Are in-flight meals included in the ticket price?

It depends on the airline and cabin class. Full-service carriers generally include complimentary meals on medium- and long-haul routes for all cabins. Low-cost carriers and most short-haul flights offer food for purchase only. Business and first class always include meals on routes where any meal service is offered.

What is a special meal on a flight?

A special meal is a pre-ordered alternative to the standard onboard option, covering dietary, religious, or medical needs. Airlines use standardized IATA codes to manage these requests, such as KSML for kosher, GFML for gluten-free, or MOML for halal. Requests must typically be submitted at least 24 hours before departure.

How do you request a special meal?

Request a special meal through the airline's website, app, or customer service using your booking reference. On most carriers, requests must be submitted at least 24 hours before the first flight segment. On codeshare itineraries, contact the operating carrier — the airline flying the route — not the carrier that sold the ticket.

Are in-flight meals a reimbursable business expense?

Meals included in the base fare are not separately reimbursable because they're already covered in the ticket cost. Meals purchased separately onboard generally qualify as reimbursable T&E expenses, subject to your company's per-meal limit and receipt requirements. Navan Expense captures onboard meal receipts automatically and checks them against your active travel policy.

How do corporate travel policies handle in-flight meal costs?

Most organizations use a per-meal spending cap, a daily per-diem covering all travel day meals, or actual-cost reimbursement with receipts. A spending limit is the most common approach since meal costs vary by location and schedule. Navan Expense enforces these rules automatically, routing only out-of-policy submissions for manual review.

What's the difference in meal service between full-service and low-cost carriers?

Full-service carriers bundle meals into the base fare on medium- and long-haul routes, so food costs don't appear as separate expense items. Low-cost carriers sell meals as optional paid add-ons, making onboard purchases a separate, expensable transaction. For corporate budgeting, comparing total trip cost — including expected meal purchases — gives the most accurate cost comparison across fare options.

Navan - Business Travel Solutions & Expense Management

In-Flight Meal

An in-flight meal is food and beverage service provided to passengers aboard a commercial aircraft, with service type ranging from complimentary multi-course meals in premium cabins to snacks and beverages available for purchase in economy, depending on the airline's commercial model, the cabin class booked, and the route duration.

Victoria Landsmann

•June 11, 2026•

5 minute read

Key Takeaways

An in-flight meal is food or beverage service provided to passengers aboard a commercial aircraft, ranging from complimentary multi-course dining in premium cabins to snacks and beverages available for purchase in economy. The type and extent of service depends primarily on the airline's commercial model, the passenger's cabin class, and the route duration.

Full-service carriers typically include complimentary meals on flights exceeding two to three hours; low-cost carriers structure food and beverages as optional purchases layered on top of the base ticket price.
Airlines offer more than 20 standardized IATA special meal types, from kosher (KSML) to gluten-free (GFML), with requests required at least 24 hours before departure in most cases.
When a business traveler purchases an in-flight meal not included in the base fare, it generally qualifies as a reimbursable travel and expense (T&E) expense subject to the company's per-meal policy limits and receipt requirements.
Navan lets travel managers set per-meal spending thresholds and automatically flags expense submissions that exceed policy, reducing manual receipt reviews during month-end close.

What is an In-Flight Meal?

An in-flight meal is food or beverage service provided to passengers during a commercial flight. Service ranges from a hot multi-course meal in business class to a packaged snack in economy, with the scope determined by the airline's commercial model, the cabin class booked, and the flight's duration.

Airlines structure in-flight dining in one of two ways. Full-service carriers (network airlines operating hub-and-spoke routes) typically include meals in the base fare class on medium- and long-haul routes. Low-cost carriers monetize food and beverages as ancillary services, sold separately from the base ticket price. This distinction matters for corporate travel because it affects whether meal costs appear in the ticket total or as separate expense items requiring receipt documentation.

In-flight catering operates as a significant logistical undertaking for airlines: meals are prepared off-site, loaded within tight ground turnaround windows, and served within precise cabin service sequences. For travelers, the practical implication is that choices made at booking (carrier type, cabin class, route) largely determine the meal experience before they set foot on the aircraft.

In-flight meal service by cabin class

Meal service varies substantially by cabin class. Understanding these differences helps travel managers set accurate per-meal allowances and helps travelers plan what to expect before boarding.

Cabin	Typical service	Included in base fare?	Dietary options
Economy	Pre-packaged or boxed meal on long-haul; snack or buy-on-board on short-haul	Varies by carrier and route length	Standard and special meals on request
Economy class (premium sub-tier)	Enhanced meal with more choices; alcoholic beverage on some carriers	Included on most carriers	Standard and special meals
Business class	Multi-course service with starter, entrée, and dessert; chef-curated menus on many long-haul routes	Included	Full range of IATA special meal types
First class	Fine dining with à la carte options on many carriers, fine dinnerware, and dedicated service	Included	Full range, with highly specific accommodations on many carriers

On long-haul routes (generally defined as flights exceeding six hours), most full-service carriers provide meal service across all cabin classes. On short- and medium-haul routes, meal inclusion depends on the carrier's model. A business traveler booking a two-hour domestic flight on a network carrier may receive a snack and beverage; the same route on a low-cost carrier may offer food only for purchase at an additional charge.

Special meal requests and IATA codes

Airlines accommodate dietary, religious, medical, and age-specific needs through a standardized system of IATA Special Service Request (SSR) codes. These codes are attached to a passenger's booking record and communicate meal requirements to catering teams in advance of the flight.

