What a J Amenity Kit SHOULD look like...

[preiffer]

I never thought I'd see the day when my love-to-hate-em airline (bmi) would show Virgin Atlantic up. The last time I travelled in "the business" with bmi (to Chicago), a suede-blue amenity kit was handed to all. It had all the mod-cons, etc. but was pretty standard.

What a contrast it was from my first experience of the Scrooge Pack 2 weeks ago on VS, to receive the latest bmi offering on Thursday.


Take note, Virgin (and our favourite "product manager", of course): THIS is how it's done:


Sturdy case, with brushed metal logo (plastic sealed when you receive it):





Inside, a "pouch" containing some of the items, and a mirror behind it:






So, in summary, VS now give me a paper envelope with some socks, an eyeshade and some earplugs. bmi (for less money, transatlantic), give me:

A sturdy (re-useable) case
A mirror
Tissues
Mints
Lip balm
Moisturising face cream
A "wet pouch"
Eyeshades
Socks
Earplugs
Toothbrush + Paste
Branded mini-notebook
Solid branded metal pen





[:?]


Pretty pathetic, Virgin, don't ya think? [:w]

[honey lamb]

Oh, YESSSSS!!

Please take note, VS

On another board, a friend of mine reports on an Alitalia flight from Toronto to Rome that they received "amenity kits in snazzy seat-matching leather" I don't know the contents but even that was guaranteed to grab my attention.

Please take note, VS

Very nice indeed.

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by honey lamb
Oh, YESSSSS!!

Please take note, VS

On another board, a friend of mine reports on an Alitalia flight from Toronto to Rome that they received "amenity kits

Any chance s(he) was on the LCA J deal?

[Scrooge]

Oh but Paul you don't get to use the LHR clubhouse for a couple of hrs before your 10 hr flight.Hence the need to pay more and get less.

BTW do BMI still have the Sky Chef thingy on board?

[preiffer]

Yup - they still have the onboard senior heater-upper chef. Actually, this one was a really good guy and the food was excellent. [y]

It is these little things that make the difference. They may save a few pounds but they will also loose a few thousand pounds for SRB as people transfer to other airlines.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin

Originally posted by honey lamb
Oh, YESSSSS!!

Please take note, VS

On another board, a friend of mine reports on an Alitalia flight from Toronto to Rome that they received "amenity kits

Any chance s(he) was on the LCA J deal?

Yup, he was!

Dave, you took the words straight from my mouth. VS can only use the LHR CH advantage for so long. Yes it is a great pre flight perk, but what about the other 6-12hr on board where others are starting to leave VS behind.

The ammenity kit on BMI looks like the old VS kit used to look like pre OW. Get it back now.

Iain

[ChuckC]

Paul, thanks for that. It certainly places the debate in the starkest of contrasts, I'd say.

BTW do we have any updates from VS on how its "rethink" on the amenity kit issue is proceeding?

Chuck-

Didn't even bother to open the envelope on my most recent UC flight - I don't think I missed much;)

VS.

[Bazz]

The cost per Kit cannot be that high given the number that VA would buy! Taken in the context of even a discounted "Z" UC ticket price, what difference is a few quid going to make when paying that kind of money? Not a lot I would suggest.

VS please take note, your actions are driving your once loyal customers away!

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by Bazz
The cost per Kit cannot be that high given the number that VA would buy! Taken in the context of even a discounted "Z" UC ticket price, what difference is a few quid going to make when paying that kind of money? Not a lot I would suggest.

VS please take note, your actions are driving your once loyal customers away!

Well as I have mentioned and a couple of others have as well,VS should be making money of off every kit that goes out.If they worked out a good product placement deal VS could generate some revenue and also keep their pax happy.

Originally posted by jetwet1

Well as I have mentioned and a couple of others have as well,VS should be making money of off every kit that goes out.If they worked out a good product placement deal VS could generate some revenue and also keep their pax happy.

Which I presume is what they are doing with the GU chocolate puddings - sorry...desserts - and the Coy ice creams.

As to the OP, that's what I would expect an amenity kit to look like...

Paul

Sorry but I just don't get the issue regarding amenity packs.....

How about looking at it from a different angle, namely the amount of wasted contents per pack / per flight.

Would hazard a guess that the majority of the packs are either left on the plane partially used, or taken still in the wrapper and then sold on e.bay. The amount of excess packaging used in these packs is a disgrace when measured against what they really are for, which is just a freebie.

Looking at the BMI pack are you going to tell me you will use the toothbrush supplied or paste more than once..... nope didn't think so, so that gets binned. How many pens do you have? and ask yourself the question will you ever use the notebook - be truthful

Sure it's a nice touch but if the packs are so soon discarded then does it really matter if it's handed out in an envelope or not?.

Take it a step further, the only useful part of the economy pack are the eye shades. Maybe VS are actually doing the right thing for the environment.

Off now to put my flack jacket and hard hat on [:w]

[preiffer]

Originally posted by Jon B
Looking at the BMI pack are you going to tell me you will use the toothbrush supplied or paste more than once..... nope didn't think so, so that gets binned.

Exactly why it's called a DISPOSABLE toothbrush Can't speak for you, but personally I don't like landing with a mouth that smells like a sewer after a long flight.

Originally posted by Jon B
How many pens do you have?

