dawn. Destination: Seattle. "Inflight Dish" was the last thing on my mind, until ...

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Tapas1

Recently I found myself kicking it pre-platinum old school in coach class, in that sweet spot by the bulkhead of a 767-400. I was heading to New York from Houston, where I'd spent several days binging on Tex-Mex and tequilla. When they say, "everything's bigger in Texas," they mean everything: I nearly had to gate-check my Lonestar State-sized hangover.

It's common knowledge that best cure for a hangover is a Bloody Mary. It also happens to be my favorite part of every flight. Truth. ...

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CO1504-cereal

My name is Elyse. I've been flying, eating and blogging for Upgrd.com for the past ten months, and I have several confessions to make.

Confession 1: I recently returned my tray table to its full upright and locked position.

In other words, I went on undeclared blog hiatus, mainly due to some much-needed surgery (resulting from a less-than-graceful international incident). The good news is that I'm now on both feet, ready to step back into my fast-paced, food-obsessed lifestyle ...

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