I use two gallon freezer bags (one inside the other) and fill it with Ice. It will last the day. I have also seen folks with the rubber ice bottle, like this Body Glove 90147 Wide Mouth Ice and Hot Water Bottle

What do you think pays for the food that goes in the lunch box? There are some of us that don't like over paying for food at airports and hotels all the time.

9 hour overnights after long days where getting sleep takes priority over spening 30-60 minutes eating dinner (then going right to bed which isn't a healthy practice) and hotels that have absolutely no food options around them are a couple of reasons to pack food. Plus hotel restaurants are usually more of a ripoff than airport food. Plus if you're going to try to eat healthy in the airport (especially on short turns with few options nearby) then you're gonna be eating a boatload of salad and not much else.

My philosophy somewhat ties in to the conversation on the first year FO pay thread: just because you CAN afford to buy something, doesn't mean you NEED to buy it. Yes I can afford to buy every meal on the road, doesn't mean it's the smartest policy to do so. If you figure that you save, as a conservative estimate, $8/day by packing your own food, 16 days a month for a year you're looking at over $1500 in savings. That number is definitely a lot higher for people who pack all the food they need (I usually still buy a few meals a trip). Making a little extra effort to save a big chunk of money year after year makes great financial sense, whether you are on a tight budget or not.

I worked for a regional before. I used per diem to buy food then too.

I spend about 5 bucks on a 4 day most of the time, some of us like to save for the future. Or just in debt from school and trying to get out of it

I pack enough food to last me 2 or 3 days of a four day, and plan on going out to eat with the crew on the longer layovers where there are good options around the hotel. I figure the money I save on food goes to buy beer/booze!

I bring food because I don't like going hungry, & airport food can be terribly unhealthy. I've got 40 years on this job from start to Age 65(don't want to go that long) & one has to stay healthy. Food at a restaurant on an overnight isn't necessarily healthy either. Often loaded with sodium & other terrible things, as well as too large of a portion size. It's much better to eat 5-6 small meals a day rather then 2-3 large ones.

Also, my overnights don't always allow me to get to a market & I like fresh fruit on my trips. To keep my food cold I use 2 cold compress packs, & at my hotel I grab the laundry bag and fill it with ice to sit in the cooler overnight.

Just a suggestion....the belly off diet has great suggestions and almost all of the recipes are cheap and easy to make.

i like the supermarket gel packs, they are slim, about the size of a small envelope. They freeze again around 35 degrees since they are chemical gel. They are safe if they break, which is rare. They are only 99cents. They stay cold longer. The big help is to put your bag itself in the freezers when you can, if it is cold, then it takes a ton longer for stuff to start thawing inside.

Strong Bags has a cooler that they claim will keep ice frozen for 24 hours. I have it and that's pretty close to the mark. I didn't watch that closely, but I know that the ice stays frozen longer than any other bag I've used.

I like my strong bag also. I just put ice in the bag and it lasts almost all day. There at least is some still frozen ice at the end of the day. I'm not a fan of the hotel ice thing but I too don't get freezers every night... Not to sure there is a better option.