This airline has axed amenity kits: should others follow?
The business class hand-outs are “a waste of money”, says CEO.
By Staff Writers, September 23 2025
Business class passengers have grown accustomed to receiving an amenity kit, and the give-aways have also become a useful marketing platform for airlines, which regularly trumpet their collaborations with leading brands in skincare and premium travel.
But Fiji Airways is getting rid of amenity kits: as CEO Andre Viljoen puts it, “we started waking up that we are wasting money.”
“We’ve been measuring for years now how many people take the amenity kit home and actually value it and the number that are left behind,” Viljoen has told trade publication Travel Weekly.
Instead, Fiji Airways flight attendants will walk through the business class cabin with a tray of face creams, socks, headsets and other complimentary items, with passengers invited to choose only what they want.
“The primary motive is to be differentiating and to offer something better,” Viljoen explained.
Notably, this move comes less than a year after Fiji Airways launched new amenity kits in partnership with Samsonite and Teaology containing such goodies such as a bamboo toothbrush and toothpaste, a pen, and a 10ml body lotion infused with tea extracts.
The kits themselves follow the trend of being useful long after the flight, being made from water-repellant fabric and including a strap which easily slides over luggage handles for added convenience.
Walking through the business class cabin at the end of any flight, it’s clear that while some passengers leave behind unopened kits – which the airline can then re-use – others have opened the kit to remove just one or two items, which can result in a large amount of waste.
Of course, airlines love it when passengers take the full kit with them, either to use later or to give away to family members and friends.
And in our experience, the best amenity kit bags contain items of real value and are designed to find a place in your post-flight life.
What’s your take on amenity kits? Do you use them or leave them behind, and how could they be made more appealing to travellers?
05 Dec 2018
Total posts 159
On demand option of the ammenities needed if fine by me. Sometimes you just need a toothbrush or some toothpaste.
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 617
When I started flying in business class I always used the amenity kit, well at least I would take it! But over the years I have become used to bringing my own amenities and never use the amenity kit at all. I suspect most frequent travellers are the same. So it makes sense to offer individual items or make them available on request, instead of the cost and wastage of full kits.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2014
Total posts 474
The bag itself is often the most useful item. I have re-purposed them for packing medicines, carrying passports, packing power adaptors, etc.
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Jun 2020
Total posts 12
In marketing,,, surprise and delight ! If its amazing like BA first or Ek , AF and QF it worth taking home, quality amenity kits are always prized, welcomed examples of quality and value . Tik tok…ers and Insta influencers, are prime platforms when reviewing airlines, they love a great amenity kit. Maybe if as a suggestion if airline work on quality with a clear brand message they will have no left over or unwanted kits , the feedback is the left behind kits.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 May 2018
Total posts 78
I recently did 4 business class flights on Emirates.. 2 long and 2 short.. got 4 bags. Only opened 2 and left the others as I found that they had toothbrush packs in the toilets, which I used on the shorter flights..
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
14 Jun 2017
Total posts 58
Airlines should have them because people like them. They’re great souvenirs of the trip and the bags themselves are often quite useful. I often leave them behind because I’d have hundreds at this point and I suspect most people here would too.
But to most people a business class flight is not a regular occurrence and the kit is a nice memento.
The crew should walk up and down and ask people if they want them. Don’t want it? Someone on the next flight will.
This seems like a no brainer tbh where everybody wins.
09 Dec 2023
Total posts 10
Seems a bit cheap.
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