Have a fantastic stay and weekend Jeremy - Congrats to you both!!
[y][y][y]
Thank you all for your kind wishes. We had a great time, with loads of garnish. The Minister has asked me to point out that when I said it was 'her anniversary', it was in fact it was my anniversary too[B)].
Blimy GJ. Do you realise that is twice we have agreed with each other. [:0]What a topsy turvey world we live in;). Anyway, ta!
Gotta tell ya, I'm not happy about these new amenity kits! Last time I flew BA, their kits were terrific! Got Molton Brown stuff and after using it, I bought lots more of their products. You'd think some of those companies like MB or others like Crabtree and Evelyn, etc. would fall over themselves to supply nice kits - like they did in the old days. Shucks, it sells their products! You'd even think they'd supply the nice little plastic thingy that holds the samples. They give this kind of junk away at the department stores all the time. What a crazy world this is for us to be still talking about this lousy kit and how much $$$ Virgin is saving (1 mil? you've GOT to be kidding!). I'm wondering about this company all over again.
Yes, it's been years since I flew Virgin and I was so pleased with the service, I went out of my way to find a Virgin package that fit my needs. Now, I wonder what I was thinking about!!?!
betsy
Yes, it's been years since I flew Virgin and I was so pleased with the service, I went out of my way to find a Virgin package that fit my needs. Now, I wonder what I was thinking about!!?!
betsy
Interesting comments about the Molton Brown products Betsy. I was saying to Wolves27 earlier while we were driving over the in-laws about the products they use in the Ameanity kits. In the memo to staff they say they are going to source better quality products. In the LHR Clubhouse they have invested heavily in a Spa area with Cowshed, where you can also buy the products - they aren't as readily available as MB or any of the other big brands they may use. And this is surely something they can use to their advantage.
Include Cowshed samples in the Upper kit, passengers use them, and lets say they love them but where can they buy them? In the Clubhouse next time they go if they use LHR / Gatwick maybe. Or how about duty-free onboard? Or duty-free pre-order for the return flight?
Then take it a step further - get the IFBT using them too. Any beauty treatment spa / salon makes a huge part of its money from retailing products. They have amazing markups and the people using their services, as with Upper Class, can usually afford them.
Lets dump this talk of wastage and cost-cutting, lets make them profitable! Cowshed products in a decent kit with a small welcome note saying they can be bought in the CH or Pre-Ordered for your return flight.
Mat xxx
Include Cowshed samples in the Upper kit, passengers use them, and lets say they love them but where can they buy them? In the Clubhouse next time they go if they use LHR / Gatwick maybe. Or how about duty-free onboard? Or duty-free pre-order for the return flight?
Then take it a step further - get the IFBT using them too. Any beauty treatment spa / salon makes a huge part of its money from retailing products. They have amazing markups and the people using their services, as with Upper Class, can usually afford them.
Lets dump this talk of wastage and cost-cutting, lets make them profitable! Cowshed products in a decent kit with a small welcome note saying they can be bought in the CH or Pre-Ordered for your return flight.
Mat xxx
Originally posted by betsy06
You'd think some of those companies like MB or others like Crabtree and Evelyn, etc. would fall over themselves to supply nice kits - like they did in the old days. Shucks, it sells their products! You'd even think they'd supply the nice little plastic thingy that holds the samples.
Fly United and they do! Behind that link is UA's "Arrivals Kit" which they give out in their shower rooms at LHR: Crabtree & Evelyn "Nomad" shampoo, shower gel, conditioner, moisturiser, soap, shave cream, Wilkinson Sword disposable razor, decent toothbrush, Rembrandt toothpaste. All this in a small plastic washbag - and note that they actually say "please feel remember to take it with you" - there is more in there than one shower's worth of goodies.
The UA Business Class inflight kit contains Nomad moisturiser, socks, shades and earplugs, tootpaste & toothbrush, tissues, and either a sachet of handcream or some "free sample" size smints. Occasionally, there are other goodies (i.e. other free sample things), but never a pen - which is a shame considering the amount of time the FA's are asked for a pen to fill in all that US Customs paperwork! This is in a little zipper washbag.
Their First Class kit is in a neoprene zipper bag which can be re-used as a cd case (it's even got the little plastic inserts in it), and contains all the above, plus some mouthwash and lip balm.
In both cases, these are small enough that you can just chuck them in your carry-on bag 99% of the time, so no wastage!
Every kit, including the arrivals kit, contains a Crabtree & Evelyn "calling card" telling you about the products and where you can get them.
