The answer is YES.

There is nothing wrong in asking for an extra meal once you have finished your first one. But as mentioned by Gaurav Deshmukh, you have to be submissive than demanding when doing so.

I have made such requests twice ( at two different occasions ). Once when I was with JetAirways, another when I was on Singapore airlines.

For the first stint ( with Jet Airways)

I had finished my meal and tried to get the attention of one of the cabin crew who had been serving for the others.

Once she came over, I asked her “ I would like to have another portion of this meal if it is available. Do let me know if it is possible to get one.”

For which she replied - “ I would have to check that for you sir. Please wait for a while so that I finish serving everyone”

The reply was genuine and I had waited for a while. Sometime later she managed to get me another portion of the meal.

Well, that was good luck to me, and no more hunger.

For the second stint : ( with SIA)

Same thing over, I had asked the cabin crew member politely if there is another portion for the meal. ( I’m vegetarian so I’m kinda thin on my options)

The cabin crew ‍✈️ replied : “ I would have to check that for you sir once I am done with serving everyone.”

15 minutes later :

I see the guy crossing me and I try to look at him to get his attention. He says to me “I’m sorry sir we are not having any more extra meals”

Well bad luck there.

So yeah, don’t be afraid to ask.

Just be polite & nice to them, it just may be your lucky day!

Yes, you most definitely can. I have on numerous occasions. Each time has resulted in a different outcome. Sometimes I have been told “No, sorry, because ….” each time they have been courteous and honest. Reasons such as the plane is full and we don’t have any spare, we have run out of that option, other people have asked before me, etc. etc.. What ever it is I never felt they were rude about it.

On other occasions, and this is the majority of the time, the cabin crew have accommodated me in some fashion. Sometimes it has been part of a meal, because they could not put together the whole, other times it has been the entire meal, it has been the different option as they ran out of my first choice, or on one occasion I received the class aboves option. As I said the majority of the time you will be looked after.

I have found being yourself, polite and patient will get you what you request. Don’t be rude to cabin crew, or any staff anywhere, and they will attempt to accommodate you.

On one occasion, flying from Brunei to Dubia with Royal Brunei their breakfast was incredibly delicious so instead of asking for another serving I requested as many as they could spare and they brought me another 3! Side note, I had built really good rapport with the 2 hostess looking after me and it was in part a joke with them, it had been a quiet flight and we had been talking for a while before service with me constantly eating. At that time Brunei’s airport was still being developed and it had no amenities or cafes available so I was very hungry.

Whenever I go to a different country, I try to use up all the coins in the duty-free shops to buy chocolates as the currency exchanges in Singapore don't accept coins.

This time, when I was coming from Germany, I noticed I had around 40-cents short of 6 Euros. Some of the coins were in 5 cents and 10 cents.

I went to the duty-free shop and saw chocolates. There were some chocolates for 3, 4 and 5 Euros. The next one was priced at 6.10 Eurors.

It looked something like this. Very cutely packaged.

I went and asked the person at the counter. ‘Hi, Sorry, I have 50 cents short of 6.10. All in coins. Can I still buy this? It is 6.10.’ My thought was ‘What is the worst that’s going to happen? He will say ‘No.’ Others might laugh. What is the big deal about that?’

He instantly told ‘Oh sure.’

I then segegrated all the coins and placed it neatly on the table. He checked it, scanned the item and gave it to me.

Now, what if I had thought ‘It looks cheap asking like that in an international airport? Everyone will laugh. Oh no, it would be embarrassing.’ I would have missed those amazing chocolates.

So for you case,

Don’t think much. Just ask.

The flight might have additional food packets as buffer. Or someone might have missed the flight or someone in the flight might have refused the meal. You might get it.

What is the worst thing that is going to happen? You will be told ‘No.’ Is that such a big loss for you compared to the gain?

Speaking from a very recent personal experience (a few weeks back) where the flight was not so packed, they only gave one measly dry bun and refused snacks when I asked them politely.

