US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Duty Free Suspended

I got an email yesterday saying that all duty free will be suspended immediately on all transatlantic and Caribbean flights. They hope to have the service resumed as soon as possible. They are doing it to establish more cash restrictive management and inventory control procedures.
I hope it's a quick fix, because passengers seem to enjoy being able to buy those products on board.

I got an email yesterday saying that all duty free will be suspended immediately on all transatlantic and Caribbean flights. They hope to have the service resumed as soon as possible. They are doing it to establish more cash restrictive management and inventory control procedures.
I hope it's a quick fix, because passengers seem to enjoy being able to buy those products on board.

Didn't they just introduce this version of duty free a year ago? You'd think that they would have ensured that the proper procedures were in place at that time. I wonder if the company offering the duty free service also supplies other airlines, and if those are affected too. Seems to be silly to suspend it right before Christmas and during the coupon promotion for Dividend Miles members.

Didn't they just introduce this version of duty free a year ago? You'd think that they would have ensured that the proper procedures were in place at that time. I wonder if the company offering the duty free service also supplies other airlines, and if those are affected too. Seems to be silly to suspend it right before Christmas and during the coupon promotion for Dividend Miles members.

What coupon promotion for Dividend Miles members?

What coupon promotion for Dividend Miles members?

There was a post on this here & I think it came in your statement. I think it was $10 off $100.

There was also a 10% off coupon inside the new Envoy amenity kits on my LGW-CLT flight Wednesday.

Hi, GalleyWench!. I remember GalleyWench, a US Airways FA, who posted in a non-frequent flyer program board about 2-3 years ago. That board was closed when Cendant bought the website. That board migrated to another board, which was much less popular.

I didn't know that passengers bought duty free on the plane. Usually I see the cart roll by with no takers.

Hi, GalleyWench!. I remember GalleyWench, a US Airways FA, who posted in a non-frequent flyer program board about 2-3 years ago. That board was closed when Cendant bought the website. That board migrated to another board, which was much less popular.

I didn't know that passengers bought duty free on the plane. Usually I see the cart roll by with no takers.

Hi Jetlink,
That was probably me, and I do still post on that other board occasionally (not too much recently though). There are a lot of great folks on the other board too, I've just been keeping a low profile everywhere lately. Thanks for remembering me though! :)
Duty free was kind of a hit or miss thing on the airplane. You never sold very much at night going over, but it wasn't unusual to see up to $1000 in sales on the way back to the U.S. I really hope they get it back up and running soon, because the holidays usually bring in big sales.
Take care and fly safe!

There was also a 10% off coupon inside the new Envoy amenity kits on my LGW-CLT flight Wednesday.

Wait, what new amenity kits? You mean the tacky baskets are gone? What does it look like/content?

Yep, the amenity kits are back. On the way over from PHL to LGW, there was still the basket where we could pick and choose toothbrushes and the like, but coming back via CLT the FA's passed around small blue cloth tie-up bags to everyone in Envoy.

The bag was marked with the US Airways flag and the words "Envoy Class," and inside were eyeshades, socks, earplugs, and a toothbrush with toothpaste.

Not nearly as luxurious as the business class amenity kits on some of the other airlines I've flown, but a nice touch nonetheless.

Yep, the amenity kits are back. On the way over from PHL to LGW, there was still the basket where we could pick and choose toothbrushes and the like, but coming back via CLT the FA's passed around small blue cloth tie-up bags to everyone in Envoy.

The bag was marked with the US Airways flag and the words "Envoy Class," and inside were eyeshades, socks, earplugs, and a toothbrush with toothpaste.

Not nearly as luxurious as the business class amenity kits on some of the other airlines I've flown, but a nice touch nonetheless.

I have flown envoy/business on three different airlines, all associated with USAir. The first time, I was on an envoy award flight to Europe, and I flew Swiss, which was at the time a US partner; this has apparently ended. The second time, I was on a UA codeshare flight that was overbooked, and they noted that I was a US2 and upgraded me on my return flight. I have spoken here about the other two times when I was upgraded here on US metal, again due to an oversold flight returning to the US.

I should point out that for me, any amenities kit is great; I'm in academia, and while I do fly a lot, I make the typical roach here look like a big spender. That said, the US kit leaves a lot to be desired. It's a small plastic bag, about 3"x5"x1.5". Inside, I have a small toothbrush and toothpaste (Colgate, if anyone cares), eyeshades, socks, and earplugs.

The United bag is clearly a step up. First, it's a cloth bag with a drawstring close, and it has a little tag that says "UNITED" on it. Empty, the bag is about 4"x6". It has all the items that are in the US bag, but the toothpaste is Rembrandt (supposedly a "better" brand, but...), and the toothbrush is larger, with a protective cap around the bristles. Additionally, the United bag has a floss/toothpick and a pocket Kleenex packet.

Both of these, however, are completely put to shame by the Swiss bag. This looks like something you would actually go out and buy in a store. I'll try to do it justice, but bear with me. When you get the bag (about 4"x8"), you see a (metal!) zipper. Inside, you find earplugs, eyeshades, full-size toothbrush, and a toothpaste brand I don't recognize ("Trybol"; it looks Swiss -- no surprise there). This is when you notice that there is more to this bag than meets the eye; there are two snaps at the bottom of the bag. Undo the snaps, and the bag folds out to 8"x18", with a drawstring close. Inside this part of the bag are the same socks that are in all the other bags.

