Frequent Flyers Rank the Best Airline Food and Beverage

September 26, 2026 Vacationer Staff

With peak travel season underway, it’s the perfect time to settle the biggest in-flight food and drink debates.

Intense debate persists over inflight meal service by major airlines as soaring ticket prices and aggressive cost-cutting turn basic travel comforts into flashpoints for heightened customer frustration. So which airlines offer the best experience at 30,000 feet?

Airlines’ cost-cutting may mean this is as hospitable as you’ll get on your flight. Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

Members of point.me, the leading award flight search and loyalty platform, include some of America’s most experienced travelers. Among the survey respondents, 66.0% hold more than 200,000 points, and 51.6% fly five or more times per year.

These frequent travelers weighed in on everything from airlines with the best economy snacks and coffee to carriers with the heaviest wine pours and best business-class meals. The 2026 Best Airline Food and Drinks Survey identified clear winners among domestic and international carriers, along with a nearly universal opinion about tuna sandwiches.

Emirates No. 1 was named the top international carrier for business-class dining, and Air France won for wine, earning the most votes for best wine selection and the heaviest pour.

Emirates is #1 in business-class dining.
Photo: Fabian Joy/Unsplash

Delta ranked best for economy snacks, including Cheez-Its, Biscoff cookies, Sun Chips Minis, and MadeGood Granola Bars, as well as for the best high-protein meal options for GLP-1 travelers. With 1 in 8 Americans taking GLP-1 medications (source: KFF.org) to manage their weight or diabetes, the findings highlight a growing demand for higher-protein meal options.

Delta’s Starbucks partnership also earned the top spot for in-flight coffee, while Dunkin’ coffee, served by JetBlue, was voted the worst overall. When asked about the worst food to bring on a flight, frequent flyers overwhelmingly agreed: leave the tuna sandwich at home.

Delta’s snacks and Starbucks partnership hit the spot. Photo by Isaac Struna on Unsplash

“point.me members aren’t your average traveler,” said Adam Morvitz, point.me CEO. “They’re passionate about making the most of every trip, whether it’s accumulating points, booking award flights, or seeking travel experiences most people don’t know are possible. When they tell you Air France pours the best wine at 35,000 feet, you believe them.”

Survey Findings:

Emirates leads premium dining. Emirates earned the highest marks for business-class meals (26.3%), business-class breakfast (25.2%), economy meals (23%) and cocktail program (24%), while Singapore Airlines finished a close second for business-class meals. However, Singapore Airlines was the top choice for business-class meals among travelers who fly 10 or more times per year.

Air France is for wine lovers. More than one-third (36.2%) of respondents named Air France the airline with the best business-class wine selection, while 34.5% also said it offers the most generous wine pours, more than double second-place Emirates (14.9%).

Travelers rank Delta highest for GLP-1-friendly meals. In addition to ranking first for economy snacks (30%) across every age demographic, Delta ranked first for best high-protein, GLP-1-friendly meal options (31.6%), nearly doubling second-place Alaska Airlines (17.4%).

Delta wins best in-flight coffee While Delta’s Starbucks coffee was the overall favorite (24.8%), travelers who fly 10 or more times per year overwhelmingly preferred Alaska Airlines’ Stumptown Coffee (35%). JetBlue’s Dunkin’ coffee ranked as the least favorite overall.

Amex Centurion Lounge bars rank first. Nearly 36% of respondents ranked American Express Centurion Lounges as the best airport lounge bar. Men favored Centurion Lounges (40%), while women were more evenly split between Centurion (30%) and Chase Sapphire Lounges (29%). Travelers with household incomes of $150,000 or more also preferred Amex Centurion (37%), compared to Chase Sapphire (26%).

BYO snacks? Survey gave a hard no to the tuna sandwich

Frequent flyers prefer Virgin Atlantic’s cocktail program. While Emirates topped the overall cocktail rankings (24.1%), Virgin Atlantic’s onboard cocktail program was the first choice among travelers who fly 10 or more times a year.

Tuna is on the no-fly list. Nearly 41% (40.6%) of respondents named tuna sandwiches the single worst food a fellow passenger can bring on a plane, followed by hard-boiled eggs (22.3%) and soup or other messy liquids (18.3%).

The point.me survey was conducted in May 2026; among the members canvassed, 51.6% fly five or more times a year, 66% hold 200,000+ points, and 58% report household incomes of $150,000+.

The complete survey findings, analysis and methodology can be found at point.me/insights/best-airline-food-drinks-survey.

About point.me

point.me is the leading award travel search platform powering the future of points. Founded in 2022, point.me transforms travelers’ points and miles into more buying power by making it easy to search, compare, and book award flights across 150+ credit cards and loyalty programs. By unlocking the hidden value of points, point.me helps travelers book the same flights for fewer points and get way more value from their rewards. Already trusted by millions of travelers, point.me is changing how people think about paying for travel. Named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies list in 2024 and 2025, point.me is backed by investors including Nyca Partners, Citi Ventures, Samsung, the founders of ITA Software (Google Flights), Thayer, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, Brian Kelly (The Points Guy), Meta and DoorDash executives, and Bethenny Frankel, alongside other top-tier venture firms.