Featured Image Credit: Getty stock photo
Topics: Travel, Coffee, World News, Food and Drink
Liv Bridge
Topics: Travel, Coffee, World News, Food and Drink
A flight attendant has revealed there are two beverages that you should think twice about ordering while on a plane.
Arguably the best part about traveling is the airport goodies. The shops, the food and the pre-flight drink can all help to take the edge off the boring part of the vacation, which is being stuck inside a plane for hours on end.
To mitigate the boredom, many airlines have upped their game with their in-flight menus to keep travellers happily ticking over before the jet lands.
Many essential items like water, juice, tea and coffee are often free too on flights going the distance, though one flight attendant has issued a warning that might change your perspective on these freebies forever.
Advert
Kat Kamalani, who has more than one million TikTok followers as she reveals the best travel hacks and advice, recently took to the social media platform to reveal all about the alarming airplane drinks.
She said: "Don't you ever, ever, ever consume these products from an airplane, from a flight attendant! Rule number one never consume any liquid that is not in a can or a bottle."
The TikToker explained this is to do with the cleanliness around most planes' water tanks.
"Those water tanks are never cleaned and they are disgusting,” she claimed.
And as for hot drinks like tea or coffee, they're apparently no better because they come from the same unhygienic tank.
“Talk to a flight attendant, we rarely, rarely, drink the coffee or tea. They come from the same water tank," Kat continued. "And so when you're drinking that coffee and tea come from that hot water and it's absolutely disgusting."
To make matters worse, the machine sits within an uncomfortably close distance to the toilet.
"These little coffee guys, they are rarely cleaned unless they are broken. These guys are taken out and cleaned in between flights, but the whole machine is never cleaned and they're by the lavatories," she said.
Kat isn't the only one to issue such a warning as another former flight attendant, Alex Quigley, corroborated the apparent dirtiness of plane's water tanks when speaking to Delish.
"There's no telling how often or when the tank has been cleaned last," Alex said. "This is a beast for bacteria. Plus, we were never allowed to pour the remaining coffee brewed into the drain of the airplane and were usually instructed to pour the coffee out into the toilet.
"I can be honest and say I NEVER knew or saw anyone empty and refill or wash them out in between trips."
Kat also issued advice to those travelling with young children, urging parents to 'never ever' ask for hot water to heat baby formula and recommended a smart alternative - by asking for a bottle of water and hot water in a separate cup.
“Then make your baby a bottle with the bottled water. Put it in the cup and heat it up," she said.
According to The Mirror, the safety of water on jets depends on the cleanliness of the tank, the quality of the water inside and the maintenance practices of the airline with several concerning studies unearthing microbiological concerns in the water served up.