Product removal/Cut backs

[honey lamb]

I can't seem to say anything right on here!

And I agree about the amenity kits. We have so many in the house but the only things that interest me are the ear plugs and the pen! During the Oswald Boateng phase I had more cuff links than you could shake a stick at. :0 It didn't seem to occur to the Powers that Be that women also flew UC, although on one occasion I did manage to score a (broken) mirror.

[Darren Wheeler]

For me, the amenity kits are mostly a complete waste of weight, time and money with the only even useful thing being the toothbrush and paste. I suspect most of it either gets binned or unused.

Looking in my hand baggage from my last trip.

Pen? Check!
Eye mask? Check!
Earplugs? Check!
Mints? Check!
Case for iPad? Check!
Tissues? Check!
Toothbrush and paste? Check!

All of the above I carry are of a far superior quality that what is/was supplied. Of the other items going:

Cloth bag for sleep suit? Don't care and frankly, if this is a decider between airlines, you need to get out more...
Amuse Bouche? No great loss either as very hit and miss although the mozzarella and tomato was tasty.
Blanket? OK, probably the most contentious and baffling removal. Even on day flights, the cabin can look like a sea or red with all the blankets in use.

All the cutbacks have been seen before to one level or another about 4 years ago and then reversed when things picked up do give it a year or 2 and see what comes back.

YMMV

I was on VS001 yesterday and they never gave out an amenity kit, so glad I had my own eye shade, thats really the only thing I ever used, so really did not miss getting the kit

I also agree with most of the opinions on here, but based on the fact that the current amenity kits and Amous Bouche are "boring", the blankets its wrapping and substitute Ice cream will I imagine be accepted within a few weeks. My concern with the cutbacks is the fact that Virgin historically were a cut above the pack, have in the last few years ran with the pack and now are beginning to fall behind, my flights are mostly into Asia and I see what other carriers are offering, Cathay Pacific have just launched a new PE amenity pack by HK design group G.O.D. [Goods of Desire] all fun, fresh and green [contents biodegradable] four designs a year to keep the whole offering fresh and collectable --- this is what Virgin should be offering, these come out of marketing budgets, shout style and value, which in turn get bums on seats --- a full aircraft is a profitable one.

Virgin could score a marketing "coup" or at least dress it up as something other than pennypinching which is exactly what it looks like. All they need to say is that 99% of people do not use/need/want the amenity kits so in the interests of the environment we are not going to supply them other than on demand. But it just comes across as a idiotic finance moron decision.

I love the amenity kits you receive on a plane but it is a complimentary item. If you work in an office and they changed the super soft handtowels to soft handtowels everyone would be in uproar for a week or so and then move on and forget it as something else has come up.

Speaking as a "finance moron", cutting a simple cost like a £1.50 ice cream to a 50p ice cream could save the company a few hundred thousand a year. Yes, the consumer wont see the benefit and flight prices wont be reduced to reflect this but I'd rather lose an icecream in PE or in fact a whole amenity pack in Economy and have a full cabin crew rather than 50 people lose their jobs.

I am a humble leisure customer one two and now again again three UCS trips. I must say the priority for me is a consistantly happy professional crew.
The amenity kit last Oct was very nice to put my ipad in and also was perfect for filling with cash n credit cards and popping in the safe. The original contents were so crap they got binned.
I always after some deliberation opt for VA but I have to say its my experiences 10 years ago that my heart harks back to, my head still says "its a 50/50 chance your going to be treated well, proven quite perfectly on my last trip, outbound I was Mr Sunley and pampered, homeward I was seemingly the only invisible pax not offered any bubbly, pre dinner drink or if I wanted breakfast. All other pax were. And its nowt to do with an attitude on my part I am the politest big giddy kipper with a big smile on any flight.
I would ditch all the kits n pjs just for a plump squishy pillow.

I'm sure the abolition of the sleep suit bag will enable a greater number of sleep suits to be recycled and re-used by unsuspecting passengers (ugh :$ :$ ). At present if I'm give a suit in a plastic bag I know it's not new and I'll ask for one that's in a proper bag and with the plastic seal intact ( so I know it's not one "previously enjoyed" by another).
DL

I'm sure the abolition of the sleep suit bag will enable a greater number of sleep suits to be recycled and re-used by unsuspecting passengers (ugh :$ :$ ). At present if I'm give a suit in a plastic bag I know it's not new and I'll ask for one that's in a proper bag and with the plastic seal intact ( so I know it's not one "previously enjoyed" by another).
DL

No guarentee that a black, tagged bag means a clean suit. I once found crumbs and an eye mask (once I got home) in one of the pockets. An email to VS to say 'you need to check these things better' got me an apology and 4k miles.

Back to topic. I now take my own amenity kit i.e. with a toothbrush I can use and paste I can get from the tube etc . I took about 10 unused kits (from various airlines) to the charity shop the other week. I still have a small selection that I keep meaning to photograph and post on here so we can compare and contrast ! (job for the weekend)

Personally I'm more worried about the removal of blankets than the amenity kit.

