Airline Amenity Kits: How Much Do They Matter?

In first and business class on long haul flights, it’s common to receive an amenity kit upon boarding. This is typically some sort of a pouch containing some number of items, ranging from a dental kit, to eyeshades, to toiletries. As is the case with most things that airlines offer, the quality can vary significantly.

I want to talk about that in a bit more detail in this post, as I’m curious to hear how OMAAT readers feel about them. To what extent to do you actually care about amenity kits, in what ways do you use them, and do they even matter?

The ways in which airline amenity kits are important

Recently, a reader left a comment talking about how an airline had an underwhelming amenity kit, in the context of how the overall experience was. That’s a totally fair take and observation, though it occurred to me that the quality of an amenity kit doesn’t even make the list of the things that I’d factor in when deciding on the quality of an airline product.

Then I remembered that a non-travel friend recently flew Delta, and when I asked him about his flight, the first thing he brought up was the Missoni amenity kit. So clearly it’s something that people do notice, both good and bad.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely notice amenity kits, and the quality of them. But for me, an amenity kit is probably one of the most minor details of a premium flight experience. Like, I’d rank it not only after the obvious things (like seats, entertainment, Wi-Fi, etc.), but I’d even rank it after things like pillow and blanket quality, alcohol selection, availability of espresso, bathrooms being kept clean, etc.

As I see it, the value of airline amenity kits fits into one of a few categories:

• There’s a practical immediate use for airline amenity kits, for the things you might actually need on a flight, like eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, etc.
• There’s the halo effect element of airline amenity kits, of partnering with premium brands, in order to give the experience a premium feel
• Then there’s the reusability aspect of airline amenity kits, as it’s one of the only things you can take off a plane with you; obviously airlines love when passengers keep amenity kits, especially when they’re fondly associated with the airline brand

Let me just provide some examples of amenity kits that stand out, both in a positive and negative way. You have some airlines, like MIAT Mongolian Airlines, that just give you the absolute basics, like eyeshades, earplugs, etc. This is better than nothing, but that’s about all you can say, as these kits are unlikely to get any reuse. Then again, Ulaanbaatar isn’t a particularly competitive aviation market.