SunLover

I would have rung the fight attendant call button and advised them what happened. The snatcher having two kits would have been the first clue (i.e. how on earth would you know she had another one in her overhead bag otherwise) and someone else sitting in BF would have likely have witnessed it. Or possibly at that point the FA could have 'scrounged up' a replacement.

If it was a Rimowa brand amenity kit well maybe I would see it, otherwise...


SL

rankourabu

Like seriously, its a United amenity kit..... United?!?!

Resale value of <$5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-UNITED-AIR...sAAOSw4CFYzEd3

JBord

I'd probably suggest you think twice before doing that. Principle is great until it gets you kicked off a plane and/or an interview with the police. Whether I stole something or not (and I wouldn't!!!), if you try to go through my bag on a plane, you're going to create a much bigger problem for yourself than a missing amenity kit.

That said, what puzzles me is what value the perpetrator saw that was worth snatching the kit. Extra mini toothpaste? Ear plugs for all 4 ears? My standard process is to take the toothbrush, toothpaste, and lip balm out of the kit and just leave the rest when I get off the plane.

danielonn

Or be aware for those Kettles who will grab an amenity kit from First Class on an empty seat without asking. The flight attendant is busy helping the First Class passenger get settled in. A kettle thinks how cheap the airline is for not providing me with an amenity kit on a $1000 flight so i'll just "help myself".

OP I am very sorry this happened. The passenger behind you already had one or was a jealous Economy Plus passenger and I think its poor manners to just take it especially since you saw them do it and you needed it for one reason or another. Its greed and I have handed items that I saw fall from a passengers seat to the passenger or the flight attendant and say"I am sorry but I think the passenger ahead of me lost an item".

I have heard one too many announcements for a passenger who has left a ring in the lav to an IPad going missing. On one flight a slick passenger stole an IPad a row behind me while the lights were out. This young female was so frantic as it was a new High School Grad gift and this was on an international flight. So I helped her look for it and then we see the thief try to slickly put it into his carryon. The girl said"that is my IPAD". I told the thief return the Ipad to this young lady or else I will report you to the flight crew. He was so ashamed that he left it on the seat and left in a haste but not before taking a photo of him and wrote down his seat number and texted it to the Girl upon landing and told the pursuer about it just in case something happened to the I Pad .

Your case OP was small compared to other stolen goods but still you are entitled to your amenity kit and United should have had an extra one on hand but I guess with the cutbacks they can't cater the food or amenity kits past the total number of passengers.

I will ask the pursuer if there are any extra amenity kits as I collect them and they have given me one or two without a problem. Once were in the air they check to see if there are extras and gladly give it to me. I thank them and I still have an old Delta J kit from 2009 which I love.

Yes those kits may be worth $5 but you are missing the point the OP could have used the socks, eyeshades, earplugs, toothpase toothbrush, hair comb, moisturizing lotion for a 12+hour trip. I purchase my own amenity kits as a Y flyer online or collect them from the flight attendant. I would be peeved if someone took my amenity kit especially if I can't brush my teeth after a long flight or use the eyeshades to help me sleep.

You could say the same thing about a Buy On Board Sandwich for $5. A passenger in the next seat takes the sandwich while the passenger sleeps. Oh its just $5 the passenger that had their sandwich stolen can purchase another one. Not so. I am very sorry but you seem to think oh its just $5. Its the principle not about how much those kits are worth.

Say the OP paid $8,000 r/t for the seat and you better be damn right the OP wants every single item due to them including that $5 amenity kit, all the meals, drinks and a working seat. If you fly in Coach for $900 and you get an eyeshade like you do on Air France and Champagne your golden but people do pay for these seats and even if they get upgraded its because they spend a lot of $$$ on the flights.

Its the ethics behind it. The passenger behind the OP could have said"Excuse me but this fell from your seat and I think you may need it". Or if there was a language barrier ring the call button and explain it to the Flight attendant.

For instance a passenger sees the Buy on Board cart and takes an item while the flight attendant is helping another passenger along with a mini bottle of Vodka. When the Flight attendant does his or her inventory they see that it does not match up to what was sold. The flight attendant/pursuer would be responsible to make up the difference and could potentially lose their job. Ten passengers do this and then you lose money.

My point is that passenger behind the OP should have been honest. You can think oh its just $5 all day long but in reality its not yours unless the OP gifted it to him or the Flight Attendant gave an extra kit to that passenger seating behind.

If I see someones laptop sitting in a cafe for a long time I don't steal it instead I tell the manager and they will deal with it. I found a ladies purse with important items I called the police non emergency number and waited for an officer to come and turn it into lost and found.

Could the OP have had the pursuer report this incident to United so they can load additional amenity kits(even perhaps sell one for $5 for Y passengers) and the pursuer could have told the passenger to return the amenity kit to the OP. I would have told the pursuer that I could use those eyeshades, earplugs, toothbrush toothpaste and now there are no more kits available .I would have had them report it because that passenger was not due that kit who took it.

