Everybody Is Stealing These Business-Class Pillows and Blankets
Joe Cortez April 24, 2018
When flyers can get their hands on upgraded amenities in upgraded business class cabins, it can sometimes be too good to give up. Both American Airlines, British Airways and United Airlines all say they learned this the hard way, as each complains of flyers walking away with the upgraded goods.
Flyers who often ask for more Saks Fifth Avenue pillows and duvets aboard United Airlines flights may only have fellow passengers to blame for the shortage. According to a Skift report, airlines are finding themselves short of upgraded amenities because they sometimes deplane along with their flyers.
When United unveiled Polaris at the end of 2016, the Chicago-based carrier announced they would team with Saks Fifth Avenue to provided upgraded pillows and blankets on select flights. Nearly two years later, the airline says those same items are stolen at alarming rates. The leading suspects are premium-cabin flyers who allegedly take them home for reuse, or as a token of their experience.
Other carriers are feeling a similar pinch. When British Airways rolled out premium cabin bedding from White Company, many flyers allegedly walked away with the “super-soft woven blanket” or “luxury duvet.” At American Airlines, launching in-flight comfort products from bedding company Casper meant ordering extra to ensure there would be enough for every flight.
To curtail the theft of comfort items, carriers are trying different tactics to keep in-flight items out of flyer’s homes. For example, United now sells the Saks Fifth Avenue pillow and duvet on their website. In addition, a single line has been added to their landing scripts as a gentle reminder: “We hope you enjoyed the pillows, blankets and bedding during your flight … Please be sure you leave these items on board as you exit the aircraft.”
But the airlines say that if a flyer did take a blanket or pillow, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Instead, spokespersons told Skift they look at disappearing bedding as a sign they are doing something right – and hope to build a more loyal customer of the pillow thief, who may book their premium service in the future.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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Ugh. People really want to have product that has the name of a chain department store emblazoned in bold black script? There's no accounting for taste. To say nothing of the fact that any visitors to the thieves' homes who might see this would discover not only their dubious taste, but also their dubious morals. Nice.
"Everybody" as the headline states? Let me check. Nope, not me...
Just flew from NRT to ORD. The menus in business class had a notice on the front of the menu that clearly stated that the blankets/pillows should remain behind. I believe the website where you could purchase these amenities also was given.
Let's think about this. How many business class seats do you have on a flight, 50? What is the average ticket price, $2500? So thats $125K in revenue. How many people steal a blanket/pillow? 10% at most? so thats 5 people. The blanket/pillow probably costs the airline $10 at most. so that's a $50 loss out of $125K. 0.04%. How much did they spend investigating this? I'm sure there are much bigger expenses out there to look at.