Flying in Austrian Airlines Business Class long haul is a pleasant experience. It has been a few years since my last trip with them, but we recently returned from a family trip to Europe. We flew on Austrian due to abundant space in their nice business class product. The staggered seat is still nice, and the meals are great. In this post I’m reviewing the current version of Austrian Airlines amenity kit, which have changed since my last time onboard. They have different kits depending on the direction (to or from Vienna), but the contents are the same.
Welcome to another installment of our amenity kit review series. As in previous reviews, I will be reviewing this amenity kit on a scale from 1 to 5 (being the best) and will rate it based on five categories:
- Bag/container: design, quality and reusability/collectibility of the bag.
- Product: quality, size and variety of the facial and body products.
- Comfort items: eye masks, ear plugs, etc.
- Miscellaneous: pens, tissues and everything else.
- Extras: additional items that make your flight just a tad more comfortable including pajamas, slippers, etc.
Austrian Airlines Amenity Kit
Red is the main accent color in Austrian Airlines brand, from flight attendant uniforms, to the aircraft tails, red is everywhere. Waiting on our seats on our flight to Vienna was a bright red amenity kit. Another component of Austrian’s current marketing strategy is to use the prefix of “my-” for many things. For the amenity kit for flights inbound to Vienna, we were given “my Schusackerl”, (my shoe bag in an Austrian dialect). Not sure I’d reuse this as a shoe bag, but it certainly could work as such.
Bag/Container
Austrian uses 2 separate containers for their amenity kits, depending on direction of the flight, so since we flew round trip, we received both containers. The contents are identical, but the bags are quite different. I guess I prefer the traditional gray kit more, although the shoe bag would likely take up less space if reused for carrying toiletries. If I needed a shoe bag, then I’d be in good shape with the red bag. Score 3.5
Product
The offering here is very basic, just 2 items, a face cream and lip balm. These Edition Edelweiss products are made in Austria by Siin. And they seem nice enough, but my first reaction was, “that’s it”? Yes, just those 2 items. There are several other items stocked in the lavatories during the flight including razors, shaving cream and hand lotion. But in terms of what is included in the kit, while nice, this is pretty minimal. Score: 2.5
Comfort items
The typical items of business class amenity kits are here, with a toothbrush, toothpaste, an eyemask and earplugs. Nothing too fancy, but they are nice enough. The earplugs are actually really nice, soft, and are designed well to easily fit into ones ear with minimal effort. I may have snatched an extra set from the basket in the lavatory. One can never have too many earplugs when traveling. Score: 3
Miscellaneous
There isn’t much here that normally fits this category, although there are cloth covers for the shared headphones. I normally prefer to use my own Bose QC20, but my daughter was using my dual pin jack, so I used the headphones provided, and while they aren’t as nice as Bose, they are fine, and the covers are appreciated. Tissues are a common item included in amenity kits. Not that it is needed, but it is nice to have a small packet to carry around elsewhere. Score: 2.5
Extras
Finally, there is a pair of socks. These are the standard cheap knit blend that work for use in flight and I generally treat as disposable. It is wasteful, but they clearly aren’t made to last very long. Score: 2.5
Final thoughts on Austrian Airlines Amenity Kits
The score isn’t very high for these kit, but despite the unique bag, the contents are bare minimum and pretty basic. Based on my ratings the Austrian Airlines Amenity Kit scores out to an average of 2.8.
Have you received one of these kits on an Austrian Airlines International Business Class flight? Please let us know what you think.
Other Amenity Kit Reviews
- Japan Airlines First Class
- ANA First Class
- British Airways First Class
- Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
- Qantas First Class
- Thai Airways First Class (Rimowa 2014)
- Japan Airlines Business Class
- Lufthansa First Class (Escada)
- Cathay Pacific Business Class (new Seventy-Eight Percent)
- United Airlines BusinessFirst (Cowshed Kit)
- United Airlines BusinessFirst
- American Airlines Transcon First Class (Reno Air Heritage Series)
- United Airlines BusinessFirst (new TEAM USA kit)
- Lufthansa Business Class (Bree)
- Etihad Business Class (LUXE)
- Qatar Airways Economy Class
- American Airlines Business Class (Cole Haan 2016)
- American Airlnes Business Class (Cole Haan 2017)
