User Name

Exactly. Next time OP should mind his own business.

exilencfc

It seems to me to be largely a matter of reasonable consumption - if you are in a hurry it seems reasonable to take the food you'd normally have eaten in the lounge. It also seems reasonable to take a few extra of an item you really like, provided you ask first to make sure you aren't depriving fellow passengers. Taking your open crisps with you is definitely reasonable because no other passenger would want to eat them, although I suppose the fact that something has no value does not mean it can't be regarded as stolen.

I would suggest that the removal of the glasses was definitely theft (assuming they weren't returned), because fittings and fixtures are not intended to be removed by passengers. Glasses do get smashed, but I doubt BA budgets for them disappearing from the inventory at the same rate as the kettle chips.

Newspapers are more tricky because whilst they are reusable they clearly have a very limited lifespan. Also as they are handed out on the plane it could be argued you've paid for one and it isn't your fault if BA's stock of newspapers doesn't happen to be where it's customers are. At this point I feel I should admit to removing newspapers from trains if I haven't finished reading them and to taking the puzzle page from the newspaper at work (not that anyone else ever takes much interest in it)

The champagne is trickier still because it is a higher value item and because the removal of an entire bottle means the removal of multiple servings rather than just one and thus potentially impacts more passengers. In this case the behaviour of the pax in question was instructive - she was acting like a thief (putting the stuff in her bag) which suggests she regarded her behaviour as theft and that it was not intended for consumption by anyone entitled to consume it.

crAAzy

I blame it on the decline of humanity. What else do you expect when society decided it was perfectly acceptable to replace a fabulous pochette with bags large enough to serve as a pet carriers for their dogs?

Legality aside, the woman behaved like a crack whore a Waffle House buffet. Seeing this happened in NY, I'm surprised somebody didn't tackle her a**, grab the bottle, and throw her out into the cold!

Habemuspapam

I can't believe this thread is still going on!

I'll be back in the Flounge on Friday, and this time will have my camera at the ready in case any more sticky-finger types show up, lol!

Not to wade in deeper, but I've never thought twice about taking reading material with me. Lounge staff have told me on more than one occasion that it is there to be taken.

Phil the Flyer

What an absolutely wonderful simile (who said our cousins from across the pond can't use English properly)! You can just picture it!

Viajero Millero

Theft is wrong. No doubt about it. But the funny part to me is we would have never found out about this if the OP told the dragons.

Nobody starts a thread saying, "I just saw someone stuffing a champagne bottle and two glasses in a super sized purse...so I promptly informed security and the person is now facing the law. All is well, fellas. I am The Lounge's Keeper."

Globaliser

Whatever the fine technicalities of it, AIUI most is given to the airline for free by the publishers and some of it (daily newspapers, for example) has a very short shelf life.

I doubt that the same can be said of a bottle of champagne and two champagne glasses.

hammythehammer

After 11 pages have we found out yet if it's ok to remove a packet of crisps and an apple but a bag of crisps and a banana is taking the p*ss ?

Morally, is it wrong to grab a pack of biscuits while rushing to make a connection but perfectly acceptable to guest a stranger into the lounges ?

With a charitable viewpoint maybe the ' thief ' was taking the bottle to be consumed in CW pre-flight dining. (or alternatively they are one of lifes chancers)

tobyh

If you sign in it's only 4 pages

There's a somewhat similar thread on the AA board re: bottles of booze being removed from the JFK Flagship Lounge. Whether one calls it theft or not, it is definitely against New York State licensing laws to take alcohol from the lounges into the terminal.

While I'm here, I'll admit to have occasionally taken crisps, biscuits, fruit cake, the odd magazine and even those little packets of ketchup from the BA Flounge, but never really considered it theft. However, I wouldn't dream of taking whole bottles and/or glasses.

T8191

I always understood that the definition of 'theft' was the intention to permanently deprive ...

I don't recall ever seeing it qualified by degree

Genius1

I took the High Life and Business Life from my seat last night. I dont see anything wrong with that. I've paid for the ticket, and they are cheap mass-produced consumable products.

Reiterating what I said about the lounges, I don't see any problem in taking a newspaper or magazine (in moderation) from the lounge. I have done many times. I always see staff in lounges collecting the read newspapers and throwing them away rather than replacing them on the pile of fresh newspapers. Nobody wants to read a battered newspaper anyway.

Newspapers/magazines are in a totally different league to a bottle of champagne.

Globaliser

Especially as both of them expressly invite you to take them with you!

TexasFlyr

I took two barf bags from the CO EWR-HKG flight last week. Just in case my henpecking girlfriend started in on me on the way home from the airport.

golfmad

I did the same with a bottle of Laphroaig. Took me two thirds of the bottle and about 18 months before I suddenly realised it wasn't so bad after all. Best not to sniff it though as it still smells like Germolene in my opinion.

Phil the Flyer

TexasFlyr - with just six posts in 68 months of FT membership it would appear that you reserve your words of wisdom for topics of great importance.