Testing Out American Airlines’ New Amenity Kits

Last week I wrote about how American Airlines will be rolling out new amenity kits shortly.

American’s current amenity kits are produced by Cole Haan, with products from 3LAB, C.O. Bigelow, and Clark’s Botanicals. American’s new amenity kits are more varied and from smaller brands, and are produced by This is Ground, Athletic Propulsion Labs, and STATE Bags, with products from Allies of Skin, Zenology, and Baxter of California.

I received a package yesterday from American Airlines with all the new kits, so figured I’d share my thoughts on them (for what it’s worth, I didn’t ask for them, and similarly, they didn’t ask me to write about them, so I’m just sharing my honest opinions).

The first thing that stood out to me is just how many different types of kits they have — goodness!

Let’s go through them, cabin by cabin.

American’s new international first class amenity kits

There’s just one bag design here, though over time there will be four different color options.

This is a zip-up pouch, and some of the amenities are strapped to one side, while others are in a pouch on the other side. The bag itself is by This is Ground, and the skincare products are from Allies of Skin.

Contents here include body lotion, facial moisturizer, lip balm, a dental kit, an eye mask, socks, earplugs, mouthwash, a pen, a tissue pack, mints, a credit card pitch, and a discount code for some products.

My take: The kit itself is actually really well stocked, though I find the bag itself to be boring, and tough to repurpose. I’m also surprised it took American this long to put a credit card sales pitch in their amenity kits. Also, does anyone know what the thing in the top left of the above picture is?

American’s new international business class amenity kits

American has four international business class bag designs, and on top of that each comes in four colors, so over time you’ll see 16 different color and bag combinations.

Three of these kits can be folded in half (one with a zipper, one with a strap, and one with a button), and then there’s one kit that stands up and that has the contents inside. The bags themselves are by This is Ground, and the skincare products are from Allies of Skin.

The contents for all four kits are the same, and include body lotion, lip balm, a dental kit, an eye mask, socks, earplugs, mouthwash, a pen, a tissue pack, mints, a credit card pitch, and a discount code for some products.

My take: These kits are totally fine and unmemorable. On the plus side, at least they don’t have that same awful odor that the Cole Haan kits had (what was up with that?).

American’s new transcon first class amenity kits

American has just a single transcon first class kit, which is a zip-up pouch.

The bag itself is by Athletic Propulsion Labs, and the skincare products are from Zenology. The contents of the kit include hand and body lotion, lip balm, sanitizing wipes, a dental kit, an eye mask, earplugs, mints, a hydration pack, and tissues.

My take: Surprisingly I sort of like the bag itself. I find it interesting that the kit doesn’t have socks, though, and also find it interesting that it doesn’t have a discount code or credit card pitch. How am I supposed to take advantage of the exclusive inflight offer? 😉

American’s new transcon business class amenity kits

American has just a single transcon business class kit, which is a thicker zip-up pouch.

The bag itself is by Athletic Propulsion Labs, and the skincare products are from Zenology. The contents of the kit include hand and body lotion, lip balm, a dental kit, an eye mask, earplugs, mints, a hydration pack, and tissues.

My take: The only difference between the contents of this and the first class kit is that it doesn’t have sanitizing wipes.

American’s new premium economy amenity kits

American has just a single premium economy kit, which will come in two designs.

The bag itself is by State Bags, and the skincare products are from Baxter of California. The contents of the kit include body lotion, lip balm, an eye mask, earplugs, a dental kit, socks, and a discount code for some products.

My take: This kit is very nice, and has all the basics you’d expect for premium economy.

Bottom line

Personally I’m not someone who cares that much about amenity kits, so I don’t have strong feelings one way or another. I’m pleasantly surprised by the variety of kits American has, though for the most part they’re pretty unmemorable. In general the international first class kit is my favorite, and I think the premium economy one is really well done.

I’m surprised the transcon ones don’t have socks, but otherwise the kits are about what I’d expect.

Best of all, these kits don’t have the awful odor that the Cole Haan kits had, for whatever reason.

What do you make of American’s new amenity kits?