EAR111pt2

I would not take an amenity kit that was left behind. If I needed one, I'd ask for one.

CDTraveler

And what gives you the ability to assume that? Telepathic powers, maybe?

Yes, there is a difference, and that difference is intention. There is no way you can know for certain what the intention of owner of the kit was unless you ask them. You can make assumptions, but they will only be your personal assumptions, unconnected to verifiable fact.

mecabq

Or common sense? Based on substantial anecdotal evidence? Namely, that a great many people leave amenity kits behind, whereas comparatively very few people leave laptops or handbags behind.

You are right, but people (at least those with common sense) make assumptions every day and, in the context of the question raised in this thread, I will assert that it's a safe assumption in a high enough percentage of cases as to be actionable.

Or, if you prefer, a reasonable person who forgot the amenity kit will, by the time he/she gets to the end of the jetway, go on with his/her life and transform the sense of forgottenness to the sense of abandonment.

I once forgot a Rimowa kit from a LH F trip. I regretted it for a second, then shrugged my shoulders. I have no problem if someone else picked it up.

Annalisa12

It does have something to do with this topic. Some people consider an amenity kit or anything left behind fair game. A bag may be left behind.

Who is to say that the person forgot to take their kit and really wanted it.

I think folks are just trying to justify "taking it".

Annalisa12

For those who would take the amenity kit, would you just take it with other passengers and flight attendants watching?

Apieinthesky

Yes, the difference is intention, which makes your previous analogy about the laptop and the other analogies to personal items like handbags or cell phones invalid. You are fairly certain that if someone left behind a laptop, he or she wants it back. Though sometimes I see people lugging around computers that look 20 years old, and I may think they purposely left it behind if I saw one lying around For things like amenity kits, most people who leave them on a plane meant to leave them. And even if they didn't, very very few people would come back to get them.

I think mecabq is right on the money. It's common sense. And unexpected situations arise and common sense fails us, but we can't go around paranoid about everything we can be paranoid about.

My thoughts exactly.

See my above comments. And seriously, we're talking about an amenity kit. Is it really that big of a deal? What would you guys say about the magazines and books people purposely leave behind? Can't take it because the owner might not have left it behind, and we can't make assumptions?

I might agree that it's not a classy move, but I personally don't care if someone takes an amenity kit that I left behind. And I agree with the suggestion to simply ask an FA if the Y pax really wanted one.

Apieinthesky

Ok, next time I find $20 on the ground with no indication who dropped it, you can call me a 6 year old on a playground. I'll be happy to be $20 richer.

Hotel toiletries are sold on ebay too, so what's the difference? An amenity kit is basically toiletries. It's not nearly as valuable as a bed, desk, or TV.

CDTraveler

Yes, amazingly enough, people are trying to sell shampoo minatures on eBay. However, based on the fact there were 50 listings on the page and zero offers, I wouldn't say they are sold on eBay, and you're going to have a very time convincing me that somebody selling 75 to 140 bottles of Best Western shampoo collected them one at a time, as most hotels distribute them.

The amenity kit from the airlines are generating bids, including some over $100. Others are offered at over $300, which definite puts them on par with many hotel TV's or desks.

Be that as it may, either you take things that clearly don't belong to you or you don't. Claiming "common sense" tells you it is abandoned is merely a way to justify your actions, it doesn't change the nature of the actions.

pinniped

For what it's worth, I've never flown any airline that gave me an amenity kit worth $300 or even $60. I try to redeem for some of the better Star Alliance F cabins and even there the kits seem to be worth about ten or twenty bucks to me.

I don't even know what's inside a $300 amenity kit (an iPod?), but I tend to agree that's a different situation than snagging the ones I'm familiar with - worth maybe $20 in F and $5 in J. I don't know where you draw the line, but I would imagine that the $300 kits don't end up lying around that often, so perhaps a moot point.

Earlier I said that snagging 1 is fair game...I still stick with that for your typical amenity kit that is basically toothpaste, an eyemask, etc. It's hotel toiletries, not a TV.

Maybe someday I'll be fortunate enough to fly an airline where the amenity kit looks more like a college football bowl game gift package than an amenity kit , and then I'll say the J and Y pax can keep their grubby little paws off of them.

Apieinthesky

Ok yes, I see your point. Although I did not see anything over $100, I did see a Thai Airways Rimowa amenity kit with multiple bids, currently at $80.

But since we're talking about F and J class amenity kits, I'm not talking about Best Western shampoos nor cheap $300 TVs. I'm talking about higher end stuff like Molton Brown, Hermes, Gilchrist&Soames, and L'Occitane, for which I did see a few (not many, but not none either) bids for.

Ethics is really a tough topic. Nothing is ever black and white, and you will never get a consensus among a large group of people. Everyone has their limit, and everyone has reasons to do what they do. I'll just say this: While I understand your reasoning and I won't personally be taking any amenity kits when they're not given to me (though other people doing it doesn't bother me if left behind), I do occasionally take a few extra mini shampoo/conditioner/soaps when it's something I like, mainly the Gilchrist&Soames when I stay at the IC Boston. I hear the IC Paris Le Grand uses L'Occitane, and since I spent over $100 at a L'Occitane store for my girlfriend last month, if I ever stay there you can bet I'll be taking a few home in my luggage. I'm not sorry and I won't feel bad about it. IHG gets a lot of my money anyway. But if you consider that taking something that's not mine, then well, I respect that, but I won't lose any sleep over it.

Artpen100

The Hotel President Wilson in Geneva uses Aqua de Colonia toiletries. I did not leave any behind.

erik123

I would ask the FA.

LapLap

I have no idea which brand this is.

Agua de Colonia Concentrada from Álvarez Gómez? (Worth about 3Euros for 50ml)

Apieinthesky

I think the poster means Acqua di Parma's Colonia line (based on my own Google search).

lhrsfo

In UA J, where the amenity kit is worth all of about $1.50, if that, I always leave mine behind, unopened. As the owner of that kit, at least for the duration of the flight, I am completely indifferent as to what happens to it after I leave my seat (but I would be irritated if someone took it mid-flight). If pushed, I would probably conclude that someone who had just traveled in economy was more deserving of it than United Airlines. So someone who took my kit would definitely not be stealing.

As an aside, I always leave magazines and newspapers I have read in the magazine racks for other passengers to use. It's a matter of courtesy, and I'm inclined to think that allowing another passenger to have the amenity kit is also a matter of courtesy.