[stevescoots]

QR have just changed thiers, a poor bag with 3 items from Salvatore Ferragamo, moisturiser, spray and balm. you do get another bag on day flights with socks, eye covers, earplugs shoehorn and comb. PJ’s on a night flight

[FormerlyDoS]

GF still put up a nice bag, with reasonable contents.

[Saffjoyfox3]

It’s nice to have amenity bags, and we’re of course fortunate to be flying in cabins where we get them, but my point would be that the actual bags are not as nice as they used to be.

For example, the current BA First one (which seems to have been around in blue, and then grey, for about three or so years now) is not something you’d want to use again to take on another trip as it’s rigid and unwieldy, whereas the BA ones from about seven or eight years ago which had images on them from BA’s photo archive (and were also made by Anya Hindmarch) were great and I still use them a lot on trips.

I remember that about ten years ago on Swiss there used to be a box brought round of Le Prairie products which always went down well.

[HMAcharya]

I flew business on Emirates from Nairobi to Colombo in Dec 2012 and was appalled to find out that Emirates do not offer amenity kits on what they term as short haul flights. Further despite the Dubai – Colombo route having a flat bed there was no turn down service, nor was there any amenities, such as the much needed sleep shades and ear plugs despite it being a night flight.

Why pay 3 times the cost of the flight than the person a few rows behind in economy when you do not get the products associated with the business class tagline? Are Emirates focusing too much on their first class brand and forgetting about business class? In my opinion they should rebrand business class to premium economy (the service is as good as premium economy anyway) and revise the prices they charge for the business class ticket to be more appropriate to the service provided.

I agree with Home@FL350 that passengers paying a premium price have higher expectations, to justify that price paid. We pay for luxury because we want it. And not providing that service is not a disservice. It is daylight robbery.

[Londonian]

One piece of good news in the world of amenity kits is the Malaysian Airlines business class Tumi bag. I flew last weekend on the newish A380 from Kl to LHR and was pretty pleased with this offering which included a decent sized tube of toothpaste, mouthwash, anti-bacterial handwash as well as the other more usual set of eyeshades, socks and small tube of moisturiser, lip balm and hand cream.

[TominScotland]

This afternoon, I used the No 7 bus with my Concessionary Pass and was shocked that the driver did not hand out amenity kits on boarding. When I challenged this and threatened him with exposure on Watchdog, he sheepishly expalined that it had come down to new tyres or amenity bags. Boringly, the tyres won. On my old route, the 7A, amenity bags came as standard and breakfast, on services before 09.30, was served with marmalade too!!

Have a good weekend and don’t let important matters like this vex you too much…….

[NTarrant]

Tom – if you had paid a fare instead of using a pass you might have got a hot towel.

[MartinJ]

I do not really care about amenity kits but they do provide for amusement, one way or the other. On the positive side, Alitalia has the nicest kit I think, with Bulgari toiletries made in Italy. On the downside, I remember a KLM kit in the mid-90s where the five or six bristles got stuck between my teeth and my dentist had to get them out. Looked like this toothbrush came straight out of a Guadgdong factory gulag. Most of the time the bag and content are just a piece of junk, with very few exceptions.

[PerthWA]

Much as I love to whinge and whine about Qantas I have to say that the pjs are the best and although erring on the “one squirt ” in a tube, the malin & goetz lip balm and moisturizer is pretty darn good! I live in those jarmies tops especially in hotel gyms etc … It’s amazing what a conversation starter that flying kangaroo can be … 🙂

[TiredOldHack]

What irritates me about amenity kits is the fact that I forget there are the little tubes at the bottom of my carry-on bag somewhere. Got the full earch routine at LHR recently because I’d forgotten to empty them out and put them in a plastic bag.

Of course, the “but they came from an aircraft in the first place” explanation doesn’t cut any ice whatsoever.

[cosmoB2012]

I do like the first class amenity kit offered by SWISS. It is designed by Bally and contains nice creams and a lip balm by LaPrairie. The very stylish and highly comfortable PJ by Zimmerli is also a nice take-home piece.
I do not understand why airlines do not give out small cologne bottles no more. In the 90´s I often purchased the fragrance which I first sampled flying in biz or first. Definitely a better marketing and sales tool than handing out samples at department or drug stores.

[IanFromHKG]

My favourites – long since gone – where the aromatherapy products in BA First. I was also impressed that on my old SQ flights from India to Singapore (which is a relatively short night-time flight) in First I got full-sized bottles of aftershave! I still have a couple around somewhere.

The fact remains, though, that although amenity bags are nice to have they are largely a complete waste. I cannot think of the number of times I have used just one item and left or dumped the rest.

For zipped amenity bags, consider donating them to charities to be re-used as pencil cases, which is quite common in HK.

On a related note, I am glad to see CX have come up with a natty idea for their new PE kits – they come with a button on the back so they can be attached into a wall hanging accessory. They also make the bags from 90% recycled plastic bottles, and the hard products inside (shoe horn, toothbrush etc) are made from starch and cellulose and so are biodegradable. Good for them…

[ANDREWYOUNG1]

I was pleased to see that Virgin Atlantic actually improved their amenity kits towards the end of last year, the Upper Class one on outbound is now an iPad cover – this is probably more useful than the miniature washbags which so many carriers still think people want/need. And they made improvements to amenity kits in all cabins – I’m sure VS are the only airline to offer a vaguely imaginative amenity kit in Y.

I agree with cosmoB2012 – the Swiss offering in F is wonderful – the FA even gave me a second amenity kit (from an unoccupied suite) as I was leaving due to my enthusiasm for it when we were chatting during service.

I’m surprised more airlines do not offer a TSA approved clear zipper amenity kit – now that would be something that people would use after a flight for their in-flight or short-trip toiletries. I think SQ offered a Kiehl’s one for a while in F, not sure if they still do.

[Arcanum]

Being a bit of a pack rat, when I moved a few months ago I found I had accumulated enough amenity kits and hotel products to fill 3 of those 68L Rubbermaid bins.

Fortunately, one of my new co-workers volunteers at a local women’s shelter and gladly took much of it off my hands. She said the individual sealed items like toothbrushes, moisturizer, etc. are particularly helpful because the women (and often their children) will frequently show up with nothing.

[Papillion53]

Arcanum@15:52

What a great idea – I’m sure your friend and the people she helps will have been very happy, as you’re right when we moan about stuff, we never even think that those little bags with their goodies inside could actually mean quite a lot to someone who literally has nothing as they escaped from a terrifying situation.

You’ve given me food for thought as I too have a stack of those bits and pieces which I know I will never use, so maybe I could put them to good use too. 🙂

[Author]

Posts