Common IATA special meal codes include:

Code	Meal type
VGML	Vegetarian vegan meal
GFML	Gluten-free meal
KSML	Kosher meal
MOML	Muslim (halal) meal
DBML	Diabetic meal
HNML	Hindu (non-vegetarian) meal
AVML	Vegetarian Hindu meal
LCML	Low-calorie meal
BLML	Bland/low-spice meal
CHML	Child meal

The full IATA framework includes more than 20 standardized codes covering the most common dietary and religious requirements. Most airlines require special meal requests at least 24 hours before the first flight segment. On codeshare itineraries, the request must be placed with the operating carrier (the airline providing the aircraft), not the carrier that sold the ticket. Travelers who need specific dietary accommodations on multi-segment trips should confirm that SSR codes have been attached to each segment when booking through a corporate travel platform.

In-flight meals in corporate travel policy

In-flight meal costs intersect with corporate travel policy in two distinct ways. First, meals bundled into the base fare are invisible in the expense workflow: they're already captured in the ticket cost and don't require a separate submission. Second, meals purchased separately onboard or at the airport during delays are visible, expensable transactions that fall under the company's meal reimbursement rules.

Most organizations use one of three approaches for reimbursable meal expenses:

Spending limit: A cap per meal or per day. Travelers submit actual receipts, and amounts within the limit are approved automatically.
Per-diem allowance: A fixed daily meal budget covering all meals during travel days, regardless of actual spend.
Actual-cost reimbursement: Travelers submit receipts for what they actually spent, reviewed individually or up to an unstated cap.

Deloitte's 2025 Corporate Travel Buyer Survey noted that cost-control measures in 2025 shifted toward in-destination spending (which includes meals and ground transport) more than toward flight costs, reflecting a period when airfares declined relative to on-the-ground expenses [1]. Finance teams looking for controllable expense categories increasingly focus on meal and incidental spend as a meaningful budget lever.

Navan Expense automates receipt capture for travel meal purchases, matches submitted receipts against the active travel and expense (T&E) policy, and routes for human approval only those that exceed policy thresholds. This removes the manual review burden from finance teams on routine compliant submissions.

Managing in-flight meal expenses effectively

Clear meal policy language reduces surprises for travelers and administrative work for finance teams. A well-structured T&E policy for in-flight and travel meals should address four variables: which meals are reimbursable, whether alcoholic beverages are covered, what documentation is required, and how the policy applies on delayed or extended travel days.

Receipt requirements generally follow the broader expense policy. Most organizations require itemized receipts for purchases above a threshold (commonly $25). A digital transaction record from an airline app or onboard payment terminal typically satisfies this requirement when it shows the item, price, and merchant.

For travelers on extended trips, meal costs accumulate quickly. Setting per-diem or per-meal limits before departure, and communicating them clearly in the booking experience, is the most effective way to reduce out-of-policy submissions. Travelers who understand their meal budget before boarding make fewer exceptions and submit cleaner expense reports.

In-flight and travel meals are a routine part of business travel, but they're also one of the most variable T&E expense categories. Pairing clear policy guidelines with automated expense tools turns a common source of month-end friction into a predictable, manageable cost.

Sources

[1] Deloitte, "2025 Corporate Travel Buyer Survey," Deloitte Insights, 2025. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/transportation/corporate-business-travel-survey.html

Fare Class: The letter-coded booking category that defines a ticket's price, flexibility, and included services, including whether meals are bundled in the base fare.
Ancillary Services: Optional extras purchased on top of a base ticket or room rate, including onboard food and beverages on low-cost carriers.
Corporate Travel Policy: The organizational guidelines that define which travel expenses, including in-flight meals, are reimbursable and under what conditions.
Travel and Expense (T&E): The category of business spending covering employee travel costs, including airfare, accommodation, and meals during business trips.
Economy Class: The standard and most affordable cabin category on commercial aircraft, where meal inclusion and quality vary most significantly by carrier and route.

Frequently Asked Questions About In-Flight Meals

It depends on the airline and cabin class. Full-service carriers generally include complimentary meals on medium- and long-haul routes for all cabins. Low-cost carriers and most short-haul flights offer food for purchase only. Business and first class always include meals on routes where any meal service is offered.
A special meal is a pre-ordered alternative to the standard onboard option, covering dietary, religious, or medical needs. Airlines use standardized IATA codes to manage these requests, such as KSML for kosher, GFML for gluten-free, or MOML for halal. Requests must typically be submitted at least 24 hours before departure.
Request a special meal through the airline's website, app, or customer service using your booking reference. On most carriers, requests must be submitted at least 24 hours before the first flight segment. On codeshare itineraries, contact the operating carrier — the airline flying the route — not the carrier that sold the ticket.
Meals included in the base fare are not separately reimbursable because they're already covered in the ticket cost. Meals purchased separately onboard generally qualify as reimbursable T&E expenses, subject to your company's per-meal limit and receipt requirements. Navan Expense captures onboard meal receipts automatically and checks them against your active travel policy.
Most organizations use a per-meal spending cap, a daily per-diem covering all travel day meals, or actual-cost reimbursement with receipts. A spending limit is the most common approach since meal costs vary by location and schedule. Navan Expense enforces these rules automatically, routing only out-of-policy submissions for manual review.
Full-service carriers bundle meals into the base fare on medium- and long-haul routes, so food costs don't appear as separate expense items. Low-cost carriers sell meals as optional paid add-ons, making onboard purchases a separate, expensable transaction. For corporate budgeting, comparing total trip cost — including expected meal purchases — gives the most accurate cost comparison across fare options.