LTN Phobia

They are! Who on earth wants pyjamas that have been worn by complete strangers (they might even have been commando, and washing may not have been great???)? I've not come across any airline in recent years that hand out pyjamas (as opposed to cardigans etc.) to be returned at the end of the flight. There used to be some (JL in F I think used to) in the old days, but not any more that I know of.

It creeps me out enough that JL lends you a cardigan in long haul J - and they don't come wrapped from the laundry. I have never said yes to it when asked if I wanted one, although knowing Japan it's probably very well-laundered.

It used to creep me out when I used to fly QF between Australia and Europe via SIN and they didn't clean the J blankets at SIN (I hope they are all clean ones now...) - they used to re-fold the ones that were used in the incoming sector when going onto Europe/Australia. That's fine if you are flying all the way between Australia and Europe but if you're doing a single sector, it's not nice. At least on BA you get the clean (I hope), wrapped blankets on BA 15/16.

I definitely don't fancy used cutlery, crockery or blankets. Some airlines (LCCs) provide (or sell) disposable blankets which are quite good as pet blankets though, and have donated them to animal shelters in the past, when I used to fly LCCs occasionally.

orbitmic

Yep. The very first time I used them! That's how I discovered - with some surprise - that they were not meant to be kept! I had no idea otherwise. Being the compliant type, I've always spontaneously returned them at the end of the flight ever since! I agree with you, however, that I am quite sure some people must keep them - probably not Japanese customers (social compliance is extraordinarily high in Japan compared to most of the world) but I'm sure many others would expect - as I originally did - that you could just keep those.

orbitmic

I don't mean to bring unsavoury thoughts to your mind, my dear friend. However, what do you think complete strangers wore underneath what later became your hotel room bathrobe, the pyjamas offered in your room in many hotels across Japan, Korea, and much of the rest of Asia (or even underneath yukata if they have unfortunately come to the temporary possession of some ignorant visitors, not to mention the sheets themselves and towels in hotels worldwide), the shorts you are being asked to wear after your Korean hot baths (the respective equivalents of Onsen and Sento always seem to offer them) or the "modesty covers" used in a number of Central and Eastern European and Balkanic public baths were swimming gear is proscribed?

If anything, thinking of what one of my childhood friends used to tell me when she worked as an assistant cleaner in a 5* hotel during the school holidays, the chance that the hotel items came into contact with a wide variety of the most unsavoury of bodily fluids are probably extreme and linked to an imaginative palette of activities which one would hope would be hard to perform on even the most private of airline seats.

Coming to think of it, if we move to bacteria, human hands are obviously terrifyingly prolific, and the vast majority of airlines will wash and reuse the wet towels they hand you in J and F - not before they have macerated as an ideal warm, wet, and mixed up bacteria breeding ground for an entire long haul flight!

Now the good news is, however disgusting those images may seem, a good wash at very high temperature with steaming and high temperature drying will kill the immense majority of what has "come" from that previous human contact. This is cheap and easy. The bad news is, whilst most items described above - from sheets and towels to airline pyjamas (as long as they avoid synthetic embroideries such as the highlight on the current BA F ones, so from that point of view, the former dark blue model was much more resilient) can be washed in such ways, for the synthetic airline blankets, duvets, and pillows, the high temperature steaming and dry cleaning is the only realistic option and obviously the more expensive of them. Let's hope all airlines do this properly, but the state of some blankets leaves me in a bit of doubt to be honest, and if the temperature used by any given airline cleaner is not high enough or the process not long enough (if I remember what I heard, it needs to be around 30 minutes), those might actually be a bit more dodgy. I would hope that reputable airlines do this properly, but in some corners of the world I'd be slightly more worried.

That's correct, JL F pyjamas were officially to be returned only a few years ago (less than 10) even though it was a bit hit and miss whether crew would or would not ask them. Now they let you keep them.

sassysan

Most people are actually fine with used pyjamas. Many Asian hotels hand out pyjamas, which get returned, washed, and reused. Tourists get ....ing ecstatic when they get to wear ethnic hotel clothing like yukata. I also guarantee nearly everyone that has worn your hotel bathrobe has done so "commando".

