Come Fly With Them

American Airlines rolled out this amenity kit for international “premium” classes in September 2011. The little package of tissues, the mint and the Burt’s Bees hand cream are welcome. Colgate toothpaste shows up (a lot) in airline amenity kits. The carrier later upped the ante . . . / MyLittleBird photo.

. . . with a series of retro “heritage” kits, featuring the colors of the nine legacy airlines–US Airways, Piedmont, TWA, Allegheny and others–that went into making American the world’s largest carrier. Each kit was a flannel bag designed to serve later as a mini-tablet case. The kits, which were given out on most international and transcontinental flights through January 2016, included foam covers for the airline’s Bose headsets. Lotion and lip balm were now from Red Flower, an eco-brand based in SoHo. And the Colgate toothpaste went teeny-tiny, probably to make room for the Scope mouthwash. / MyLittleBird photo.

Icelanders are well aware that if they don’t learn English or some other major language they’re limited to talking among themselves. Maybe that’s why the SagaClass amenity kit on Icelandair from a couple of years ago showcased the ancient tongue, with the nice terry-lined sleep mask carrying words from an Icelandic lullaby (I know because it says so) and the zippered case itself wishing flyers a Goda fero, a good flight. The toiletries were from the Soley brand made in Iceland, including a “reviving moisture mist” and a “revitalizing facial moisturizer,” both made with wild Icelandic herbs. This was the only kit we got that didn’t have a protective cap for the toothbrush, but it was also the only one with a shoehorn. And that little container of “organic healing cream with [guess what] wild Icelandic herbs” had the consistency of . . . lip balm but was in fact a “healing cream” for eczema, yeast infections and minor wounds. Toothpaste once again by Colgate-Palmolive Thailand. The more recent in-flight kits replaced the Soley lotions with Blue Lagoon brand. The gray pouches, the same basic shape, are less playful (and where’s that shoehorn?), but the toothbrush has a cover that becomes its handle. / MyLittleBird photo.

This sober-looking kit from Finnair did not neglect flyers’ teeth: I must have used the toothbrush and toothpaste and then tossed them. The Berry Therapy-brand “Sea Buckthorn Moisturizer” (no, I don’t know what that means either) is joined by Berry Therapy lip balm. Am I the only person in the flying world who does NOT use lip balm . . . ever? / MyLittleBird photo.

Finnair’s snappy new Marimekko-design amenity kit wraps its basic toiletry tools (plus Clarins skincare products) in cheerful Unikko poppies and other signature Marimekko prints. / Photo above and on cover courtesy Finnair.

Turkish Airlines, which has been on a charm offensive in recent years, set itself apart in 2013 by offering long-haul economy-class passengers this handsome hinged tin box containing its amenities. The map on the lid celebrated the 500th anniversary of a famous world map drawn by Ottoman sea captain and geographer Piri Reis (only a fragment survives). The amenities included German toothpaste and Hong Kong lip balm. This week I found a Turkish Airlines tin, developed for the carrier by amenity-kit specialist Hong Kong-based Formia, offered on eBay for $9.99. / MyLittleBird photo.

Another economy-class amenity kit from Turkish Airlines from a few years ago contained the same items but in a rather minimal zippered nylon pencil case. The amenity-kit specialist Formia has since developed sober-colored cosmetic-style bags containing Crabtree & Evelyn products for the airline. / MyLittleBird photo.

Copa Airlines, based in Panama and serving much of South America, offers in its Ejecutiva class a handsome little hard-shell “kit de cortesia” covered in a microsuede-type fabric. It contains the basics–non-slip socks, eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste (Colgate again), those squooshy ear plugs, plus the inevitable lip balm. / MyLittleBird photo.

The return flight on Copa Airlines featured the carrier’s eco-friendly version of a toiletry kit: reusable mesh-front bag, earplugs packed in recycled paper, biodegradable toothbrush and biodegradable hand lotion tube. The card explaining all this was made with recycled paper and printed with soy-based ink. / MyLittleBird photo.

