Snooze Packs to replace Amenity Kits

Leading on from this discussion, then.....

What would YOU choose for the 'perfect' amenity kit?

(answers for J class and Y/W class... )

for those of you who are members there is a poll in the clubhouse

(edited to remove the link to clubhouse topic)

[preiffer]

Well, the marketing blub's now on the statements:

Upper Class Snooze Pack
We all have our own little comforts that help us get the best possible flight's sleep, but individually our needs are all different. That's why we've designed the new Snooze Pack, to give you a day or night time snooze experience that is uniquely customised just for you.

The new pack will replace the current amenity kit and includes the essentials that you will have come to expect such as socks, eyeshades and earplugs. In addition you have the choice of a wide range of extra items such as toothpaste, moisturiser, razors, sewing kits, collar stiffeners and more. We've done our best to think of everything, so whatever you feel you need to give you that peaceful slumber do not hesitate to ask one of our cabin crew for it.

So, what if you DON'T want a peacful night's slumber? Like, on a day flight? [:?]

However, I am now of course looking forward to my "next experience, uniquely customised just for me"... [ii]

I'll be asking for the very nice, flashy, full length pen I'm sure will be in the basket, socks, Virgin Vie moisturizer and colored lip balm, spritz toner, toothbrush/paste, comb, sleep suit, mini-mirror and of course a nice squishy red pillow--and the zip case I will need to keep it all tidy.

RR

Originally posted by roadrunner
I'll be asking for the very nice, flashy, full length pen I'm sure will be in the basket, socks, Virgin Vie moisturizer and colored lip balm, spritz toner, toothbrush/paste, comb, sleep suit, mini-mirror and of course a nice squishy red pillow--and the zip case I will need to keep it all tidy.

RR

And a flying pig will be in the basket too [:p]

David.

I can see one empty basket and a whole list of new items on Ebay two weeks later.[:o)]

When are these being implemented? I just flew VS012 today, and got the Ozwald Boateng kit. Is this the same kit as on day flights? I was kind of surprised by the amount of things in the kit, even AA gives more! It was a great flight and I'm not a Virgin Atlantic virgin anymore!

Matt

Originally posted by mgw2000
When are these being implemented? I just flew VS012 today, and got the Ozwald Boateng kit. Is this the same kit as on day flights? I was kind of surprised by the amount of things in the kit, even AA gives more! It was a great flight and I'm not a Virgin Atlantic virgin anymore!

Matt

Welcome, and congratulations on losing your Virginity [:p]

Your questions to the new UC snooze pack:

Why have we replaced the present Upper Class Amenity Kit with a Snooze Pack, was it unpopular?

The existing Oswald Boetang Kit was not as popular as weÕd hoped, in fact it had the lowest satisfaction for amenity kits since the beginning of 2004 (the Oscar & Denn Night & Day pack). We knew we had to change it, and we new the change needed to be radical.

IÕm not convinced that the passengers are going to like this. Have you asked them what they would like?

Yes, we have asked passengers. We also asked crew and the key learning was that everyoneÕs requirements are slightly different. We identified the core items that everyone needed and decided that we would hand these out but then leave it up to individuals to pick anything else they needed. That way we wouldnÕt be giving out items that were simply discarded (a common theme for frequent flyers who have seen the kit numerous times, have given it away, left it behind or simply not taken one).

How will the passengers know what ÔextraÕ items are available to them?

We will need you to tell them, if they ask what we have. There will be a list of all items in the atlas box they are stored in. We are hoping though, that pax will simply ask for the item they need and we will either have it (hopefully) or not. We were originally going to put a card in the Snooze Pack detailing what was available (similar to the ones you see in hotels ÒIf you forget..Ó) but we decided that the additional items may need to be changed, dependent on pax demand and this would necessitate replacing the cards frequently. So we decided to launch the pack without a card Ð if this is confusing for pax we will put a card in Ð so please feedback, your comments will be used to make the product better!

The Economy Kit has a toothbrush in it, am I correct in saying that our Upper Class passengers have to ask for one?

Yes. We decided to put just the top 3 items in the core kit and the toothbrush was not in the top 3. We will be loading enough based on usage of the last toothbrush, so there should be one for everyone who wants one. If you find that everyone is requesting a toothbrush and / or its delivery disrupts the service please feedback on the flight report and we can change the pack to allow us to include the toothbrush as a core item.

Why is it called a ÔSnooze PackÕ when so many of our flights are during the day?

The offering is significantly different to our previous kits so we didnÕt want to refer to it as an amenity kit. All the items in the Snooze Pack are to help you sleep, a ÒSleep KitÓ or ÒSleep PackÓ definitely wouldnÕt have been appropriate because you are right, some of our flights are in the day. ÒSnooze PackÓ was ultimately agreed as the best name, we can all snooze in the day after all.

Do you really think this is the correct area to be more efficient? Our passengers may regard this as cost cutting?

The Amenity Kits are far more important to us as Virgin staff than they are to our passengers. They are not a key reason for flying Virgin, and whilst we do want to provide every pax with the key items to make their flight comfortable, we need to be very focussed on spending money where it is most valued by our customers. So we decided on the new concept, to personalise the kit reducing wastage and cost. Talking of wastage, although we did recycle items that were left behind we know that frequent flyers often discarded parts of the kits and sometimes the whole kit. Clearly it is pointless giving people things they donÕt value or need both from our point of view and from the environmentÕs - so this was also a key driver in our decision to change the concept

DonÕt forget that the Snooze Pack will be available to non-revenue passengers, a change from before. (although they will not be eligible to request additional items).

