United Airlines is quietly testing whether Polaris passengers even want amenity kits, and the answer could be used to justify future cuts.
United Quietly Tests Polaris Amenity Kit Opt-In On Longhaul Flights From Los Angeles
United Airlines has launched a new internal test on select longhaul international flights from Los Angeles (LAX) in which Polaris amenity kits will no longer be pre-placed at each seat before boarding. Instead, flight attendants will ask each customer whether they would like one.
If there is time before departure, the amenity kits will be distributed on a silver tray during meal order collection. If not, they will be distributed while hot towels are prepared and meal orders are taken after takeoff.
The trial runs from May 4 through May 15 on the following Los Angeles departures:
- Hong Kong (HKG)
- Shanghai (PVG)
- Beijing (PEK)
- Sydney (SYD)
- Melbourne (MEL)
- Tokyo Haneda (HND)
- Tokyo Narita (NRT)
- London Heathrow (LHR)
Flight attendants have also been instructed to track how many passengers decline the kits, which is the most important part of the internal memo, shared with Live And Let’s Fly.
United Is Looking For Data
If United simply wanted a more elegant service flow, it could have crews hand out the kits without measuring refusals.
Instead, the airline specifically wants to know how many customers say no. That suggests United is studying whether automatic amenity kit loading still makes sense or whether enough customers decline them to justify a broader change.
It’s not an illogical move, considering how much “amenity kit waste” I observe in my travels. Many Polaris travelers already bring their own toiletries, skincare products, eye masks, chargers, and headphones. Some passengers leave the kits unopened. Others take them home but never use them (*ahem*).
Across thousands of premium passengers, needless extra kits potentially creates unnecessary waste and cost.
> Read More: Help! I’m An Airline Packrat…
But Polaris Cuts Are Top Of Mind
The timing is notable.
United has already tightened Polaris Lounge access for many Star Alliance premium passengers. It has also introduced lower-tier business class fares with fewer inclusions.
> Read More: United Slashes Polaris Lounge Access For Most Star Alliance Business Class Passengers
> Read More: United’s New “Basic” Business Class Won’t Lower Prices, It Only Cuts Benefits
So when passengers hear United is now counting how many customers decline amenity kits, skepticism is understandable.
Because once airlines learn some travelers do not use a perk, the next step is often reducing it, unbundling it, or turning it into an optional extra. Today it is an amenity kit. Tomorrow it could be slippers, bedding, and food…
But I Don’t Think This Is Bad News (For Now)
To be fair, this does not have to be negative.
As I mentioned, United instructs flight attendants to offer kits on a silver tray either before pushback during meal order collection or after takeoff while hot towels are prepared. If done well, that could feel more premium than simply dumping a kit on every seat before boarding. A personal offer can feel polished if done well.
Of course, execution matters. If crews are rushed or rude, passengers will quickly see it as a downgrade rather than an upgrade.
And I don’t think this means the days of amenity kits may be numbered. As antiquated as they are in many ways, it positively shocks me how people rave about the Missoni amenity kits on Delta. It’s good marketing…and I suspect United makes money on its current Brooks Brothers amenity kits.
Reducing waste is not a bad thing.
CONCLUSION
United’s Polaris amenity kit test out of Los Angeles may be about waste reduction and smarter service. Of course, it may also be about figuring out what premium perks passengers will tolerate losing.
But for now, if you are flying Polaris out of Los Angeles, do not forget to ask for your amenity kit if you are not offered one!
image: United Airlines
I’d be happy if they just had baskets of the different components of the kits and I could just take what I need. I use the eye mask and ear plugs but usually throw out the rest.
Why don’t they just do a survey, mktg. research, of bus. class fliers, as to what amenities we appreciate the most? most likely, moisturizer (3 or 4 tubes, or larger tube), lip balm, eyeshades, ear plugs, toothpaste; we want to protect our face from dry air on long hauls, right? what is Thai Air and SQ doing on this matter?
We didn’t get any amenity kits on our CDG to EWR flight in November. Somehow it seemed no one realized it. I would have asked. Can’t believe it never occurred to me until just before landing.
The enshittifications will continue until morale improves!
If the savings get plowed into the wine and food program it’s a fair trade.
And having F/As offer them makes it feel more elegant. I vaguely recall that’s the way it was on Continental during some of the BusinessFirst days.