I have received JL J cardigans in sealed plastic bags. I think the FAs unwrap for you sometimes as a service.

Just folding and reusing blankets without washing is actually pretty creepy I agree. I'm surprised they managed to get away with it for any period of time.

CPH-Flyer

The JL cardigans do indeed come laundered in sealed plastic bags, but the flight attendants open them and offer them unwrapped. Sometimes you will notice that they carry one unwrapped and a few sealed ones, and then unwrap the next when they handed one out. Other times they have a few unwrapped, and return to the galley to pick up and unwrap more if they run out.

CPH-Flyer

Same for ANA until about the same time frame.
Though in both cases people did take them quite frequently.

adrianlondon

This comment has appeared a lot in this thread, but I bet you don't demand new sheets when you sleep in a hotel room. To me, it's the same. So long as things are properly washed, it's ok.

Edit: Seems I should have read to the end of the thread before replying, as my comment above has already been made. More than once.

LTN Phobia

I don't mind the dressing gowns too much, as I only wear them on top of my own "something" (more than just undies), and besides, being white or very largely white, they're usually laundered to (microbial) death at very high temperature, and often bleached, much like the towels

That can't happen with cardigans although that'd be the same with blankets. It's probably best if I don't think too much about that.

More to do with how well (or at what temperature and with what) it can be washed when it's not white, I guess, and direct contact with much of the skin.

orbitmic

It's what I was about to write as a PS when I wrote my post!!!

onobond

As has been posted above, the habit of 'accidentally' letting airline utensils 'fall' down' into ones carry-on bag might also be utilised in hotels. Even if you have a large a large rental car, lots of family members with helping hands to load up quickly, the plan of taking almost everything but heavy furniture, doesn't always work as planned.

One example can be seen here

VegasGambler

Let you keep them? They shame you into keeping them!

Now, I don't wear pajamas. Not on an airplane and not at home. I don't want them. On JL F, the FA asks if I'd like to change into pajamas. "No thanks", I say. "Ok", she says, "let me know when you'd like them". Perfect! I just never ask for them. When I'm getting off the plane, she's put a set of pajamas into a JAL shopping bag, and gives them to me to take with me. I didn't have the heart to refuse, but they went into the trash at the hotel.

On CX F, when I refused the pajamas, they put them in the suite's closet. When I was getting my stuff together, the FA reminded me not to forget them. I thanked her and left them there.

On EK F, the FA came by and asked me what size I was for the pajamas. "No thanks", I said. She went and got the purser. The purser picked a size for me insisted that it was better if I took them in case I wanted them later.

On BA F they just brought them. I put them in the overhead bin and left them there.

At least on UA they are too cheap to bring you pajamas unless you ask for them...

ffI

I was freely given a bottle of bubbly by LH purser at the end of my flight FRA-BOS. I hope he was not charged for giving away what was not his. That probably was much more valuable than anything removed as described above although the total volume and value of these F class gifts probably is eclipsed many times over by the nicking of small stuff.

fluffymitten

Most of my booty is from ancient flights: some thin grey shawl type things, too thin to be blankets but were probably light coverings or some such in an old busines or premium economy cabin. A couple of square cushions (definitely not pillows) with some nice floral stitching. I seem to recall when travelling to Northern Ireland when I was about 12 (that would be in the 1980's) acquiring a set of six knives, forks and spoons which I still have and are perfect for all the picnics I don't go on. They are metal with have blue plastic handles.

More recently, I picked up a couple of mugs from Virgin when I went to Cuba in 2016.

Even more recently, I was positively encouraged by a BA crew member to take the little ceramic dish that dessert was served in as I didn't want to eat the pudding at the time but knew I'd fancy it later. His justification? You've paid for the ticket, you may as well take it! As I can't have just one of anything - has to be an even number - I was then required to acquire another such dish the next time I flew...

Barnaby100

The older BA blue 1st pjs washed well and I ind them useful for bathing the dog and decorating. I have a couple of pairs that have been washed dozens of times.

The new black ones do not wash well at all. They are scrap after a couple of washes.

Steve in Olympia

What size does your dog wear? Doesn’t he mind that the PJ’s have been previously worn?