[mitchja]

Thanks vscss but this bit did surprize me somewhat:

DonÕt forget that the Snooze Pack will be available to non-revenue passengers, a change from before

Really. I've never not received an OB pack even when travelling on a G fare. Also this has been discussed at great length but I thought we decided that the crew could not see which fare pax where travelling on, so how would they know who was non-rev anyway [:?]

Regards

[preiffer]

Originally posted by vscss
DonÕt forget that the Snooze Pack will be available to non-revenue passengers, a change from before. (although they will not be eligible to request additional items).

So, someone on a reward flight is not allowed a toothbrush? [:0][?]

Originally posted by mitchja
Really. I've never not received an OB pack even when travelling on a G fare. Also this has been discussed at great length but I thought we decided that the crew could not see which fare pax where travelling on, so how would they know who was non-rev anyway [:?]

When they say non-rev, they no-doubt mean ID00, e.g. staff travel, and not mileage awards, mileage upgrades from Y/W revenue fares, op-ups, etc.

Mike

I thought this was a very telling comment..

>>We are hoping though, that pax will simply ask for the item they need and we will either have it (hopefully) or not.<<<

I read that to mean that VS will NOT be stocking each flight with at least one item per pax and replenishing supplies used in order to ensure that there was zero wastage and every UC pax could have their choice of item.

Sorry....its cost cutting no matter which way you dress it up. I for one would be pee'd off in the extreme if there wasnt a toothbrush available on a flight (although it would appear that that item will be re-stocked as mentioned above).

Its penny pinching.

^^ In addition to that they're hoping that the pax will be assertive enough to ask, something not all pax will be comfortable with doing.

Whilst I can understand the reasoning of changing the Amenity Kits I feel like it's had a MAJOR Nip/Tuck, rather than a quick diet.

[Decker]

I take my hat off to the person who wrote that communication. It was masterful. I even feel less apprehensive about the snooze pack now!

[preiffer]

Indeed Decker,

I do also love this:

We knew we had to change it, and we new the change needed to be radical.

Well, they've achieved THAT objective at least! [ii]

I for one would be pee'd off in the extreme if there wasnt a toothbrush available on a flight

you could always pop to the back to see if could borrow one from the Y passengers

I agree with Decker--the crew info memo on the snooze kits was excellent and certainly informative, anticipating passenger queries or grumbles. My guess is that toothbrush/paste will not be long off the "every seat" list... but I still wonder if Virgin have considered even a small token wash bag to enclose those items. Their records must surely indicate that the winner in the best kit contest was the zip case from a few years ago, because it was easily thrown into a flight bag and had multiple uses. It would be interesting to do a quick V-Flyer survey on who still has-and uses-theirs. It does seem that voices heard on this forum are open to seeing what's on offer for the amenities but are missing that something special that a classy little case with a gift in it has, which heralds a UC experience.

Is the underlying theory that the amenities will all be single use and disposed of prior to disembarking?

Now about those pens, notepad,and that wonderful mini hot water bottle...the memo does ask crew for feedback!

RR

I just got off VS012 today (june 24) and got the new snooze pack... It comes in a black, cardboard/paper packet and says Upper Class. It contains the 3 core items, and it says to request additional items. I asked for moisturizer and said that they had NOTHING onboard. The F/A said to go to the bathroom and use that. I hope this changes and I was disapointed by the lack of things compared to the OB kit (which I think is quite bare).

Matt

Originally posted by mgw2000
I just got off VS012 today (june 24) and got the new snooze pack... It comes in a black, cardboard/paper packet and says Upper Class. It contains the 3 core items, and it says to request additional items. I asked for moisturizer and said that they had NOTHING onboard. The F/A said to go to the bathroom and use that. I hope this changes and I was disapointed by the lack of things compared to the OB kit (which I think is quite bare).

Matt

Not the best of starts for this "Service Enhancement"[V]
Perhaps the FSM could have gone back to Y to get one their amenity packs as they had nothing onboard which I assume would also include NO TOOTHBRUSH

She may have lied. I was going through PE to deplane (I was in 4A, upper deck) and saw amenity kits with pens, etc...

Matt

Pens????

[preiffer]

Nice one VS - another own goal [ii]

Originally posted by mgw2000
I just got off VS012 today (june 24) and got the new snooze pack... It comes in a black, cardboard/paper packet and says Upper Class. It contains the 3 core items, and it says to request additional items. I asked for moisturizer and said that they had NOTHING onboard. The F/A said to go to the bathroom and use that. I hope this changes and I was disapointed by the lack of things compared to the OB kit (which I think is quite bare).

Matt

Teething problems, or just bad planning? Let's hope it all comes together quickly.

Hmmm, let's guess how many extra complaints will be being dealt with if the flight's commonly have nowhere near enough toothbrush's....

If there was enough room on board previously for 60 bulky OB packs then there's no excuses for not having 60+ of the individual items as they can be stored in a smaller space.

That situation would simply not be acceptable for Virgin's premium offering. Making this change without ensuring that every passenger will get everything they need is irresponsible.

David.

I've seen all the dialogue ref the new "snooze kits" - but does anyone know if the "Sleep Suit" is still on offer?

I'm flying UC LHR - HK - SYD in one hit - so hoping that they will still be available and that all the bits and pieces I might need will be on offer.

Also - anyone experienced the transit arrangements in HK - I gather we deplane into a holding lounge? Are there any facilities of any kind - even if it's just shops to pass the time.

Many thanks

Andrew

P.S - I'm a newbie - but just wanted to say thanks for all the great info on the site and in the forum.