Delta’s BusinessElite amenity bags are now made by Tumi. When I last flew Delta, the long-haul toiletry case was kitted out with a biggish toothbrush and a bigger-than-teeny tube of Crest toothpaste, contained in a mesh zippered case-within-a-case. There was a pen and a small pack of tissues, plus a moisturizer and, of course, lip balm, both from Lather products of California. Both the comfy non-slip socks and the “eyeshades” were a lively red. / MyLittleBird photo.

This in-flight kit from Taiwanese carrier EVA Air is from maybe 10 years ago, but it was rather cool. The Bio-Gum-Guard toothpaste was from Hong Kong. Newer amenity kits are handsome but made from a more standard fabric in a more standard pouch shape. / MyLittleBird photo.

Colgate toothpaste was again the star in the amenity kit offered by LOT Polish Airlines. The silver-gray basics are enhanced by a collage of LOT images on the eye shade. And don’t let the shape fool you: The larger tube is La Rui moisturizer, but the smaller is, you guessed it, lip balm. A nice added touch: a comb. / MyLittleBird photo.

Air Europa, a relatively young (formed in 1986) airline based in Spain, is a new favorite, although it took me a while to realize that the folded microfiber case was meant to be used afterward as an iPad case. Packed inside are the usual toothpaste and toothbrush, comb, sleep mask, ear plugs (in a nice little hard-plastic case) and socks; there’s also a shoe bag The moisturizer and lip balm are by the Greek apothecary Korres. A sign of (minor) trouble ahead? The kit also contains a bandaid. / MyLittleBird photos.

I KNOW WE’RE ALL SOPHISTICATES too jaded to be thrilled by those airline amenity kits offered, usually, in business and first classes. But I think of them as a variation on those little gift bags you take home at the end of a charity gala: You probably don’t need anything they contain, but it sure is fun to go rooting around in there. So with airline toiletry kits, I can’t help myself: I take one outbound and another when coming back home, always hoping no one notices.

What do I do with them? Sometimes I wear the slippers or socks in flight, sometimes the toothbrush will get a workout. But mostly I just take them home and stick them in my “travel drawer,” the drawer that holds all the fannypacks and money belts and plug adapters and 210-current hairdryer and things I can rarely remember I have the next time I head out.

As a result, the travel drawer has been bursting with stuff I never used yet could nevertheless not part with. So I recently made a survey of my holdings; now that I have it out of my system, they’re all going to a shelter, where people might genuinely like/need the sample sizes of lotions and toothpaste and that all-time favorite, lip balm. (What’s with all that lip balm anyway?)

My travels on Air Europa, American, Copa, Delta, EVA, Finnair, Icelandair, LOT and Turkish airlines reaped some interesting kits, but they’re not the top of the heap. In a story last year on ThePointsGuy.com air-travel website, reporter Jessica Spiegel showed cheerful striped slipper socks from Air New Zealand, a two-tone clutch designed by Ferragamo (and kitted out with Ferragamo toiletries) from Alitalia’s Magnifica class, cheerful geometric Kate Spade cosmetic bags for women (Jack Spade for men) on Qantas, and black silk Armani toiletry kits from Qatar Airways filled with, yes, Armani skincare products and fragrance (Acqua di Giò for men, Si for women).

Reaching out to the hip crowd, Virgin Atlantic’s Upper class (get it?) hands out cases made from recycled plastic bottles. To cite ThePointsGuy.com, outbound flights have soft cases meant to be reused as tablet cases, while inbound amenity kit cases turn into travel wallets.

The idea of transformation seems to be the new way to distinguish your airline’s service over that of another. First they went from anonymous toiletries to brand names, the fancier the better. But making the pouch or clutch or zipper bag see iPad duty long after the flight, well, that’s the gift that keeps on giving—and keeps on reminding us where it came from.

Airline amenity kits certainly bring out the little kid in us (or at least me), the kid  impatient to get to the gift. Then the grown-up checks in to remind me that, often, the real thrill comes from the unwrapping; it’s the promise, not necessarily the gift itself.

—Nancy McKeon