Is it ever ethical to walk away with amenities from business and first class that airlines do not intend for you to take?
The Wall Street Journal covers this topic in-depth. It’s a great read. The last paragraphs of the article, though, made me stop and think:
Danny Kashou, 53, a business owner in San Diego, was impressed by the soft fabrics and Saks monograms on the blankets on an international trip earlier this year. “Heck, yeah, we took it,” Mr. Kashou says. “We didn’t ask. We just stuck it in our carry-ons and walked off.”
“I’ve been flying this airline long enough,” he says. “I deserve it.”
There’s only one Danny Kashou on Facebook, and he looks 53. The man blatantly admits to stealing from United. In fact, he says he deserves it. Just last week I wrote about United’s new efforts to combat theft, including these warnings on the menu:
Is the “I deserve it” mentality ever justified? Honestly, it makes me grimace just to read that.
Go back to the start of the story:
When Steve King jets across the Atlantic for work twice a month, he often comes back with souvenirs—from the plane
At home, he sips brandy from his favorite British Airways glasses and his children curl up in premium Norwegian Air Shuttle blankets. Last year, British Airways began offering a soft, satin-edged blanket from the White Company, an upscale brand. Mr. King has three of them.
“I’m definitely picky these days,” says Mr. King, who runs a data-science company. “The quality of the stuff now is beautiful. It really makes it worthwhile.”
Makes what worthwhile? What is it? Stealing?
Gary Leff from View from the Wing believes that pilfering blankets presents a great opportunity for airlines. Instead of scolding passengers for stealing, airlines should turn that desire into better marketing.
Instead of scolding customers, United could take out ads offering Polaris bedding amnesty. The message is the bedding is even better onboard than what you have at home. Customers discover that and just can’t help themselves.
United could even run a promotion, buy a full fare business class ticket and get a coupon code for a full set of bedding from the United Shop.
It’s a great idea. Even so, is it ever okay to steal blankets? Is anyone going to say with a straight face that they didn’t know they should not have?
CONCLUSION
Perhaps Michele Kropf, a spokeswoman for British Airways, said it best:
We encourage passengers to try to grab 40 winks when they fly with us, rather than the bedding.
I once took a glass from US Airways after the merger with American Airlines. It had the US Airways logo on it and I somehow rationalized that these glasses would be going away soon, so why not take one. I loved that glass.
Recently, Augustine broke it: a perfect reminder that I should not have taken it in the first place.
The end.
I’ve been curious about this myself. Never entered my mind that I “deserved” it, however! The amenities kits are a no brainer, but the bedding??!! We recently flew BA first class from LHR to SIN and upon unpacking at our hotel in Singapore, I noticed my wife pulling a blanket and pj’s out of her carry-on bag. The pj’s I figured were acceptable but the blanket …..???
any a business owner to boot, geeze!
Would you take the Duvet or blanket out of your hotel? No, so why would it ever be acceptable on an aeroplane?
I’ve shopped in the same chain of stores all my adult life so following Mr Kashou’s logic I deserve a shoplifting spree there!
People will be trying to take the seats or the entertainment screens next!
So admittedly I used to grab blankets and use them when connecting from Int’l to a domestic flight which I knew wouldn’t have them. But I would nearly always leave them on the last flight afterall, these are USED blankets. As clean as they may be, I don’t need an airline blanket at home that 10-100 other people have slept with. The fact is, this is stealing. Do these customers take hotel bedding and pillows with them because they ‘deserve it’? Of course not, so why do these people think its ok to take this stuff off the plane? The amenity kits are like hotel shampoos and lotions, Their single use and designed to be taken or they’ll be thrown out. But the bedding? Nope.
I would really love to see UA or whichever airline these a$$hats fly to start watching out for these guys the next time they fly and then have the FAs request a credit card when the stuff disappears into a bag before landing.
We all love to complain how the ‘race to the bottom’ and the striping away of amenities. Heck, it was this blog or that hack Leff that complained about having to ask for the UA gel pillow and seat pad…well this is why…these people are the cause. Airline margins are thin enough, the last thing they need to deal with is a seven figure hit because customers are stealing products off the plane.
As i write this from my couch, my legs are covered with a light blanket i ‘took’ from Emirates years ago. I love this blanket so much.
I thought it was included in the price…… 😉
Sam
the price we all pay
MIke
I had a LUS glass in first class last month. They are still using these glasses on some flights
The hotel wants us to take the pen with their logo on it and the toll-free number and web address so we’ll remember to book our next stay with them. (I don’t ever have to buy pens.) I can see believing that the airline wants us to take their logo items off the plane to remind us to fly with them again, but that’s not my position.
Some airline items are more clearly disposable and one-use than others, but I would not expect a premium (read “real”) blanket to be something I should take.
“I once took a glass from US Airways after the merger with American Airlines. It had the US Airways logo on it and I somehow rationalized that these glasses would be going away soon, so why not take one. I loved that glass.”
I have one as well. I used the same rational, they would be taken out of service soon enough. (In a prior job, I worked thru a buyout and the marketing company was ruthless about purging all old logo items.)
The bedding/blankets? That is stealing, no doubt about it.
The only thing I’ve ever taken from a premium cabin is a Finnair champagne glass. And I feel a pang of guilt every time I open my cupboard and see it sitting there…
I love those glasses!
I sat next to a guy who managed to pinch an entire set of 4. Quite shameless about it: he wrapped each one carefully and clearly didn’t give a FF about my open-mouthed stare. These were the Ittala (Finnish) design. 4 , on the relatively short Moscow-Helsinki sector. They are available for sale in the catalogue. Disgraceful.
Well… wonder if the guy ever thought that he may not have been the first and only person who used those bedding items? Pretty sure it’s been used and washed a few times by others…
I bought a blanket from White House gift shop and pretend I stole it from Air Force One.
Danny needs to be banned by the airline asap.
I haven’t stolen one, but I did ask the Etihad Apartment FA if I could take the brown fuzzy throw blanket after landing at LHR. He came back with an unused one and gave it to me. Still enjoying it today with fond memories of that flight!
Only thing I’ve very taken is a single demitasse spoon from Air India. I use it in my salt cellar I keep next to the stove. I love it.
The Wilbur and Orville salt and pepper shakers from Virgin Upper Class are often taken but seems to be acceptable.
Funny you should mention the salt/pepper shakers. I’ve seen the engraving on the salt shaker to the effect of “pinched from Virgin” (don’t remember the exact verbiage). It’s as if they are encouraging passengers to take them as souvenirs.
Those of you who have flown AA for a while will recall when they first started issuing Bose NC Headphones. They do a great job of recovering them at the end of the flight. Several years ago on a flight to DFW from NRT, the FA want back through the cabin numerous times looking for one headset. She knew which passenger was holding it, but he refused to give it up saying he already turned it in.
When we landed at DFW the purser had notified US Customs. The guy was ahead of me in the Customs line. Guess who was selected for secondary screening ……………….