The Extra Mile

Can I ask for a second helping on a plane?

Travel editor Paul Ash answers your questions

15 April 2018 - 00:01
By paul ash AND Paul Ash
Chicken or beef?
Image: 123RF/davidoff205020 Chicken or beef?

Q. I have always wondered whether I'm allowed to ask for seconds when flying long-haul (if the food is good and I'm hungry, why not?) I did ask once and the cabin crew ignored me. Surely they don't eat all the leftovers? - Hungry Flier

A. I am one of those rare people who actually loves airline food - something to do with the joy of flying somewhere exotic and having a good graze en route.

I too have asked - perhaps more often than I should - for seconds. Sometimes, the crew oblige, sometimes they say there's nothing left, and quite often they have nodded and forgotten. I have often wondered what the deal is.

Travel writer Oliver Smith from The Telegraph recently asked the same question and the answer was "a resounding yes". Smith spoke to Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Aeroflot, all of which said passengers who asked for extra meals would be given one, as long as they were available.

As Smith points out, asking for seconds may mark you as eco-friendly - as any food left over at the end of a flight is thrown away due to health and safety laws. In a world stalked by hunger, throwing perfectly good food away is crazy.

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