The magazines in the seat pockets
 

For the magazines in the seat pockets of the airplanes, are passengers allowed to take them home? I heard that people collect them and I would too if we were permitted to do so.

Affirmative, take to your heart's content :)

Airline magazines/catalogues: absolutely.

Other magazines, generally kept in a central location such as the overhead storage compartment but may be found in a seat pocket once in a while: not supposed to, but it happens.

I agree.
Quite often the FA will announce that the mag is "yours to keep"

LOL. Well, now I know that I can, I will.. :) . Hmm...gonna get me a lotta the magazines when I go to Europe. :p Btw, thanks for the quick replies.

no, i can not
 

But I do not to think

Out of curiousity....is this true on carriers outside the US as well? I know on US carriers they have made the announcments for some time and I do keep them on my flights but on some other carriers some of the magazines didnt look like they should be takend and never heard and announcement. Just curious if this was true for all carriers.

There use to be a NWA office not far from where I live and they had the in flight magazine the same as in the plane but that office has since closed. But definitely you can get the magazine in the seat pocket in front of you. I know I have. :D

Yeah, what makes me nervous about taking them is that it seems like no one else does or we aren't allowed to. Most of them are all sticky, bent, and smell funny like it has been there forever.

Ha! This is very true. If there's something I really want to show to someone at home, I'll wait until I'm on a segment with a reasonably nice copy, or worst case grab the one off the last return segment, which could very well be sticky etc....

Since the airlines make money of the magazines by selling advertising, and they make more money from advertisers the higher their "circulation" is, I suspect the airlines want pax to take the magazines with them. There's also the free advertising the airline gets out of it: a copy of SilverKris magazine with its stylish covers and cool content lying around someplace might as well be an ad for Singapore Airlines. Air France's in-flight magazine looks rather like Vogue. Emirates has a second special mag for Business Class pax distributed only in the J cabin, and I believe Virgin has the same for Upper Class. Those are full of lifestyle advertising, as you would expect. Those especially raise the cache factor for the airline, both on-board (reinforcing ideas the airline is trying to implant in customers' heads) and with others (spreading those ideas to new prospects). Balancing the marketing benefit against the cost of restocking the seatbacks (re-printing pays for itself with higher ad revenue based on higher circulation), I'd say the airlines want you to take 'em.

Now, when U.S.-based airlines will catch on to this concept with improved content in their mags remains to be seen. In the era of low fares and lower frills, that might be a long time coming. I'd give United the nod as the most likely to go in that direction first: since the 1980s, its ad campaign featuring Rhapsody in Blue has been all about associating positive lifestyle concepts and the romance of travel with its product. UA also has the international routes to lend credibility to those ideas. US Airways and many others would have a harder time of it.

Those are the ones I was thinking of when I wasnt sure if I could snag them or not. They both look like large Vogue style magazines and pretty nice really. I still take them just not sure if I am breaking any rules or not... :D

OR, you can use the magazine as a record of your trip...and leave it on board. Many of us on UA do this, signing a specific page, and enjoy being spotted by other FTers throughout the month.

It's the United Voices page in the Hemispheres magazine FYI.... ^

So popular its sold....
 

Yes you can take them - but not the non-airline magazines (Time etc). Sometimes the choice has been so dreadful I've left "decent" magazines of my own in the rack (by the bulkheads) for the next poor pax.

I really like the Vietnam Airlines "Heritage" magazine - especially their "Fashion" supplements. The graphic design, use of pictures - some editions are very striking. Much nicer than the magazines you get from much more respected airlines. In fact its so popular it has a wider circulation - you often see it in cafes and even for sale on bookstalls in Saigon.

Just goes to show...
 

...the Saigonese will sell anything. Love 'em for that. :)