New UC Amenity Kit

does anyone know what is in the new upper class amendity kits?
plus are they better tthan the older ones?

Airbus340

Originally posted by Airbus340
does anyone know what is in the new upper class amendity kits?

Not a lot anymore, sadly. I actually left the last couple on the aircraft, due to lack of carrying space, and they didn't seem worth taking anymore.

If you're looking for a travel wallet, or a luggage tag, they are worth taking away, otherwise, not really.

The earplugs are nowhere near as nice as they used to be - they used to be nice smooth "moulded" ones, now they are the cheapo foam "cylinders" with rough edges you have to roll down quite a lot before insertion.

The Polo mints have been replaced by some "no-name" breath-freshening strips.

The tissues have been disposed with completely, meaning trips to the lav if you need them.

There is a small black resin pen stamped with "Virgin Atlantic".

You obviously get eyeshades, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, and lip balm as well.

Still all the essentials, but not really a patch on what they used to be.

plus are they better tthan the older ones?

The best kits, IMHO, were the Virgin Vie ones - they were either a purple/burgundy, or black zippable pouch (apparently, there were some white/pearl ones, but I never saw them), containing a whole raft of goodies, plus, depending on the direction of flight and whether it was primarily a day or night flight, a little box of different Virgin Vie samples - nice moisturisers, hand cream, etc., including the best thing of all - the minty foot rub! (Which I now buy by the tube from my local Virgin Vie shop anyway...)

Just my thoughts on the amenity kits!

Cheers,
Mike

hmm... sounds like more cost cutting from vs to me
the only think that would really appeal to me is the luggage tag. hopefully there might be an improvement then!
do you get smaller vesions of it on te way home like in Y?

[Decker]

You get duplicates on the way back! We're not big fans in the Decker household and find it ironic that the VS Travel wallet doesn't fit into the UC armrest unlike my own travel wallet

just going off the subject slightly is there anything good about uc at the moment im a bit worried about my first flight in uc because all ive said to my parentnts about vs has been good (well ok excellent:))
anyone got a few good coments to reasure me before I go into mental breakdown:)

[Decker]

UC is ALWAYS fantastic the first few times.

Originally posted by Airbus340
does anyone know what is in the new upper class amendity kits?
plus are they better tthan the older ones?

Luggage tags!

They also have fresh breath strips, but all 4 of ours on the way out and the way back were stuck together! So, we could not use em! (My little boy tried![:w])

Bring back the polo's!!!

UC is ALWAYS fantastic the first few times.

And it is usually pretty good for the rest of the time as well.

In order to really understand what is going on, you need to take a trip with another airline and compare notes. For example, do you get limos, full service lounges, IFBT, VOD, Flat beds, facing forwards (ish), privacy, easy seat access etc. with certain other carriers I could mention?

phew...panic over
only ever flying Y i dont think i need to worry now

Its only when you fly UC a lot you'll get, not necessarily jaded (I still always get excited) but you pick up smaller faults than you would if you were an infrequent flyer.

The kit looks nice, but apart from the socks, eyeshade and luggage tag (and the potential to sell it on ebay) not fantastic.

Dean

Originally posted by mike-smashing

[i](apparently, there were some white/pearl ones, but I never saw them),

They were the SpaceNK ones, great stuff for when you got to your destination for shower/bath etc, completely useless on the plane.

I think the old Virgin Vie ones were much better than the current ones.

so i might get picky after a few uc flights then
economy how will i ever go back[:0]!!

what does every1 think about a section on v-flyer about therapy (how to convert back to cattle!)

Originally posted by ade99
They were the SpaceNK ones, great stuff for when you got to your destination for shower/bath etc, completely useless on the plane.

Right, I have one of those somewhere too - but it was in a darker (like a shimmery, earthy) coloured case, and you're right.

Next to useless on the plane (apart from the eyeshades - in a rather 70's looking purple corduroy, toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, etc.), but great on the ground - nice bath and shower stuff.

I also got a nice little folding travel mirror and clothes brush in one with the slogan "groom with a view" (groan!) on the outside, in the SpaceNK kit I got.

The Vie kits seemed to have the right balance between being useful in flight, while containing nice trinkets. Remember the cooling eyemask thingy you soaked in a cup of ice/cold water? The red eyeshades were great, covered in lovely soft material, and I still use them in preference to the new ("OB") ones.

Cheers,
Mike

Originally posted by Wolves27
Its only when you fly UC a lot you'll get, not necessarily jaded (I still always get excited) but you pick up smaller faults than you would if you were an infrequent flyer.

The kit looks nice, but apart from the socks, eyeshade and luggage tag (and the potential to sell it on ebay) not fantastic.

Dean

Do people really sell these kits on ebay? Am amazed anyone would think of buying them!

Originally posted by catsilversword
Do people really sell these kits on ebay?

Oh yes, here are just a few examples:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6

Cheers

Michael

Is there still travel wallet included in the amenity kit? My current travel wallet is aging and I should be looking for the new one. Maybe Virgin travel wallet would be perfect?

[HighFlyer]

Is there still travel wallet included in the amenity kit?

IIRC, the current kit is a large rectangular (and IMHO awkwardly sized) zip wallet with a smaller (detachable) pouch inside. It contains a Virgin pen, eye mask, ear plugs, toothbrush, toothpaste, Virgin Vie lip balm, fresh breath strips, in-flight socks and a Virgin fabric luggae tag (which alone are going for stupid amounts on Ebay - when the kits containing the tag go for half of the price!

Do people really sell these kits on ebay?

I often sell my unused amenity kits on Ebay - otherwise they tend to just sit there. The first time i did it just to see if there was any interest as im a bit of an Ebay Queen, i sold two amenity kits and two sleepsuits (all unused from an Upper return - in the days where i still didnt use the darn sleepsuits - and they were the nice Purple/Grey ones!!) and the lot sold for a small fortune. Frankly i was amazed, thought i would be lucky to get a fiver for each! Ebay is now prety much saturated with VS stuff but there seem to be enough people buying it all!!

[Bazz]

I would agree with earlier posters that the previous "Virgin Vie" kits were much better than the current "OB" ones which, IMHO are tacky.

Not only were the contents better but the puple and black pouches that the kits came in were really useful as well. I use one for my shaving kit and one for the various electrical adaptors and leads that one has to carry around when travelling these days.

I'm with the other posters. The "Cuboid" Virgin Vie kits were the most use, both in terms of contents and use when empty (I mean, how many small washbags that don't close properly and travel document cases that are too large to be of any use does a person need?).

I have mulitple colours of the Vie bags holding cables and adaptors, toiletries etc. The little csparkers and their cousins also have a few, and they serve particularly well as dolls' suitcases. One also holds Tamagotchi cards.

I was also a fan of the black and tan bags, especially the note pads, which were a good size for the little csparkers.

i think at the price they sell at (more than their worth) its worth kepping them from your flight:D if you sell the tags seperately and then the kits you make a mini fortune!:D[8D]

[Nottingham Nick]

HighFlyer is right about EBay being saturated with VS items at the moment. The new UC kits are particularly common, which adds fuel to the suggestions here that they are inferior to previous incarnations, in that more and more people are taking them off the planes unopened in order to off load them.

Surely their purpose should be for use during the flight... like they used to be.



Nick