in JNB. They had paramedics waiting at ATL it was so bad - throwing up and very dehydrated. This was a terrible end to a wonderful trip.

I am going to write a complaint letter. We were using the Air France lounge since Delta does not have one. Any tips on how to word the letter, and if and/or what I should expect from Air France?

One thing to document is if others were also sick and what else you ate and drank outside of lounge. I can almost guarantee, unless many were ill, that AF will say you/they can not prove it was from AF lounge food - that is usually the case with gastroenteritis.

I agree with Gail. You will have to prove that others were also made sick by the same food. Otherwise there is no proof it was the airline food and not just a flu bug.

I disagree with the above replies.

Few years ago I got violently sick after sitting at AA Lounge and having a meal during the flight.

Nobody else got sick. The first class FA knew what was going on as I made very loud noises inside the toilet, numerous times. She made sure I was okay, paid extra attention to me for the remainder of the flight. At the end of the flight I was feeling much better.

Anyways, I wrote an e-mail to AA CS. I did not b&m nor did I demand anything. Just simply stated that it was very possible I got food poisoning at the club and/or during the flight and perhaps AA should do a food quality recheck at that particular club and also the caterer on that route.

It took few days but I received a reply. The CS rep gave me 10K miles and also mailed a voucher for (can't remember) but it was ~$100 and an apology.

Expect nothing

It's not worth the effort.

Airlines receive tons of complaint letters each day. They throw them directly into the garbage bin.

If you insisst in writing a letter, look here:

http://www.executivetravelmagazine.c...Airline?t=anon

thanks - I will give a letter a shot. A few miles would please me, and not cost them much, but I really want to let them know about their suppliers and their quality control.

I would definitely write a nice letter to Delta - and I would make it really nice, since you were not actually in a Delta lounge, but what the heck, doesn't hurt to try... But, I've used the AF lounge at JNB, and it was really nice, and I had no problems - just wondered - what did you eat that you think affected you? I'd just like to know so I can be careful.....

It was a nice lounge, and we spent a pleasant 2 hours there. But, it was a pat of butter, that smelled and tasted off, and was soft - didn't pay attention at the time...

I see no harm in writing a letter, the worst that can happen is you will get nothing. Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

I've written to airlines several times with good result. You never know until you try.

If nothing else, putting it in writing can be very therapeutic.

Write the letter. I've written letters to airlines for decades and have gotten responses. Happy Travels!

actually, I may not write the letter. As it turns out, my sister also had some peanut butter crackers, made by Keebler, that have since been recalled. So, she may have had some kind of salmonella poisoning! Aaack.

So, whatever she had, there is enough doubt that I can't accuse anyone...