Quite handy for filling out those immigration cards - something you can no longer do with the items given to you by VS [:w]

Originally posted by Jon B
and ask yourself the question will you ever use the notebook - be truthful

Oh, probably never. But having said that, as a branded item, it works. Doesn't necessarily have to be used to allow my brain to remember the branding (and the "airline that gave me that little brown book"). After all, marketing is what 90% of the driver behind the amenity pack is all about...

Originally posted by preiffer

Originally posted by Jon B
Looking at the BMI pack are you going to tell me you will use the toothbrush supplied or paste more than once..... nope didn't think so, so that gets binned.

Exactly why it's called a DISPOSABLE toothbrush Can't speak for you, but personally I don't like landing with a mouth that smells like a sewer after a long flight.

Originally posted by Jon B
How many pens do you have?

Quite handy for filling out those immigration cards - something you can no longer do with the items given to you by VS [:w]

Originally posted by Jon B
and ask yourself the question will you ever use the notebook - be truthful

Oh, probably never. But having said that, as a branded item, it works. Doesn't necessarily have to be used to allow my brain to remember the branding (and the "airline that gave me that little brown book"). After all, marketing is what 90% of the driver behind the amenity pack is all about...

Hmmm Disposible doesn't make it environmentally friendly now does it?... Exactly the opposite in fact

Quite right, I believe in taking a brush which I'll use during the time abroad in my hand luggage, prior to the recent ban also took on my own toothpaste and mouth wash as well...... seems a better use of products if you ask me

Pens..... hmmm always have one to hand myself. But I'm sure the CC would get you one if you needed it to fill out those pesky forms

Can only agree with you on your last point, marketing is what's behind the amenity pack which is why it is a fairly useless item from whichever angle you look at it

Good on you VS for cutting down on the amount of 'crap' which we don't really need

[preiffer]

Indeed - congratulations VS.

To a lot of people - those packs form the "reminder" of the flight. It's essentially the only thing people take away with them from the airline. So, we're all able to remember VS by its little paper envelope [y]


(By the way, I love how the hypocritical environmentalists so easily forget the 10 TONNES of fuel they're burning through every hour they're sat onboard. Don't worry about that, though - you saved 10ml of toothpaste )


MAYbe, if the £1m per year saving went towards a carbon-neutral scheme or some such, your argument might stand up. As it is, with that cash going straight to the bottom line on VS' bank statements - it's about as watertight as a sponge.


I wonder how many cows died to make my seat. [:?]

Originally posted by preiffer
Indeed - congratulations VS.

To a lot of people - those packs form the "reminder" of the flight. It's essentially the only thing people take away with them from the airline. So, we're all able to remember VS by its little paper envelope [y]


(By the way, I love how the hypocritical environmentalists so easily forget the 10 TONNES of fuel they're burning through every hour they're sat onboard. Don't worry about that, though - you saved 10ml of toothpaste )

So the fact I challenge the waste of packaging on these packs makes me a hypocritical environmentalist now?..... seems to me like each answer I've given was logical ;);)

As a 'hypocritical environmentalist' I used to travel to the USA 5 or 6 times a year for business meetings. I now do this via conference calls for the most part and the 5 or 6 trips are now down to 1. Hey and guess what, the amount of business I bring in has grown..... So guess that doesn't make me such a hypocrite now does it? (Oh and the budget is still there for me to use if I wanted to, it's a matter of choice for me)

So what do you do to help out with this?

Guess what I should have said was I agree, it's an outrage, bring back the packs and lets cram them full of more products that you'll actually never use.

and as for a momento of the flight.....sorry still not convinced on that one either

And the cows statement really is an arguement to move forward on isn't it[:?]

£1m on the bottom line and helping to cut down on the crap that's put into land fills seems like a good business decision.

Let's just agree to disagree on this one

[Neil]

Why do so many posts seem to get personal on here at the minute[:?], surely we can have a good debate, accepting that other have different views without the need to get personal!.

Anyway, back to the OT, for me, somebody who hasn't flown J yet (hopefully next year though) the amenity kit is something that I would look forward to having and would expect to be of a certain standard (and something to show off at home to make people jealous[:I]). Ok I understand what VS are trying to do but IMHO it seems they have gone a bit too far, I would much rather have the bmi kit then the current VS one.

Neil:)

One could argue that spending thousands of pounds on an UC ticket to be given a paper envelope when a better product can be had for less is actually the real wastage.[}:)]

VS.

Originally posted by preiffer
Quite handy for filling out those immigration cards - something you can no longer do with the items given to you by VS [:w]

Except in PE and E..

Paul

I was pointed to this topic with the following question:
Do the VS onboard packs still include lip balm and moisturiser given the current ban on liquids and cosmetics?

If they have changed, what is now included?

Can't actually see that this itself has been discussed, so if anyone has any further info other than that given already I would appreciated it

Paul

Originally posted by dunbarm
Socks,eyeshades and earplugs only given out on Aug 24th in UC. Did get lip balm after asking for it, but this was taken away from me during my security mauling at LA prior to a connecting flight.

Didn't have any moisturiser, but there is some available in the toilets.

Originally posted by iforres1
VS can only use the LHR CH advantage for so long.
Iain

Or not at all for pax who fly from LGW, MAN or GLA

Maybe VS should offer a choice then. A "leisure pack" containing everything, or the "business pack" containing the bare essentials and you can decide what you want. As VS seem to think most people don't want the full pack, they can cut down on waste by letting the consumer decide. [?]