Flying business-class long-haul is quite a treat. The lie-flat seats, the big TVs, the free-flowing champagne, it’s an absolute blast! One of my favorite amenities though is to get the business class airline amenity kit.
At a minimum, these kits usually have a travel toothbrush and toothpaste, an eyemask, socks, ear plugs, and usually a small hand lotion. Some premium airlines give them out when handing out pajamas, but, at a minimum, you’ll typically get an amenity kit.
Why You Should Take Amenity Kits with You
Given the contents of these kits, you get to take them home, as it’s not sanitary to re-use them. While airlines launder the business class blankets and pillows, an airline amenity kit is single use, and it’s typically just easier to throw them away instead of trying to figure out what was and was not used and restock them.
I also like taking them home as little souvenirs. I keep every airline amenity kit under my sink, and I’ve collected amenity kits from a variety of airlines. In fact, airlines want you to take and reuse them: it’s a way to give you good memories and hopefully share those experiences with others!
If you take enough flights, you’ll end up racking up quite a few of them, and it seems like such a waste to throw them away. Additionally, throwing away contributes to an ever-growing amount of trash in the world. Even if you’re able to reuse just a single amenity kit, you are contributing to less trash in the world. (Yes, I do recognize that you are still flying, which burns a lot of fuel.)
How to Reuse an Airline Amenity Kit
Given the uniqueness of these amenity kits, I thought it would be a good idea to list 10 ways to repurpose your business class amenity kits after your flight.
Stock items in your guest room
We love having guests come and visit. Our operating principle is to try to somewhat replicate the hotel experience by having little soaps and other items in the bathroom and guest bedroom. We are able to have spare toothbrushes, lotions, and ear plugs and eye masks that our guests can use, while helping them stay organized with their own toiletries.
Use them to help organize your travel toiletries
Many of us have a typical toiletry bag that we put everything in. However, there are usually some things that you want easier access to, or you might have something that can get gross that you want to separate out from your main bag.
I highly recommend using them to help organize your toiletries. For example, I use my small zipper Aer Lingus amenity kit bag to hold my shaving items, and I use a Turkish Airlines economy amenity kit to hold my allergy meds. My overnight toiletries for single night trips sit in an old Austrian Airlines amenity kit. It helps me stay organized, and I can easily grab either of them since I’d rather have those items separate from my usual items.
Give them as a gift to loved ones
Many premium airlines give high quality amenity kits. For example, on a recent Etihad flight, I got Acqua di Parma leather amenity kit. Qatar gives out Diptyque items. These are high quality items that you can give out to a friend or loved one, particularly if you don’t want it (but know they will).
If there’s an empty seat next to you, you can absolutely grab that extra amenity kit, as most flight attendants won’t care. My wife grabbed an extra Etihad amenity kit as a gift for her mom, who watched our dog while we were on our big trip to the Maldives, Rome, & Vienna.
Use them to organize your office bag
If you travel a lot for work, you probably have a lot of office supplies in your office bag. I like to use a couple of bags to organize those items as well as my electronic cords & adaptors.
For a long time, I used a United Polaris branded binder style amenity kit to hold my cords. It perfectly held all of my chords and adaptors. I also store a cheap pair of chord headphones in there, as well as an extra watch when I want.
Donate them to charity
While they are small and typically branded, many family services units and homeless shelters are looking for small bags to give to patrons. Being homeless is hard, and a bag to hold a toothbrush will be much appreciated. Furthermore, for kids in foster care, a bag to hold personal items can often feel special and give kids a sense of ownership.
This goes for old suitcases as well. Don’t throw them out, donate them!
Give them to someone in need
Related to the previous point, not everyone is connected with an organization to help those in need. You could always keep one in your car, and, it someone asks, give them out.
Make a first-aid kit
Many amenity kits have zippers to close them. I always recommend filling them up with basic necessities and throwing them in the car or use them while camping.
Mine have bandaids, cleaning solutions, and Ibuprofen, which I think is the bare minimum. These amenity kits are quite small, so they only hold the essentials. However, they are great for keeping as a “do-it-yourself” kit.
School supplies for kids
Your kid might need a pencil bag to store their writing utensils. You could also use them to store craft supplies and art supplies.
Regardless, some kids will feel so cool having a business-class amenity kit in their school bag everyday.
Organize items you use in your hobby
Maybe you love to sew. Your camera equipment needs extra protection. My parents have lots of little things for Scuba diving.
We all have niche hobbies that might require some small, but important items. Use your amenity kits to keep those items protected and easy to find.
Turn them into a stylish purse or clutch
I’ve only been told I have good style once or twice in my life. It’s not common (and it really shouldn’t be). However, some amenity kits are, IMO, quite classy and could be a great clutch bag.
The Etihad Acqua di Parma amenity kit comes to mind. I think they look quite nice and could be a great clutch in the right situation.
Conclusion
In this Saturday Travel Tip, I went over 10 ways to repurpose an business class amenity kit. Hopefully, we can save a few of them from going in the trash and reuse them in a fun way.
How do you plan on repurposing old amenity kits? Any way you use them that I haven’t mentioned?