Howgart

O.K. Gang so how pathetic is my life that I get excited over a new amenity kit? Just got off AA 116 JFK-LHR and as I sit typing this in the BA First lounge, I am looking at my brand spanking new J amenity kit....the highlight of my trip thus far! (Didn't get a chance to see whether F was any different---I suspect not.) Yep, that's right, that junky piece of vinyl they were using as a pouch has been relegated to the AA Hall Of Shame, where they will proudly and rightfully take their place right alongside the soy nuts.

(BTW, I believe this change was first reported to be on the way a while back by Jon NYC who actually saw a couple of differnt prototype versions that sounded very close to what they actually wound up with. Thanks Jon for once again providing rock-solid info).

Here's what they've done. They've gone back to a zippered pouch and it's (IMO) pretty nice. I'd guess the dimensions to be about 8" wide 3 inches long and about 2-3" deep (think rectangular with rounded edges). Not as deep as the old pouches, but I suspect still useful for stowing cables, wires, and other bits and bobs. The material is dark blue with light greyish eagles emblazoned all around the pouch. On the front center near the bottom of the pouch is a metallic AA emblem (the AA with the eagle between A's). As I said before, it's actually kind of nice, and a VAST improvement over the last pouch.

Inside you'll find the same array of Temple Spa products, eyeshade, socks, toothbrush, toothpick, etc. (I think contents are exactly the same as the old kit). I know it's kind of trivial, but kudos to whomever at AA was paying enough attention to realize this mistake and correct it. Now, what are the odds we can get this person to look at the co-pay?

seaskybound

Damn was collecting them to re-upholster my couch

Damn was collecting them to refill my couch

pgppetch

Oh AA has looked at the co-pay and they are not backing off-not with all their excuses and alternatives offered to those who complain.

"If $500 in co-payments plus 50k is too much for a roundtrip, why not consider upgrading only one-way. You'll enjoy savings of $250 and 25k and enjoy one of the few, delicious, complimentary meals we offer in Y systemwide."

"Our decision to impose a co-payment was a difficult one but given the current state of....blah....blah...blah-Hope you continue to fly us often."

"Well Continental's co-pays are higher and Delta won't upgrade the lower fare inventories...blah...blah....blah."

An LAX AC rep let out some of managements rationale for the copay. There are some fares in the off season to Europe for $200-$300 rt before taxes. They can be upgraded for 50k roundtrip. 90k would be needed for a free award J seat which if purchased could command several thousand miles- at barest minimum, I fares last Thanksgiving started at $1100 ish. Pax upgrading from low fares were essentially getting the 90k free J ticket for 50k plus a surcharge of a highly discounted Y ticket. The copay to upgrade roundtrip sometimes exceeds the base fare paid on the Y ticket.

With all the spiel that flowed from her mouth, no doubt heard at some staff meeting, and the defense of other frequent flyer programs allowing upgrades only to the highest fares and CO with a $600 or $800 rt copay, count on the copay staying no matter how much we complain.

Plato90s

The fact that you're so worked up over an amenity kit just marks you as a hard-core FT'er...

Fly AA J all the way

Got the same crappy amenity kit as before on CDG-BOS. And, yes I took it home, yes, it is now part of the collection, no, it is not opened, and no, I do not see anything wrong with this.

brp

The only thing I see wrong with it (and this is for me, not for anyone else), is the amount of useless clutter than one can eliminate from ones life by not doing this. I would never use the contents, I would never use the pouch. Why would I want to add this to my collection? (Again, this is just my view, and not a comment on whether this makes sense for you to do ).

Cheers.

Fly AA J all the way

Unless I choose to cash in on their collector value, now that they are out. . .

wherenext

To quote an FT friend of mine 'Anything new is good'. He flys about 300k a year so he would be very excited about this as well. I will be headed to LGW next week hope they have them on that run as well.

JDiver

Hmmm, great words to add to one's eBay sale of AA amenity kits.

I have to admit - I have a use for an AA amenity kit vinyl pouch! My Magellan RoadMate GPS plus powercord fit into one quite nicely, and the thick vinyl provides some protection. Do you think they will allow me to stay and continue to play with them in the FT sandbox?

jcf27

Since you asked; I'll reply --

Very pathetic :-)

Cheers,

J.

nologic

I wonder if they decide to do anything about differentiating the J vs F amenity kits?

Fly AA J all the way

In my AAirmail from last month, there was a little thing about the new kits. They only show the one, so I assume it's the same.

rhl

I don't know if anyone has flown Martinair but they have a very neat tin amenity kit which has "pin up" style drawings of flight attendants. I've got 3 different designs. They're the only ones I've ever kept, mainly because I thought the old AA amenity kits smelled bad.

CApreppie

Time for someone to post a pic of the new Amenity Kit....

howellajohnson

On Sunday, June 26, 2005 AA#956 8:20pm-6:03am EZE JFK 767, the amenity kit provided in First/Business was a black leatherlike snap pouch, measuring roughly 6x9x1, with one pair of AA logo wings centered on the outside flap and "Temple Spa" with its logo centered underneath. Inside the pouch were the usual items along with Temple Spa products consisting of cleverly named items such as: All in All (Moisturising Balm for Hair, Body and Face) , AAAHHH! (Soothing Balm for Aching Limbs and Feet), Take A Grip (A Dry Shower), and All Talk (Moisturising Lip Balm). Included also was a 3x5 12 page SpAA In Flight Program brouchure, touting the partnership between AA and the U.K. based Temple Spa, a new line of luxury Spa-To-Go products. This was the first time I had seen this amenity kit. Is it something new too? On the AA#955 JFK EZE the amenity kit was what the OP described.