Greed is when a First Class hotel wants to change you $3 for a 40cent snack from the Room Fridge. Thats why I always take a couple of Free First Class snacks.:)

What is this peculiar obsession some people have with what others are doing? Fussing about snacks on an airplane? Attempting to impose "snack bowl etiquette?" Trying to find the right number of bags of pretzels someone else should take?

Sorry but I can't work up the enthusiasm to spy on other people and monitor what they are drinking, how much they are drinking and how many bags of cheese doodles they stuff into their pockets.

Take as damn many as you want. Stop worrying about what other people are doing. Have a nice flight.

Your behavior must somehow reflect your background.

Hotel stuff is frequently perfect travel size. I would never call and "ask for one of everything that is free" but for the stuff that they put out each time - the mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner and mouthwash - there's some of my toiletries covered for the next time I travel to a place that isn't another hotel.

I think we all know abuse when we see it but I would hope that at $325 there are quite a lot of consumables priced in for your place. Maybe the people going through your larger bottles just love showers, or are having wild bacchanals behind their door, or whatever. I have to remind myself frequently that I don't know anybody else's story.

edit: When I say "put out each time", I should add that many of the hotels that I stay at have actually put additional copies of the unopened stuff out each day.

It's the same motive that powers a lot of fearful, adversarial sentiment these days in the frequent flyer community: scarcity worry. There seems to be less of everything, from upgrades to award seats to pretzels in the basket. So people share less about how you can get yours and strategize more about how they can preserve theirs.

Having said that I think it is a poor show to take more than you can eat on the flight. The intent of the snack basket service is to keep you going for the next couple of hours, not stock your hotel room that night.

I think the OP is just concerned on doing the wrong thing. Not concerned so much with everyone else as much as what is proper next time she flies.

First time I flew I asked what was a good drink to have on the plane.:D

I do a max of two items. If I want something additional, I wait for the basket to go around and then go to the galley and ask for it. The FAs always seem happy to give it to me. Taking four items right off the bat seems excessive.

IMHO, the difference between hotel shampoos and inflight snacks is this: I can take one or two of the little bottles home, and no other guest is impacted. Even if I called the front desk asking for more, which feels a bit piggish, no other guest would be impacted. If I raid the snack basket, I'm potentially preventing someone else from getting even 1 or 2 of the item they wanted (while I got 4 or 5 or whatever).

I don't know if AA has gotten stingier with how they cater snack flights or not. Maybe they *never* run out of the snacks. But if I didn't get my desired item on the first pass through the cabin, and some other guy was lining his pockets with that item, I'd be pissed.

At the end of the flight, if the hoarder wants to clean 'em out of nuts or chips or whatever, so be it.

We tend to have etiquette for things when we have to interact together in society. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

If the basket gets emptied due to "greed", doesn't the basket just get filled up again? I would assume there are more chips and cookies on board the plane for such a dire emergency.

There is no limit on the number of snacks. FA will often offer more, and if something runs out in the basket they often have more in the galley.

That said, I try to be conscientious about how much I take, depending on my position in the cabin. Unless I'm starving, there's no reason to take more than 2 items, since the basket will come around again. I also don't typically take more than I plan to consume on, at the very least, the same travel day. Ultimately, it comes down to not abusing the system. If everyone took 10 snacks, they would in fact probably start rationing them.

As for hotel shampoos, etc., it depends on the quality of the product. I always thought name brands wanted "product placement" and would encourage you to take home the unused bit of product. I have actually purchased product after trying it at a hotel (the Fairmont, I think). I used to keep a selection of hotel shampoos in my guest bathroom. I never, ever, called the desk to ask for more however, unless I needed it at the hotel.

There is no such thing as too much, as long as there is at least one more person who is more high maintenance than you. Today I took 2 snacks on ORD-DTW flight (usually 50 minutes or less). But I only got waters as my drinks, and I took the two snacks (pretzels and banana) at the same time.

I'd much prefer some free GoGo wifi for F than some crappy snacks though.

What makes you think that?
One sealed basket is usually on loaded per flight on an RJ, at least.
That's like assuming that they onload a dozen extra meals.

Perhaps the same motivations as your motivation to cast aspersions on the OP and others?

But, also, others behaviors impact me. As discussed above, if someone took all 6 bags of smart food popcorn before the basket got to me, I'd be directly impacted. And if every passenger took 4 or 5 snacks regularly, the quality of the basket offering would be limited due to costs.

Seriously? You do realize what you are taking a about snacks on an airplane. Little bags of over-salted savoury treats. No one's life is going to be irreparably damaged if they don't get a tiny sack of pretzels because someone else took them. It is hysterically funny and a touch sad that adults would attempt to craft a social standard to ensure they get their fair share of Cheetos.

Actually, I'm reasonably certain the quantity of snacks is indeed limited. I mean, I'm no aerospace engineer, but I did make it through just enough undergraduate physics to conclude that the CR-2 isn't carrying an infinite amount of Cheetos.

But following that logic isn't the guy who lines his pockets with these little bags of over-salted savoury treats even *more* hysterically funny and a touch sad? :)

The social standard "don't be piggish" already exists. Or used to, anyway...