However, none of the kits are as nice as the Vie "pencil case", if you ask me.
Cheers,
Mike
The only reason I would make a booking with V.A now is for the Flying Club Miles. I have just over 50.000 so to me it makes sense.
Incidentally, for my forthcoming trip to Cape Town I have chosen to fly with S.A.A. Once I found out I could still earn Flying Club miles there was no stopping me.
As I only fly once or maybe twice a year I don't mean anything to V.A but we all have a choice.
Incidentally, for my forthcoming trip to Cape Town I have chosen to fly with S.A.A. Once I found out I could still earn Flying Club miles there was no stopping me.
As I only fly once or maybe twice a year I don't mean anything to V.A but we all have a choice.
Originally posted by Alan
As I only fly once or maybe twice a year I don't mean anything to V.A but we all have a choice.
Don't under estimate your importance. The regular Gold members who always fly Upper are really important to Virgin - they are high revenue. But the occasional flyer probably makes up the most number of passengers in each flight.
My parents had an amazing flight with Virgin when they went to NY in June, they will tell their friends about it. They will now try and fly VS over BA when on holiday again.
Leisure travellers aren't high-revenue, but they are certainly bread and butter revenue. And the problem they will quickly face is that word will spread amongst passengers, and through online flight forums of the degredation in service. This will then hurt them a lot more then then the bean counters can ever save them in curring alledged "wastage".
Daft question, but we are travelling out in the day and back at night. Will we get this cardboard lunch bag both ways or something better on the day flight ?
'fraid it looks like you will get the cardboard version both ways Duff Shirl.
Damn these snooze packs really suck. So cheap. In fact, the Y amenity bags end up looking better quality. VS - what are you doing? You spend all that money on the suite, then go and blow all the high perceived value by dropping a real meal service and the amenity kits. Get real!
Originally posted by jamie
I agree with Dean on this one.
Lets also hope that everyone has given their feedback to VAA on this. It might make a difference..
From my letter the other month it really is important that you email them about it so that someone in their 'product design team' (If such a team exists) may start to hear the penny drop.
Originally posted by JohnD
On the VS45 on Thursday the FSM was handing out the socks and shades packs and making a point to all that the packs were only temp - dunno if that is an official line.
Or was it said to save the FSM from embarrassment of having to hand out such cr@p[V]
What ever happened to Jonathan2122? Did they do him in with Teflon bullets as a result of his post?
Latest from Virgin
The introduction of the new Upper Class Snooze Pack is an emotive issue and also illustrates the value of feedback in helping us fine tune our decisions.
We were finding that passengers frequently left the old amenity kits behind and discarded many of their contents. This was wasteful and not environmentally friendly, but it was also expensive and at odds with our Manifesto goal of driving efficiency and effectiveness.
In fact we had lots of negative comments from staff and passengers alike complaining about the waste. We know that only 40% of items in the packs were used.
The introduction of the Upper Class Snooze pack should better match our offering with the items our customers are demanding and do find genuinely useful.
Since the launch we have listened to the feedback from Cabin Crew and passengers and as a result are in the process of making a number of changes. The feedback from crew and customers has been incredibly helpful in enabling us to respond.
We need to get our new offering right because we are not going to reintroduce the old amenity kit. By making these changes we can benefit from a significant saving of over £1m through eliminating waste and still offer our customers good quality items that they value.
The introduction of the new Upper Class Snooze Pack is an emotive issue and also illustrates the value of feedback in helping us fine tune our decisions.
We were finding that passengers frequently left the old amenity kits behind and discarded many of their contents. This was wasteful and not environmentally friendly, but it was also expensive and at odds with our Manifesto goal of driving efficiency and effectiveness.
In fact we had lots of negative comments from staff and passengers alike complaining about the waste. We know that only 40% of items in the packs were used.
The introduction of the Upper Class Snooze pack should better match our offering with the items our customers are demanding and do find genuinely useful.
Since the launch we have listened to the feedback from Cabin Crew and passengers and as a result are in the process of making a number of changes. The feedback from crew and customers has been incredibly helpful in enabling us to respond.
We need to get our new offering right because we are not going to reintroduce the old amenity kit. By making these changes we can benefit from a significant saving of over £1m through eliminating waste and still offer our customers good quality items that they value.
I am taking my old Virgin pencil case Amenity kit, when they give me the scrooge pack I will transfer all the contents in to there, hand the cardboard envelope back to the crew and say 2 there you go all better now, its all about the presentation not necessarily the content.
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