Traveller Letters: Why can't airlines make tasty meals for passengers with allergies?

There are a whole host of options for a Christmas lunch in NYC. A lot of venues offer prix fixe only, however they may be a bit much for your seven-year-old. Most places you'll be able to book about a month out on opentable.com and the like so keep an eye out come November. While it's a bit far out to tell which restaurants will be open, based on past holiday trading I would highly recommend Mailiano as they are generally open for a la carte service and have delicious Roman-style Italian.

If ABC Kitchen opens for the day, like last year, you'll get a great spread of farm-to-table options that will satisfy all tastes. Balthazar, the French classic in Soho, would be a crowd pleasing place to bunker down in the cold. For something truly unique head up to Red Rooster, in Harlem, for an often Swedish-influenced Christmas Day menu.

Katie Rowles

Michael, for lots of information on NYC at Christmas visit the Trip Advisor forum for NYC. There are two FAQs on the right (not viewable on a smartphone) on what to see and do at Christmas, including one about where to eat on the day. We've been four of the last seven years and it was magical. The forum is great: get prompt responses to your own questions, or just read others' questions, itineraries and Trip Reports.

Jenny Robins

HOT AIR

In reference to the letter by John Golder "Airing a grievance" (Traveller Letters, May 2-3), perhaps he doesn't understand that the Airbnb apartment he booked and cancelled may not be re-let by the owner as it was cancelled close to his arrival date. Why should the owner be out of pocket? I trust John had adequate travel insurance that may have covered his loss.

Meredith Flanders

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Lee Tulloch's description of her long-haul flight with two "unaccompanied children" sitting beside her got my blood boiling. What if Lee hadn't been such a nice person? What if some sleeze-bag groper had been seated next to this small boy?

A word of warning to both airlines and parents who might try this on any future flight I may join them on ... If I find out the child seated next to me has a parent sitting up the front end, and if that child needs supervision to eat properly or go to the toilet or even just use a tissue, I shall be marching them down to the front end for the parents to deal with. And woe betide you if you wake me while checking up on your little darlings.

Jane Kelly

PARENTING BUSINESS

"Not my kids, so why my problem?" (Traveller, May 2-3) brought to mind my husband's nightmare trip from Europe several years ago. As the plane took off he was delighted to find the seat next to him vacant. It only took a couple of hours for parents of a very active boy to discover this and to direct the child to this seat.

From that moment on the victim (my husband) had to suffer the continual movement and shuffling around of this child until he collected a full glass of coke all over his clothing. Didn't make for a very comfortable trip, but I guess the parents had a more peaceful time.

Judy Burer

I was horrified to learn about parents palming their kids (including toddlers!) off into economy as "unaccompanied minors" while they luxuriated in business class. It is one thing to leave children alone and unsupervised but how can parents be confident that the other passengers around them are of good character? This is irresponsible and constitutes neglect. Airlines need to tighten any loopholes to ensure passengers cannot avoid their parental responsibilities.

Susan Dean

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