Traveling with a Peanut Allergy

     
Traveling with a Peanut Allergy was more stressful than I anticipated, but manageable with the proper knowledge (which I didn't have).  
    We flew with Southwest Airlines to Orlando.  Before leaving I spoke to my son's allergist and she gave me a letter for TSA stating that we were allowed to carry on Epi-pens and Benadryl.  We also informed Southwest when booking the tickets that our son had a peanut allergy.  I felt very comfortable about everything at this point.
    We had a pretty early flight which I later found out was the best thing for traveling with a peanut allergy.  Airplanes are only deep cleaned each evening, so the first flight diminishes the chances of coming into contact with peanuts.  Our first step when we got to our gate was to inform them of the allergy.  They then gave us a ticket in a blue sleeve stating that we had a PA.  This allows you to pre-board the plane.  When boarding the plane that ticket is given to the flight attendant.  We chose the first row of seats.  The first row has tons of leg room and no tray tables.  It was also recommended by our doctor that we choose the front because you have less of a chance of coming into contact with peanut dust and dirty tray tables. The flight attendants were very accommodating for the most part.  The lead attendant was AMAZING and understood the severity of the allergy.  One of the other attendants had a very sarcastic personality and decided to make a joke about the allergy and how it is unfair to the others.  He was clearly joking, but it was VERY inappropriate. 
   Our flight home was not as nice.  We were traveling in the middle of the day.  We had to take a flight from Orlando to Ft. Myers.  This flight already had passengers on board, so we were unable to get the first row.  This already threw me for a loop, but I moved on.  We chose a row of seats and were settling in when the woman behind was talking to her friend.  They were getting ready to eat their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  I panicked and insisted that we move RIGHT AWAY!  My husband located another row of seats and went to get our bags.  I asked the flight attendant if she had anything I could use to clean the tray tables and all she had were some wipes similar to the ones you get when eating ribs.  So I am furiously scrubbing down tray tables, arm rests, seats, and seat belts.  I look down and there is a peanut wrapper and peanuts on the floor.  I am practically in tears at this point and wanting to get off the plane.  When my husband got back on he could tell I was distressed and he began scouring the plane for a safe row, but honestly how safe could any of the rows have been.  We finally got settled in after scrubbing down a whole other row of seats. Rick later told me that the flight attendant said to him, "what do you want me to do about it?"  Wow, thank you for being sympathetic! Luckily it was literally a 50 minute flight from gate to gate.  We landed and got off as quick as we could.
   We then had a delay that lasted about 5 hours! Torture! And there was no McDonald's to be found.  I don't know about other PA moms, but McDonald's is my go to.  We had tons of snacks and luckily found a place we could eat at.  When it was time for our next flight we got into a conversation with another family that was pre-boarding.  They too were traveling with a son with a PA.  It was nice to know that we were in this together.  She shared some tips with me since they had flown 4 times with their son.  They always keep their Epi-pens at arms reach, ours were in the overhead in our diaper bag.  They also always travel with a to-go package of Clorox wipes, which is much more powerful than baby wipes.  The flight attendants couldn't have been better.  They announced SEVERAL times that they were traveling with two PA's on board and they would not be serving peanuts and they would appreciate it if everyone would refrain from eating their own snacks containing peanut products.  It was amazing!  We got our front row seat and had a very relaxing flight home.
   Overall, it was very stressful, but do-able.  A little knowledge and pre-planning will hopefully make our next flight a lot smoother.