To start with, we were supposed to take off at 12pm. The flight was delayed in taking off by 3 hours and it was an​ 18 hour non stop flight from Toronto​. They served drinks as soon as the plane reached cruising altitude. After 3 hours, they got us lunch ( I guess it was supposed to be dinner). Then nothing until there was 1 hour left to land.

This surprised me as I told the flight attendants that I did not have a chance to eat before the flight and thought that we had been served lunch and asked if they had snacks. They told me repeatedly that they did not have any such things and they will be serving food soon. Well, that wait turned out to be for another couple of hours after which they served breakfast 1 hour before landing. I was famished by then and couldn't sleep at all during the flight due to hunger pangs.

After they had finished serving breakfast and were coming back to pick up the trays, I politely asked them again if they had something more as I was still hungry. The flight attendant came back with one dry bun with nothing on the side. As I was still starving, I ate it up. At least it was something.

Thankfully, on my trip back to Toronto, the staff was really nice and provided the snacks and drinks.

My thoughts are that it depends on the staff. I was going and coming back with the same airlines. It was the same non-stop flight to and from Toronto. But flying out of Toronto, the staff couldn't be bothered in actually helping. When anyone pressed the flight attendant call button, myself included, they would just come by after 20–30 minutes and switch it off without asking if something was needed. This happened multiple times.

Thankfully, on my way back, the staff was prompt and responded to the call buttons within a few minutes and were truly helpful. And they treated everyone with a smile. It made a huge difference.

I'm guessing yes as I was asked by an Air Saudi's stewardess if I wanted another serving on a flight from Singapore to Jeddah.

I always had a thing for airplane meals. Hence, gobbled up the first one pretty quickly; gave a big smile and said thanks when she came to collect it. The flight was pretty empty too so those may have been the contributing factors.

Thereafter, she was so nice once again and placed the food trolley thingy in front of me and told me to help myself to the fruits & drinks!

Yes, definitely. A cabin crew view on this:

Once I discussed this with a cabin crew member on a long haul flight from Europe to Asia and she told me that any extra food is mostly dumped so they also prefer if its consumed. She further told me few tips:

1. Ask after whole service is over, i.e. everyone is served.
2. Be polite and submissive rather than demanding while asking, it makes the difference, especially when more people are asking and the crew has a right to decide. She smiled and said, ‘Trust me, you have competition there also.’
3. You can quote some reason also, such as, your previous flight was delayed, you really liked it, you are too hungry etc.
4. Try for some side dishes if the main dish is not available or reserved for Business/First class.

From my observation, Generally it's difficult to get on high traffic sectors (e.g. London-NY, Mumbai-London, etc.) where flights are completely booked 99% of the time. But otherwise, there are chances that you get the extra meal if you ask.

( Below is an excerpt from an old answer to some other question. )

Sure, why not? Not out of entitlement, but as asking for a favour.

We had flown to Delhi during the Corona pandemic for my son’s wedding. After 3 days of enjoyment and indulgence, it was time to return home and start dieting. I ate a simple low calorie but filling breakfast before leaving for the airport. The flight was delayed, and instead of buying something to eat at the airport, I starved and saved my appetite for the meal on the flight.

The flight was full and the food trolley came after a long time. The stewardess spoke to me through a face mask. “Madam, this is your vegetarian meal.” My husband got a non-veg (chicken) meal. On unwrapping the cover, I realized that it was the same meal which I had eaten a few days earlier on the flight to Delhi. I asked my husband if we could swap our meals. He declined. I called the lady. My husband said, “She won't exchange it. I had asked for veg meal for you when I booked the tickets.” I explained my concern to the lady and requested a chicken meal. She replied that she would serve everyone first and if there was a spare chicken meal after that, she would gladly serve me that.

