For most of my life, I traveled as one of the “great unwashed masses”, slumming it up in the regular airport concourse with everyone else :-). But over the past 10 years or so, as I’ve gotten into the miles and points world, I now pretty regularly spend most of my airport time in airport lounges. I find that for the most part, they are a good place to get a bit of quiet as well as occasionally food before or in between flights. Of course the food quality and quantity in a lounge varies, from amazing like the Emirates First Class lounge or the Capital One lounge in DFW to the worst ever Priority Pass lounge I’ve been in where they literally had no food.
Is It Okay To Take Food From An Airline Lounge?
The other day I was on Facebook and saw a poster in one of the many travel groups ask “Bringing [Ziploc] bags and/or containers into the lounge to take food onto the plane. Kosher or no? I know some lounges have to go food, this is for the lounges that don’t.”
I knew this would be a great thread, so I sat back, cracked open the popcorn, and enjoyed 🙂
Commenters Respond
Commenters were actually a bit more evenly divided than I would have expected.
First off there were plenty of people that said no, you should not do this.
- “Tacky tacky tacky”
- “Don’t forget to steal the ice cubes and toilet paper”
- “Nope food not allowed to leave”
- “Is it that hard to fill those ziplock bags with snacks from home?”
- “It is either frowned upon at best or against the T&Cs at worst.”
- “No. Act like you belong there and as if you have your own money and can afford your own food if necessary, which you obviously do if you are traveling and in an airline lounge. Good grief.”
But others either admitting to it or excusing the behavior.
- “For the money I pay for my access, I’m all for it”
- “Maybe I’m low brow, but I do this”
- “Use one small to-go coffee cup lol. It’s discreet.”
- “I cannot eat on the road, so I ALWAYS take some food from the lounge: apple, banana, cookie. And always fill my travel bottle with some lemon or cucumber water. Kill me for doing that! It costs $50 a visit theoretically, why can’t I take a $10 worth of modest foods???”
My Take
There were a fair number of commenters that mentioned that generally no, it was not okay to load up tons of containers, cups or bags with food from the lounge but they might take a bottled water, a piece of fruit or a cookie wrapped in a napkin.
This is generally my take as well. Although I am a frugal person by nature, I don’t think that I would feel comfortable loading up my backpack with tons of food to feed my entire family for days. But I definitely have taken mints or a snack or two from the lounge before, and I think generally that most people would be okay with that.
The Bottom Line – Can You Take Food To Go From An Airline Lounge?
If you’re a frequent airline lounge traveler, what’s your take? Do you think it’s okay to take “to go” food from an airline lounge? If not, are there any exceptions to your rule? If you say yes, are there any limits? I’m curious to hear people’s perspectives and hopefully the comments don’t get TOO crazy 🙂
What’s your take? Can you take food to go from an airline lounge? Have you ever done so?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
A cookie or a piece of fruit? Yes. Anything in a bag or container? No.