Note here that the contents of the three bags are roughly the same. The presentation, however, is vastly superior for the Swiss bag than for the other two, while the UA bag is also clearly better than the US bag.

Just my opinion.

John

I have flown envoy/business on three different airlines, all associated with USAir. The first time, I was on an envoy award flight to Europe, and I flew Swiss, which was at the time a US partner; this has apparently ended. The second time, I was on a UA codeshare flight that was overbooked, and they noted that I was a US2 and upgraded me on my return flight. I have spoken here about the other two times when I was upgraded here on US metal, again due to an oversold flight returning to the US.

I should point out that for me, any amenities kit is great; I'm in academia, and while I do fly a lot, I make the typical roach here look like a big spender. That said, the US kit leaves a lot to be desired. It's a small plastic bag, about 3"x5"x1.5". Inside, I have a small toothbrush and toothpaste (Colgate, if anyone cares), eyeshades, socks, and earplugs.

The United bag is clearly a step up. First, it's a cloth bag with a drawstring close, and it has a little tag that says "UNITED" on it. Empty, the bag is about 4"x6". It has all the items that are in the US bag, but the toothpaste is Rembrandt (supposedly a "better" brand, but...), and the toothbrush is larger, with a protective cap around the bristles. Additionally, the United bag has a floss/toothpick and a pocket Kleenex packet.

Both of these, however, are completely put to shame by the Swiss bag. This looks like something you would actually go out and buy in a store. I'll try to do it justice, but bear with me. When you get the bag (about 4"x8"), you see a (metal!) zipper. Inside, you find earplugs, eyeshades, full-size toothbrush, and a toothpaste brand I don't recognize ("Trybol"; it looks Swiss -- no surprise there). This is when you notice that there is more to this bag than meets the eye; there are two snaps at the bottom of the bag. Undo the snaps, and the bag folds out to 8"x18", with a drawstring close. Inside this part of the bag are the same socks that are in all the other bags.

Note here that the contents of the three bags are roughly the same. The presentation, however, is vastly superior for the Swiss bag than for the other two, while the UA bag is also clearly better than the US bag.

Just my opinion.

John

United has recently been upgrading their business and first class. As pary of this they have switched from the pouch type bag to a nice nylon zippered bag. The stuff inside is a little nicer as well. It is step up from what they had. In first they have a nicer zippered bag. I think the one in first is larger too. My wife has a couple of the first bags, I will dig them out and compare directly.

It's always seemed to me that it was a waste of space to carry those items on board because I never see anyone buy anything. If they're actually having people buy them and making money off of it, then it seems like they should keep providing the service.

With respect for Swiss, depending on when you took that flight that may be the old Swiss that went bankrupt and had to reorganize. I'd rather have lesser amenity packs and keep the airline in business if that's what it takes, but I also realize that makes it really difficult to market the business-class fares as a premium product if you don't have the remaining premium services for those paying for the class of service.

United has recently been upgrading their business and first class. As pary of this they have switched from the pouch type bag to a nice nylon zippered bag. The stuff inside is a little nicer as well. It is step up from what they had. In first they have a nicer zippered bag. I think the one in first is larger too. My wife has a couple of the first bags, I will dig them out and compare directly.


I was talking to thezipper yesterday and he said that Northwest is also upgrading their amenity kit.

Going to Rome the other day, I perused the Duty Free catalog, and it wasn't very interesting. Time was when it had designer scarves and ties, and that sort of stuff. Presumably, most people buy on the way home. In that regard, they have so swept up the duty free shops in major European airports, it's hard to compete. I would assume, with security beefed up since 9/11, the average passenger arrives at the airport much earlier, which is probably building the customer base at those shops, since people are spending more time in the facilities.

On the amenity bag side of things, I just flew US is Envoy and was quite disappointed.

If you are flying from the States to Manchester, try a reward flight on bmi which are Star Alliance and you will see a massive difference.

The bag they give you is a suede bag, with a zipper. It contains all the usual suspects, ear plugs, socks, eye covers etc, but also a neat little jotter book, very nice (and heavy!) 'space' pen, hand cream, pillow mist, the list goes on.

The service is also in a different league, you get an onboard chef, meals when you want, and real quality.

US Envoy is good from the seat point of view if you can get row 1, but after that im afraid if I was flying into Manchester id spend the points on a UA/BMI codeshare, making sure the transatlanic leg was on BMI metal.

I flew Envoy a few weeks back...on both the flight over and back, I received only the items in the amenity kit, no bag to hold them. My daughter and I had all this stuff on the console between the seats. NOT good.

Just got off of PHL-MAD in envoy. Amenities were still presented in a basket :td: Duty free was back. ^

I flew CLT-LGW, LGW-CLT last weekend and they had the amenities in a bag and duty free was available.

Just got off of PHL-MAD in envoy. Amenities were still presented in a basket :td: Duty free was back. ^

I just got back from the MAD PHL yesterday. I had the amenities kit. Cute little blue bag with US Airways and it's Flag on it.

T