I ignored the hot veg meal which was lying on my lap and watched my husband finish his meal. The lady returned in 15 minutes and smilingly handed me a chicken meal. I exchanged the trays and finished the food in no time. I relished the dessert, too, but realized that I was still hungry. I called the lady again and asked her, “The food was delicious and I am still hungry. Could I have one more chicken meal, please?”

She told me apologetically that all chicken meals were over. She added, “The veg meal that you returned is still there. Would you like to have that?” I said, “Sure. I could pay the extra charges.” She smiled and declined. I ate the veg meal and also the yummy dessert. I was stuffed.

When she came to clear the empty food tray, I thanked her whole-heartedly for the double-meal and her kind service. She reached inside her trolley and took out a small square dessert bowl and asked me, “ I have a spare dessert portion. Would you like to have that?” I looked at my husband. He rolled his eyes. I gleefully took the bowl from her and again thanked her profusely.

22.01.2023—————————————

I was recently traveling from Bangalore to Mumbai by Jet airways in economy class. I was traveling with my wife and we were feeling hungry so when they started serving the lunch we asked for veg meals. They had veg noodles and some curry that day in their menu. I finished my lunch quickly but my wife did not like the taste of it and she did not have it. I requested one of the hostesses to check if they have anything else in veg meal as my wife did not like the one served to us. The hostess saw that she had hardly touched her food and did not want to have it. She promised to check and confirm. After around 10 minutes she got another veg meal which I assume was from the business class as it had the complete meal plus juice and chocolate too. My wife was happy and she found the taste better than the earlier served noodles. The hostess while clearing did ask her how she liked the food and my wife was all smiles. We thanked her profusely for her kind gesture. I think airlines don’t mind serving you extra food if they have anything left.

Absolutely, I’ve done it many times. Usually I’ve waited until all rows have been served, on occasion I’ve been so hungry that I’ve politely asked right away “If you happen to have any spare entrees when you’re finished, could I maybe get another? I’m really hungry today.” I’ve never had a flight attendant refuse it, provided that there was anything left over. But since there usually is a surplus, and it gets thrown away anyway, they’ve always been happy to oblige. I think the staff also prefers that it get eaten instead of chucked.

As always, apply charm and appreciation liberally. If you are genuinely friendly to the crew, they treat you like royalty.

Yes you can. Most airlines have up to 5 additional airplane meals per mealtime beyond what is allocated based on number of passengers. This excess is loaded in case of spoilage due to handling and such.

The trick is to ask for it when being served in a polite manner and chances are you will get an extra meal.

You may not get the same meal that you had but you most likely will receive a serving of what's left.

Note that this is not the case if you have meals that have a special dietary requirement.

I have asked for this on quite a few flights and have even received excess meals that were from business class when I asked after mealtime as I was still hungry.

You will however have to wait till the meal service is over for this.

Remember, smile, be polite.

For general airlines, yes if they have spare one. But for budget airlines, they sell it, so I think you have to pay for it as the first one.

This question brings back the memory of an interesting experience. Usually I won’t take extra meal on the flight because the meals on Chinese domestic flights are not so delicious to enjoy. They are just used to fill your stomach…sorry Chinese guys have higher demand on food….

Once the flight was delayed for a long time and I was really hungry, I happened to sit beside a veteran who’s pretty strong. When I was given my own meal, I asked the crew whether I can have an extra one, then the man beside me said ”me too, and bring as much as possible”.

The lady smiled and asked us to wait. After everyone got his meal, the lady brought us all the rest….guess what..I took 3 and the guy took 4…after we deal with all these stuff, the lady came and told us that they have backup bread if we need…social network was not so popular that time or I believe the guys besides us would take photos at the piled empty boxes and post to Weibo/Wechat(or FB/TT).

That’s the most meals I took in my life, it’s so good that I was so young to take that much…as age increases, I’m not able to do that again…..

Good to be young ever, take as much as you can when you are still able to;)

Depends on a few things:

Budget airlines where you pay per item: goes without saying, no - it pay as you go.

