The prospect of a flight overseas changes a lot for the rich, powerful and lucky who are seated in the front section of the plane. The land of lie-flat beds may be mysterious to most travellers, however Cheapflights is shedding light on the VIP experience.
Our team of travel experts searched through, tested, photographed and rated 48 economy, Business and First Class amenity kits from 27 of the world’s leading airlines to reveal the “secrets behind the curtain”.
It was no surprise to learn that the posh kits are stuffed with luxury brands (Loewe, Tumi, Chopard, Bulgari, Dior, Ferragamo, L’Occitane, SK-II) – and contain everything from eye masks and shoe horns to “pulse point oil” and “pillow mist”.
In total, just five of the 27 airlines achieved a six-star review, with Middle Eastern and Far Eastern airlines dominating, as kits from Emirates, Etihad, Japan Airlines, Qatar and United came out on top.
Qantas and Air New Zealand are both five-star airlines.
Lufthansa and Royal Brunei took joint top honours for the “Best Male Accessory”; Lufthansa for its German football kit-themed bag and Royal Brunei for its super luxury slippers.
Polish airline LOT grabbed “Best Female Accessory” for its nail file; while Qatar was – literally – the comfortable winner for the “Best Kids’ Accessory” with a Spongebob Squarepants backpack (in a Qatar captain uniform) that also doubles as a pillow or booster seat.
See all airline reviews
- American Airlines: 4 Stars
- Air Berlin: 4 Stars
- Air Canada: 3 Stars
- Air New Zealand: 5 Stars
- Austrian Airlines: 4 Stars
- British Airways: 5 Stars
- Condor Airlines: 3 Stars
- Delta: 5 Stars
- Emirates: 6 Stars
- Etihad: 6 Stars
- Garuda Indonesia: 5 Stars
- Iberia: 3 Stars
- Icelandair: 5 Stars
- Japan Airlines: 6 Stars
- JetBlue: 4 Stars
- LOT Polish Airlines: 4 Stars
- Lufthansa: 4 Stars
- Malaysia Airlines: 5 Stars
- Qantas: 5 Stars
- Qatar: 6 Stars
- Royal Brunei: 5 Stars
- SWISS: 5 Stars
- TAM: 4 Stars
- Turkish Airlines: 5 Stars
- United Airlines: 6 Stars
- Vietnam Airlines: 4 Stars
- Virgin Atlantic: 5 Stars
Our star rating system:
- One star = Taxiing
- Two stars = Approaching cruising altitude
- Three stars = 35,000 feet
- Four stars = High life
- Five stars = Edge of space
- Six stars = Fly me to the moon
The full amenity kit contents Top Ten (by popularity of items: “=” denotes tie):
- 1 Brush/ comb
- 2= Eye mask
- 2= Toothbrush
- 3 Socks
- 4= Earplugs
- 4= Moisturiser
- 4= Toothpaste
- 5 Lip balm
- 6 Tissues
- 7 Shoe horn
And then we created our dream kit:
- Etihad’s kit bag
- Japan Airlines‘ toothbrush
- Garuda’s hair brush and shoe horn
- Turkish Airlines’ two-tone ear plugs
- SWISS’ La Prairie moisturiser
- Air New Zealand’s “Beware I Sleepwalk” eye mask
- Vietnam Airlines’ Chopard lip balm
- Turkish Airlines’ non-slip socks