I do like the idea of them being offered, something that carriers that still have international first class offer in their front cabins (other than AA).
This is cheapness. They should proactively give them to passengers. When you are having your cancer surgery, the nurse in the operating area doesn’t ask “do you want me to wash my hands with surgical solution or is it ok that I have some cow dung on my hand?”
If the passenger leaves the kit unopened or even opened, let the economy class passengers walk pass and take it.
I want my amenity kit. I use the case. If it is a memorable trip, I keep the kit mostly intact as a souvenir. I do not have many….. British Airways, Delta, EVA Air, Qantas, Singapore, United, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic… that’s probably it.
You’re analogy is rather odd, and inapt. If you really need something in the kit, ask for one. Personally I find most of the products in them to be too heavily perfumed for my liking, and the risk of encountering spearmint toothpaste; a truly nauseating thought; is unacceptably high.
It’s clearly affected your spelling. And your attitude.
What the heck? Comparing this to a cancer patient is not only illogical, it’s also offensive. There is zero relationship in your analogy.
Better example, if you skip your Chemo treatment you can help pad our bottom line. Just another thing to take away and still charge as much as before.
“If there is time …” LOL!
Boarding is 45-50 minutes, and they do nothing at all except hang out in the galley and chit-chat for about half of that.
This is great, there is so much amenity kit waste. Also many airlines do this – Turkish Airlines for one has a different amenity kit for men and women so they come by your seat and ask whether you’d like one – the first time I flew them business class I knew someone who really wanted one of their amenity kits so I asked if I could have 2 and they happily gave it to me. I think this is a classic way of saving money and waste by just asking what people want.
I wish Turkish’s amenity kit was as nice as the Polaris kit. On the other hand I wish Polaris food was half as good as Turkish’s BC food.
TK Business Class offers a premium dining experience, often described as a restaurant in the sky, featuring chef-prepared meals using seasonal ingredients and traditional Turkish flavors. Highlights include Dine on Demand service, freshly squeezed orange juice, and diverse options like Adana kebab, lamb chops, and pasta.
It is worth adding that, unlike many airlines, TK offers amenity kits to both Business Class and Economy Class passengers on long-haul flights.
High fuel costs that will persist well into the fall and beyond will have every airline worldwide looking for ways to cut costs.
Amenity kits are often wasted; the best solution is to have a small supply of the items in the amenity kit that are available on request or put in the new snack center which is being added to many aircraft.
Eliminating waste is a good thing. Providing a service or product that some need without cutting it is even better
No thanks. I didn’t use any of it on my flights to and from Japan. I like the idea of offering the components however like a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Singapore Airlines doesn’t put amenity kits at seats, big whoop.
Tough to see this as being anything but negative, just Kirby trying to find a way to offer less again to customers. The fact that it’s only in the research phase doesn’t negate that fact. For someone making such ridiculous claims all the time about how good his company is he sure works hard to make things worse for passengers.
It’s not about refusing amenity kits as much as it is about offering an amenity kit that actually has products that matter. If they made an effort people would love them. How about actual items that are useful and worthwhile?
When United does the packaging right, the amenity kits are fantastic. I’m traveling in S.A. at the moment have no fewer than five unique designs: the mesh bags from an Olympics promotion (‘16?) that I use for packing clothes in my duffel bag, the “Away” kit (‘22ish?) that I use for charging cables, the Therabody hip pack (‘23…carries my phone during workouts), the PGA golf sack (‘14ish?) that I use for carrying large toiletries, and an old-school “BusinessFirst” faux leather toilet kit (just after the merger, ‘13ish?). Otherwise, I find the current Brooks Brothers and similar small and soft carriers useless and leave them behind. To me, United just needs to stay creative with the package.
I don’t need it, but I like giving it to a kid in Y.
I’ve flown Polaris a half dozen times The Dulles lounge is nice, but in the air, the service is like a school cafeteria. Definitely not premium in any way. The space (lie flat bed) is all that is with paying for. Polaris is the first of the major upper classes. Maybe they could train the FAs to smile now and then?
I was an AF transatlantic flight a week ago in J. The AKs were not with the other supplies (pillows, bedding, slippers), but were handed out later. My memory (well less than 100%) tells me this is different than my 2025 AF transatlantic. You were not asked if you wanted one, but I guess some might have said no. Maybe they are testing such a procedure like UA.