We have booked the direct Chicago to Maui flight with United. As we are connecting from Toronto with a very early flight, we can only bring snacks from home. My question is should we be content on buying the sandwiches or salads offered on the plane or are they not worth the money and should we look at buying something at O'Hare? On a 9 hour flight I am afraid to buy something that I can't keep chilled. Has anyone been on this flight? What did you think of the food?

Are you sure there are no meals included during the nine-hour flight?

Airline "food" is a step below TV dinners, IMO. Most airports have places you can buy food to bring on board. Just avoid mayonnaise and chicken and you'll be fine. Alternatively, you can eat before you board at O'Hare. There are a ton of dining options there.

We bring a small softsided cooler. I prefer having a selection to pick from and since the price isn't going to be much different getting something in the airport is an option.

Yes, believe it or not on a 9 hour flight no meal service! I have triple checked. Oh well, at least Hawaii is the end result.

I would purchase something at O'Hare. Even a sandwich with chicken, mayo, whatever will be fine in an airplane for several hours. You could pack something indestructible, like peanut butter sandwiches, at home, but dragging them around would not be, at least for me, worth the effort.

I always just pick up something at the airport these days. There's always places with ready-made sandwiches and salads or fast-food, sometimes better. I buy a magazine and large bag of cashews from the newsstand. Then a salad from a Starbucks or similar. And have the beverages they still manage to serve on the place
;-)

You can bring food from home, but that is just one more thing to be dragging to the airport and thru check-in with you. I find it is much easier to do it at the airport, after check-in and security, while you're waiting for your flight.

Oops, I mean a *sandwich* from Starbucks. They're wrapped and easy to stick in a tote bag.

I'm not against buying something they sell on the plane either. Sometimes these are OK (I don't know United), but I wouldn't want to be starving and forced into it.

You'll have a lot of food options in the United terminal at O'Hare. I'd wait until you get there and then make your selections.

It's a good thing, Laurelie, that you are NOT flying on American Airlines.

On AA, the typical buy-on-board food consists of a jumbo chocolate chip cookie, a theater-size bag of M&M's, and other junky, sugary items ... not a one of them nutritious!

I hope UA has something better to offer you.