Oh my goodness...they recycle sleep suits?!?

well why not?

a good hot wash and they are as good as new - just like the blankets and pillows etc

well why not?

a good hot wash and they are as good as new - just like the blankets and pillows etc

Because it's revolting :$ .I for one don't want a second hand sleep suit v( (especially as some passengs remove their underwear) . Given they're 65% polyester 35% cotton they don't tolerate a "hot" wash particularly well (unlike the mattress pads / pillow cases etc). Actually I'm not convinced they do actually get washed having had experience of dried food etc being found on them. Yeuk. Hence my refusals of suits in plastic bags.

DL

[Darren Wheeler]

assuming some don't sleep naked. Just ask any cabin crew about what they've seen 'hanging out' of duvets and blankets :0 :0

Personally I detest the sleep suits regardless of any recycling. Hot, scratchy and generates enough static to light the plane up. Hence I carry my own comfy, cotton PJ's.

[honey lamb]

Hot, scratchy and generates enough static to light the plane up.

Reminds me of a time yonkety-yonk years ago when I went to a conference. I had a brushed nylon nighty (I said it was yonkety-yonk years ago!) and the bed had brushed nylon sheets (I said it was yonkety-yonk years ago!) Every time I turned over in the bed the sparks generated made Blackpool Illuminations look dim! :0

Skinny Cow? Really? Awful stuff.

Personally I detest the sleep suits regardless of any recycling. Hot, scratchy and generates enough static to light the plane up. Hence I carry my own comfy, cotton PJ's.

As do I.

And much admired they are too.

Tonty, surely we shouldn't miss an opportunity to see "that" photo again? ^)

My dirhams worth.. Completely agree that if VS can't offer a groundbreaking innovative amenity kit which lets admit even the new ones are not, then ditch it. EK and EY don't have these in Y also. Recycled sleep suits, why not? Hotel sheets (much more personal) are surely simply laundered rather than replaced?

I back these 'cut backs' if it means investment in areas that really matter to passengers (frequent and new)... I.e consistent decent service.

Recycled sleep suits, why not? Hotel sheets (much more personal) are surely simply laundered rather than replaced?

The re-use is not the whole problem - several people have previously raised the issue of them not being washed properly.

Just my opinion but I think the bean counters have got this one wrong ,the cabin is just as cold on a day flight as a night flight . Maybe some airlines dont provide them ,but if you want to charge premium prices you have to offer a premium service . The reduction in other services like inflight drinks has not gone down too well, if VS dont want to be a bottom feeder they have to pull thing together . I cant imagine how much hassle this will cause the Cabin Crew .

I have a friend who is crew based out of Manchester. After speaking with them about the product withdrawals the general consensus by the front line staff at Manchester is that the airline is becoming 'cheap', that Virgin is not the airline it used to be, and that more cut backs are just around the corner.

I am not a regular VS Flyer, as my GGL status with BA bring me a lot more personal benefits than VS... but when I fly with VS, I like all the little extras which remind me of how quirky Virgin is.............. or was!!

I have a friend who is crew based out of Manchester. After speaking with them about the product withdrawals the general consensus by the front line staff at Manchester is that the airline is becoming 'cheap', that Virgin is not the airline it used to be, and that more cut backs are just around the corner.

I am not a regular VS Flyer, as my GGL status with BA bring me a lot more personal benefits than VS... but when I fly with VS, I like all the little extras which remind me of how quirky Virgin is.............. or was!!

You raise a point that I hadn't considered, in my previous post I said it doesn't matter whether the sleep suit comes in a plastic bag or not, and it doesn't from the pointy end of the plane.

But I wasn't considering other cabins that much ( ), then I was talking with a CC member on the way back from LA yesterday and he said several things that resonated with me, including that CC themselves were very wary of passengers' reaction when they consider VS to be full service and not always the cheapest option, how these cuts devalue the experience, and how it affects the crew-passenger interaction. Apparently no amenity kits for PE or Y were loaded for their outbound flight, which I hope is a blip, but strangely the amuse bouche was in UC. Go figure.

Regardless of whether you like/dislike/use the amenity packs they were always part of the VA 'experience'. I always wore the socks as I could just dispose of them at the end of the flight, I always use a blanket and I hate Skinny Cow ice cream. God help if they get rid of the Baileys!
Back to BA, been saying it for a while, no fun or monetary value in VA anymore.

speaking to some friends who stopped by yesterday ,they had flown US air from LGW to TPA and raved about them.... thats 3 people recently who have given them top marks.

I used them years ago and they were pretty good. the only downside for me is no PE. They use 330s which VS seem intent on sticking us with more and more so no contest and they fly into RSW which is an hours drive away for me. also if you are lucky they offer real bargains to upgrade to first at CI. but thats taking pot luck.
when my miles and upgrade vouchers go , they may be worth a look

These announced cut backs are not of huge significance in and of themselves, but as many have said, are the continuing de-flowering of the (once great) Virgin experience.

I'll watch from afar, however, my next 3 flights are booked with BA - and their service is on the way up, not down.