Other wise;

First Class:

You can eat and drink as much as you like, keep the staff up all night just brining you meals which you take one bite of and decide against. No problems. In particular Qatar, BA, Emirates - have no other exp or first other than these.

Business:

Similar to first but the standard will drop, you can get through a couple of meals then they might not ‘have any left’ in fact be too busy serving others - business can be actually quite demanding for attendants and sometimes you get treated like and asshole.

Premium/economy

Totally down to if they want to help. I've had times where one attendant would bring me instant noodles between meals on long haul but another went and got food from business for me.

Be nice I guess

You can ask, but you’ve only paid for one meal. Be prepared for the cabin crew to say no. In an earlier time, there might be a few extra meals put on board. These days, meals are counted precisely.

Definitely do this in a very low-profile way, because your seat mate might then get the idea to ask for more food.

And be sure to say, “If there isn’t another main dish available, I’ll take the side dishes or whatever someone doesn’t touch.”

Every long-distance flight has snacks on board, so the FA might wind up bringing you chocolate or crisps or cookies. Thank him or her for whatever you are provided.

Also, if you really get hungry on a plane, bring your own food to supplement the airline food. I usually have Clif bars or some dried fruit to tide me over.

Two years ago the first flight journey I made in Qatar airways. It wasn’t such a long flight. I and my friend were flying together. We faced a trouble with immigration, because the first Journey and too travelled inside Europe.

I actually entered in to the boarding at 00:30 hrs. It was a very long queue on my both sides. Finally I have done with my boarding and I got a boarding pass. We were really so excited as we were yet to travel in the flight. Next, we were entered in to immigration department, we faced a trouble.

Immigration officer: where are you travelling for?

Me: I am travelling xxx country!

Officer: why are you going for?

Me: (I was surprised what are these stupid questions, since I have Visa and all the documents are perfect) I Said him, I didn’t understand sir.

Officer: please sir, wait a minute the chief officer will come to you and we will have more questions on you.

Because, that was first time I didn’t actually aware of it. Would they really ask many questions as we are going to Europe with fresh passport. Was it our mistake to travel Europe for a first time, with no country travelled early.

Later on, officer came and asked many questions like, why don’t you wanna go gulf countries or like Singapore and Malaysia. I was really thinking of it. Wtf! What’s the stupid question is she asking me unnecessarily.

She really made us trouble like our flight is ready to take off at 03:30 hrs. But still we didn’t clear immigration. Finally, Qatar personnel had came and cleared our immigration process. The flight was delay for 15 minutes. Only because of us. lol!

Everyone are looking at me so strange and really annoyed. The flight was delayed.

Finally I took my seat, the cabin crew girl. I have no idea, she came to me and she asked, sir you are really worried! What would you like to have? Wov! I ordered whisky…

That situation really made us hungry. She took a briyani. It was so tasty might be due to I was worried. I was thinking the time, oh! We can have whatever we need? I ordered her one more briyani like glutton. She was looking at me from top to bottom but she took. That was amazing. Ha ha!

Secondly, my friend called her to order one more briyani. She was staring at him and said sorry sir, we take only certain limited. You can have at restaurants once you landed on Qatar for transit.

That was so strange to me that time why don’t they give more. But now I realised we really behaved so bad. It may our mistakes. Since Then we don’t ask anything after that incident. It was so shameful to my friend.

I can only speak from intercontinental long-haul experience, as I rarely travel short-haul by plane. (I prefer ship or train.)

If you’re travelling Economy, on a carrier with inclusive meals, and you ask the right way, it’s definitely possible. The approach is: “That was lovely—but I’m starving today! If there are any spare meals, and I’m not depriving a crew member, could I please have another?”

That last bit, about crew meals, is important. After main meal service, cabin crew often gather in one of the galleys and fill up on unused cabin meals. And why not? The meals they’re provided by their employers are generally thin pickings. So be nice to your crew, and respect that they get first dibs on the remaining meals, and you’ll likely get a sympathetic hearing.

