awayIgo

Is “ knocking” a synonym for stealing. Maybe I’m old fashioned but unless it is given to,you to keep- you don’t keep it!

nancypants

knocking is definitely a synonym for something else!

mikeijay

I do usually ask and in a few occasions told “how many do you want?” - that’s how I got that really nice BA coffee cup set with the city skylines on them.

I do it because when I was a kid - my globetrotting dad’s collection of airline keepsakes inspired me to travel and I hope to do the same with my little girl!

ttama

Is it theirs to give away? Does it make them complicit in stealing? How does it ultimately affect their jobs and those of their colleagues, if stuff is freely given away to passengers? I'd be interested to hear what BA staff and managers think about this.

Also, is it an awkward question for staff to deal with? Would a refusal offend you?

I don't mean to offend you either, but just because your dad did it, does that make it right? Is it OK to pass his values to your own children? Times have changed ; flying isn't the status symbol it used to be, and stealing airline equipment really isn't glamorous any more, assuming it once was.

squawk

Several posters have mentioned purchasing old designs when airlines refresh their ranges of glassware, crockery and cutlery. Is there any particular place that these are advertised for sale? I don’t recall seeing any, but then again haven’t looked!

Prospero

ebay is as good a place as any to search for discontinued stock. I purchased two sets of 6 CE cups many years ago. The vendor was a BA employee who purchased the stock directly from the airline.

nancypants

Yes we get offered it directly although I believe the bulk sales of qantas stuff on eBay are also legit (anything less than say 6 of anything I would suggest has been acquired under nefarious circumstances)

CPH-Flyer

I have a Scandinavian Airlines glass of a design series that I don't recall ever seeing on my flights. I don't really know where I have it from, but now it is kind of a keep sake.

I have been tempted by the nut ramekins on Qatar Airways at times, but they have all been duly collected, as I can't actually get myself to swipe them. The JAL F coffee mugs is another item I have considered grabbing a few times.

orbitmic

To be honest the argument is rather circular. Some posters have made it clear that they consider that airlines probably intend for some people keeping some of those teaspoons as branded mementos (I believe "souvenirs" is the word used upthread) just like that hotel branded pen in your room, and if so, then it seems to me that the process of asking airline staff if indeed, they can keep them is entirely coherent, and if the crew member answers "do you want a fresh one", that would end up confirming their perception. You ask whether it is for the airline crew to "give them" away or not, but let us turn the question around: if the passenger is genuinely unsure whether they are allowed to keep something given to them on a plane or not, who else would you expect them/want them to ask?

What you are saying is that since you believe that you are quite sure that those teaspoons are never meant to be taken, then it is indeed theft in your view, and therefore whoever facilitates passengers taking the teaspoons or "gives" it to them would indeed be complicit to what you see as illegal behaviour. However, clearly, someone who asks is simply not sharing your certainty about the airline intention.

While I have no particularly strong view of either interpretation of whether airlines intended for teaspoons should be returned or can sometimes be kept if a passenger is mildly weird enough to collect them, it seems to me that if in doubt, the person asking cabin crew whether they can indeed keep this or not are doing the right thing and that the cabin crew are indeed very much the right people to ask and to answer. Now of course, in your view of the event, you believe the crew gave the wrong answer but even then, that would hardly be equivalent to being "complicit to stealing" in my view, because it seems impossible to consider someone culprit of theft if they asked if a branded object is to keep or to leave to an airline employee and were told that it is for them to keep if they so want. If this is not stealing by the passenger (unless you believe that this was a big charade, the passenger knew whole along that this was "theft" and asked the crew if they could keep the spoon for some mysterious reason) then there can be no complicity to stealing even though the crew member may still have done something wrong which their airline would reproach them if they know.

I would also venture the suggestion that it may not be as obvious as you suggest that taking the teaspoon is indeed something that goes against the airline's intention. What is your criterion to know what the airline intends the passengers to keep or return after a flight? Should you leave your toiletry bag and any unused content of it in the plane after you leave? Can you keep the pen inside it? How about the F pyjamas? If I remember correctly, for instance, on JL J they give you a cardigan but ask you to return it at the end of the flight, on JL F they give you pyjamas and expect you to keep them. And it is not only F vs the rest, how about those earbuds you are given in Y? So is there an obvious rule of thumb that would make it ok to keep a pair of pyjamas but not a blanket, a pen but not a teaspoon, etc whilst there is no obvious difference in nature or value between those? What about the airline magazine, the little miniature of vodka when you are given two and really only want to drink one? Keep or return? What about the fact that one of my past girlfriends was terrified that I kept some of my airline menus as she thought it was frankly stupid?

And I don't think that "things have changed" is a particularly compelling argument either. How and when have they changed? You refer to flying as a status symbol but surely this talks more about the reason why people might choose to keep that teaspoon or not (the "morality" of it if you will), but that becomes a bit of a judgemental field, and quite frankly, when posters upthread mention "souvenir", this is an explanation I actually buy (no pun intended) and can sort of sympathise with, whilst by contrast, if anyone kept something because it was a "status symbol" and we are going to talk about personal judgement, I'd personally see that as a rather crass reason to keep the cutlery. And of course in terms of things changing or not, there is no obvious reason to think that anything would have changed in terms of whether airlines intended for some passengers to keep teaspoons (or hotels airline pens) or not between the 1990s (or whenever that was) and now, certainly nothing obvious anyway.

So to cut a long story short (too late, I know! ), personally, I think that anyone in doubt is actually quite right to ask airline crew, and justified in taking their answer at face value. As for personal assessment of whether keeping an airline spoon or pyjama (or if I am to fight my own corner, menu) is tacky, cheap, greedy, cluttery, or what not, I'm personally more inclined to define my own limits than to expect others to share them as from experience, I know that many others will likely disagree with some of the things I believe in and look at me (quite understandably) blankly if we discuss one of them whilst agreeing emphatically if we discuss another.

AndyFlyer

You'll find quite a lot of stuff for sale at various aviaiton/aircraft enthusiast fairs (like aircraftenthusiastfair.co.uk - next date 10 May 2020), or the Amsterdam Aviation Fair (largest in the world, apparently), or at Airliners International (July in Phoenix, AZ). Lots of merchandise for sale, many from old designs that airlines have sold off.

tuonopepper

I did pinch a Virgin Trains First class headrest as the franchise came to an end after the train manager announced 'that's it folks, last journey before the train gets rebrand Ed, take what you can'..... It now adornes the chair in my home office.

mikeijay

Fair point - but look at the bigger picture....

My dads BA branded keep sakes inspired me to work my tail off and spend my own dime on flying.... guess which airline? BA!

So for the cost of a few salt shakers - BA get 6 figures out of me alone each year and I’m a small fish compared to other whales here! Sure they could save a few pennies by not branding them at all which would make them less desirable....but maybe they do for that exact reason?

10 years ago when I was starting my business, dirt poor and hungry I bought a beautiful BA First Class amenity kit from a car boot sale. A guy who worked with BA used to sell them and give the money to charity. I kept that thing on my shelf and looked at it every day until I was able to afford to fly First Class.

It still remains unopened to this day!

deboyzoned

Finnair Glasses are the only real collectible items

https://www.skandium.com/ultima-thule

Misco60

And they are freely available in many places, so taking one from a lounge or aircraft would be indefensible.

kasmersensei

One of my business students in Hong Kong used to collect life preservers from various airlines he flew on. What one would do with them I can’t imagine!