Air France

Airline amenity kits – part 2

Here’s part 2 of my round-up of cool, collectible airline amenity kits, originally produced for CNBC Road Warrior. See part 1 here.

7_JetBlue amenity kit

A complimentary amenity kit filled with deluxe-sized, beauty, grooming and lifestyle products chosen by the sample-savvy folks at Birchbox is one of the perks included with JetBlue’s upgraded, coast-to-to-coast Mint service introduced in June, 2014. The kit content will change quarterly but the mix of premium sample items started off with everything from Benefit Cosmetics mascara in the women’s kit to Ernest Supplies Cooling Shave Cream in the kit for men.

8A_Finnair_Eco-Friendly amenity kit

Finnair offers business class passengers a minimalist, eco-friendly amenity kit that includes socks, an eye-mask and earplugs packaged in a brown paper envelope. A more elaborate, but equally-eco amenities kit, with items in a green tea or birch scent, is available on request.

9_AirFrance_Business Amenity Kit

Business class customers on Air France now receive an amenity kit filled with Clarins cosmetics as well as mouthwash, slipper socks, toothbrush and eye shade. Passengers in the airline’s La Premiere cabins receive a leather cosmetics kit designed by Givenchy filled with skin care products by Biologique Recherche, including face cream, an anti-fatigue roll-on for the eyes, an eye mask, lip balm, hand cream and an oshibori hand towel.

10_Etihad_FIRST CLASS SOUGHA MALE

Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, gives passengers in economy, business and first class cabins amenity kits that feature patterns of Sadou, a colorful, intricate and centuries-old Abu Dhabi weaving craft traditionally used on blankets, cushions and Bedouin tents. In addition to the nice array of products inside the bags, “I love the fact that Etihad has invested in an authentic design for their kits, embracing their cultural roots,” said Jonny Clark, a commercial pilot who evaluates airline products and design at TheDesignAir.

Air France turning old uniforms into car insulation

At airports and on airlines, green is in and getting “inner.”

Airports are installing solar farms and wind turbines and getting serious about recycling food waste and other materials generated inside the terminals.

Airlines are rolling out in-flight recycling programs and having flight attendants separate the trash they collect as they go up and down the aisles.

Delta Air Lines gives its old seat covers to Tierra Ideas, which turns them into cool bags.

And now Air France is collecting old uniforms from ground staff and crew uniforms at Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports so that the clothing can be recycled as car insulation at a specialized recycling plant.

Air France recycling uniforms

Tidbits for travelers: Free Wi-Fi, Olympic travel tips, and in-flight body-mass tax

We want Wi-Fi

Slowly but surely airports large and small are getting with the program and making free wireless Internet access available in the terminals.

The latest major airport to join the party: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

Hooray!

Packing tips from Olympic athletes

Curious about what some Olympic athletes do when they’re traveling – or getting ready to travel? Them you may in interested in the video clips the folks at VISA (a 2010 Olympics sponsor) have posted of athletes talking about what they pack, how they prep for a trip, how skier Ryan St. Onge just had to have an airport burrito, and what Olympic Hockey player Angela Ruggiero packs in her carry-on.


Just as interesting, is the fact that the credit card company is giving away a trip to the Olympics – for life. To enter, you just need to charge something on a VISA card.

Seat tax on Air France for Seatmates of Size

And, just a day after announcing that it was introducing “the lightest and most comfortable short-haul seat in the world,” on some of its planes, Air France announced that passengers who cannot fit into a single seat (on any Air France flight) will have to pay for a second seat – at 75% of the cost of the first seat.

The new policy applies to tickets purchased beginning February 1st for flights April 1st and beyond.

Think the new rules may apply to you? Here’s the policy for Passengers with High Body Mass.

What do you think? Should seatmates of size be asked to pay for more than one seat?

From Air France: photo contest and in-flight film festival

During May, the Air France in-flight entertainment system (my favorite channel: language lessons) is showing films chosen as past winners of the Cannes Film Festival.

air-france-cannes-film-festival

Through August 15th, 2009, the airline is also having a photography competition and is asking people to send in photographs on the theme “Air France livery: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow“.

I know the contest is open to everyone, but I can’t tell you much more than that because so far I’ve only found instructions written in French. I can tell you, though, that the top prize is a Breitling watch worth €3,800 (about US $5,100) and that other prizes include Air France flights and Airbus A380 simulator experiences.

Who needs First Class seats?

Can’t afford First or Business class, but don’t want to fly in the economy cabin on your next flight?  Soon you’ll have a new option on Air France:

The airline is carving out a new cabin section, Premium Voyageur, between the Business and Economy cabins and putting in these swanky new fixed-shell seats:

airfrancepremiumvoyageur_legendes

The new section will have extra legroom and many of the amenities of the Business Class cabin. The meal service will be the same as  in Economy, though: aperitifs, champagne,  a choice of two hot meals, liqueurs, wines and, on flights over 12 hours long, mini-sandwiches and Häagen Dazs ice-cream.

The new cabin section comes with some Business Class perks at the airport as well: priority check-in desks, increased baggage weight allowance, and priority baggage delivery.

Can’t wait to try it out? The first available destinations will be New York-JFK, Tokyo and Osaka. For more details, see the Air France Website.