The Best Airport Snacks From Hudson News, According to Our Editors

28.06.2024 - 11:29 / cntraveler.com / Megan Spurrell

This article is part of our airport food survival guide, which includes tips and tricks—even a hot take or two—that challenge the notion that airport meals are always dull, overpriced, and tasteless.

Facing an obnoxious airport delay? No time to down a power bar from your pantry before hitting the airport at the crack of dawn? Too hangry to decide where to sit and eat near your terminal? No matter the situation, preflight grab-and-go Hudson News is the old reliable. With over 1,000 stores across 37 states in the US, the stalwart stocks everything from the random to the reliable. As professional travelers (with, I’ll say, great taste), we’ve rounded up our favorite snacks from Hudson News that are variously convenient, delicious, and—most often—a combination of the two.

In case you haven't heard, we're in a beef jerky renaissance—the road trip snack is back baby! Long journeys require large doses of salty snacks (I tell myself it forces me to drink more water, which is good?), and while I used to be all salt and vinegar chips, I'm now prone to the pricey, grass-fed jerkies that line the walls at Hudson News. They're all targeted toward a very keto/paleo/etc audience, which is not me, but hey, they're the closest thing to a burger that you can keep in your bag, and if the in-flight meal doesn't hit (it rarely does), you know you can fill up on little smoky beef bits. I wash it all down with a gigantic cold seltzer (if they have glass bottles that is) otherwise I dutifully fill my reusable water bottle at the fountain. —Megan Spurrell, senior editor

On my latest trip, I happily discovered The Perfect Bar at the Hudson News in the Raleigh Durham International Airport. It’s a protein bar, but get this—it’s refrigerated. That’s because there are no chemicals or artificial preservatives, which means a shorter shelf life, but if you check out the ingredients list it’s all whole foods like nut butter, coconut, and honey. It’s the best tasting protein bar I’ve ever had, and with 20-plus superfoods and up to 17 grams of protein in one bar, it’ll keep you full for at least a few hours. I found out afterward that the founders based the recipe off a road trip snack their dad would make for the family after finding a deficit of healthy travel bites, so it’s no wonder that it’s so traveler-friendly. —Hannah Towey, Associate Editor

I hate eating on airplanes, but the only thing that’s worse is being trapped when the blood sugar starts to tank. For this reason, I buy a good amount of jerky at the airport—keeps it simple, packs that quick and easy protein punch that will actually make you full. Megan puts it well above so I won’t belabor the point. But I will add that, because so much of air travel for me is done in a