Continental Ditches Pretzels, Ending Free Snacks

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The last vestige of complimentary snacks on Continental is now gone. The airline has stopped serving its small bags of pretzels, meaning passengers looking for a nosh will have to pony up a few bucks for the privilege.

Continental made no formal announcement, but subtle changes to its in-flight food information make it obvious—gone is any reference to complimentary snacks, leaving in its wake only a lone offering of free soft drinks. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer confirms: “Don’t expect to fill up on those 19 tiny pretzels the next time you fly Continental Airlines. On March 1, Continental ended all free snacks in economy class.”

The Plain-Dealer says the move should save Continental approximately $2.5 million. It will also bring the carrier into alignment with United, which does not offer free snacks.

Free snacks are a dying breed. Among major carriers, only Southwest, AirTran, Delta, Frontier, and JetBlue provide complimentary snacks, with JetBlue’s offerings being by far the most robust. Frontier serves freshly baked cookies after 10:00 a.m., while the other airlines offer a more traditional bag of pretzels or peanuts or some other small snack.

Readers, will you mourn the loss of Continental’s pretzels, or is this nothing worth losing sleep over?