My gosh are people that greedy?

Six Steps to apprehend a thief

1. Did you see the thief take the item and you had an eye on the thief at all times using available resources i.e CCTV, Loss Prevention etc?
2. Did the thief conceal the item?
3. Was the intent to permanently deprive the person or store?
4. Did the thief pass all final sales of purchase?
5. Do you reasonably believe that someone else related to the thief paid for the item?
6. Can you locate any packaging or evidence that the item has been taken?

If all six policies are met you can apprehend the thief at a store or as a Citizens Arrest and report the thief.

Are CCTvs going to come to planes like they have at stores, on public buses? We read about and see a lot of theft of IPads on planes to brawls. Wouldn't it be wise to install CCTVs with audio recording on planes? Then there would be monitors in the Pursuer's office and in the cockpit with the ability to "listen in and see what is going on".

All the FA would have to do is use the PA phone and say "Go to camera one" and the pilot or First Officer can switch to camera one and see what is going on while its recording the footage.

Bohemian1

They way things are going, we will soon not be able to have iPads in the cabin anyway, so the PAX theft problem will be solved. Of course, thefts out of checked baggage are another matter.

jaa6921

It was quite funny at the time. Strange what people do.... I thought I'd share the experience!

These days all the flights I take to HKG are usually sold out, and upgrades at the gate seem to be a thing of the past so I suspect that the catering of amenity items is down to the n'th degree. Every long haul flight internationally is full full full.....So 50 seats = 50 amenity kits.

Proudelitist

If you saw her do this, why did you not confront her?

MY-OTHER-BROTHER-"TED"

About 7/8 years ago NRT-BKK upstairs, upon approach & landing, a guy a few rows behind me, begins freaking out that his passport & wallet are missing out of his carry-on bag that he had left on the floor, under his seat. Seems that when he used the lav it disappeared. I mean total freaking out, and a f/a tries to calm him down to no avail. The f/a checks the lav trash can, after we land, and are taxiing to the gate, and finds the passport and wallet, minus the cash.

Just sayin', just because you're in Bus or First Class doesn't mean that there aren't opportunists/thieves. My family is under strict orders to NEVER leave valuables unattended, even for a few minutes, especially on an airplane.

Stealing a Polaris Bear is even colder, imo!

TCD

You're clearly not British then. I would never confront someone in this situation. Never.

jaa6921

Actually I AM British.......

Quite frankly I don't care about an amenity kit. And I'd rather not create a situation that lasts for 16 hours!! Maybe the thief read about herself here already...... LOL

danielonn

This is the reason I have Cargo Pants that convert into shorts and my Passport Wallet and Cellphone are in the front pockets at all times.

Even if it were your works $1000 laptop? or a $20 bottle of Duty Free Wine you would not confront someone. I would confront someone who has taken an item from me in the best way possible be it contacting the Pursuer, Police and make a report if its worth a lot of $$$$.

And perhaps the thief will tell the story to his/her friends about how she took this rich businessman's amenity kit hoping to find some Gucci sunglasses inside of it and was met with eyeshades, lip balm, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, some Mentos mints. And now the passenger reads about this on FT and that this passenger should never mess with a FTer. No one can mess with an FTer

Reminds me of a story where someone kept taking my friend's gourmet sandwiches from work and then I said to my friend that one day you should put an anchovy tunafish peanut butter mustard horseradish sandwich in a Subway wrap and put it in a Subway bag with the thief's name. There were also potato chips tainted with Sambal Indian Spice in a plastic bag that the thief ate some and was running to the out of order vending machine to get a Coke to wash it down and then find some gum. The sandwich thief bit into the sandwich and had some chips and was yelling bloody murder. No more stolen sandwiches. Be careful of who you decide to mess with.

fly747first

Amazing how these things only seem to happen on UA, what a circus of an airline.

Tizzette

Something comes sliding back to my seat, I would watch to see if somebody is looking for it so I could return it. If nobody's looking for it, if it is a personal belonging I would turn it in to an FA. But if it is a freebie giveaway like an amenity kit, if I wanted it I would not feel bad about keeping it.

popoemt

But it's not a "freebie giveaway", it's part and parcel of a business/first class ticket. And something sliding down an aisle is def NOT your property, at any point, ever.

popoemt

I watched a guy from business (on a Polaris EWR-SFO 777-300 flight), wander to the mid-back of economy, turn left (I was walking around taking pictures and happened to be behind him), he saw a bunch of stroop waffles laying out, Mr. Sticky Fingers grabbed what looked like 10-15 of them, shoved them into his pockets and kept going.

It was odd to watch, maybe asking for 1 or 2 from a FA would've been an easy ask, but damn man, 15 stroop waffles...