If you’re travelling Business or First, you’ll get served, no questions. That’s part of the luxe you’re paying so much extra for. Even if no more meals are available—highly unlikely!—there will be a snacks bar or something similar; there always is.

Food served in Airlines, has very short shelf life. So, it is either consumed or wasted. There is no harm is asking for extra food or any food item other than served to you, as it would anyways be dumped. Airlines carry food that would be more than sufficient for their passengers and staff. I was once traveling with Air Vistara, and asked for another set of breakfast, as I liked it. The air hostress was courteous and offered me another box right away. Those who don’t know, with Air Vistara, first, the meal is always complementary or included in your fare, plus, second, you get wonderful and colourful recyclable and eco-friendly boxes.

Absolutely.

I always ask for extra meals on long haul flights over 8 hours. I would say of all the times I’ve requested an extra meal, nearly 100% of the time I get it in economy. I just finish my meal, and wait for the flight attendants to finish serving everyone. Then I just wait for a flight attendant to pass by again to request another one, and they nearly always oblige.

Ironically, the only times I’ve been refused meals were in business class. Once was just because they didn’t have any extra meals left over (or so they said; it was plausible since there were only 12 seats in business class on that plane, and it’s conceivable that they really did run out). Another time, I think the flight attendant was just being difficult; it was a business class on a a long haul flight with some 35 business class seats, and the flight attendant said we’re only allowed to have one main course. Shrug.

Doesn’t to ask. But I would say in my experience, at least in economy, there’s over a 95% chance they’ll grant you the extra meal.

I always remember my experience with Korean Airlines from Soul to DC. I have finished my BB bang set which is so small portion and I still felt hungry. The set meal came with a bowl of bb bang rice, a small bread, several green leaf salad and a drink( 100ML water). Since I was only 50% full, I just ask for an extra small bread which I thought it was a reasonable request. Could you believe what I have got? A STRONG AND FIRMING ANSWER: NO!

The airlines stews told me they did not have extra bread!

Forever good bye to Korean Airlines!

Since then, I have never flied with them and I even reject a holiday trip to Korea.

TL;DR : YES!

Long Version :

Ofcourse you can. However not in all cases. Short haul flights are likely to have just enough food for the single meal serving. So it might not work there.

Long haul transcontinental flights, especially the ones with a fly time of 7+hrs are literally overstocked when it comes to food. In fact ETOPS flights have an extra set of meals just in case the flight is diverted to a remote airport while crossing the Atlantic or Pacific.

I frequently ask for an extra meal on transatlantic flights and I've always been served one. However, what you get served depends on the availability. You might not get the same meal you previously had, it could be a different option. Sometimes the plane runs out of a vegetarian meal or vice versa. I once asked for an extra meal and was served literally a full extra meal, a completely filled meal tray with the salad, appetizer, main course and desert. In another instance I was served only the main course, they probably didn't have the extra appetizers or just didn't wanna share. Depends on the person serving you.

Pro Tip : Its always advisable to ask the flight attendants to check if they have extras “after” they've finished serving. That way, the attendant is sure no one is left without a meal and you don't look as an arrogant freeloader.

And lastly, as a Flight Attendant once told me, “Don't forget the magic word - PLEASE” :)

For sure, if you ask nicely after the meal service is done. That way they can give you a leftover meal without worrying about accidentally leaving someone hungry. About three years ago my father and I flew to China on Air China. Given that I’m a football player, their meals were pretty small for me(the leg room too, but that’s another story). So, we waited until they were finished serving, then my father asked if it was possible for me to get another serving. They were really nice about it too, giving us all of the options to choose from. The same story for the flight back to the US, but with two extra meals instead of one. And an extra sandwich they were serving an hour prior to landing.

Basically, ask nicely and when its convenient for the FAs and you’ll probably get your extra meal.