In this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews, I take a look at the business class offering from Star Alliance member airline South African Airways. A very special thanks goes out to Jason at Food, Wine and Miles who donated this kit back in May for a review – I’m thrilled to have it in my collection. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introductory post.
South African Airways Business Class Amenity Kit
Bag/Container: The cream and light beige zipper bag is among the sturdiest I’ve encountered for business class, and it’s made out of a canvas-like vinyl with a dimpled rubber base. I love the unique “vertical stabilizer†zipper featuring the SAA logo. The interior features a large main compartment with both sides sporting three elastic pockets each – perfect to secure small tubes of lotion and other items.    Score: 5.5 out of 7
South African Airways Amenity Bag
Skin Care: South African Airways partnered with Temple Spa to provide “All Talk†moisturizing lip balm and “Peace Be Still†calming face and body balm. The lip gel is smooth and rather delicious, containing grapefruit, lime, lemon and orange peel oils. And the lotion with lemon and nutmeg oil absorbs rapidly leaving minimal greasiness. Score: 5.5 out of 7
Interior of SAA’s Amenity Bag
Oral Care: A medium-bristled plastic toothbrush and teeny tiny tube of standard flavor Colgate toothpaste are the sole oral care items in the kit. Both are perfectly adequate and get the job done. Score: 4 out of 7
Comfort Items: The same quality of single use airline socks as found in many of my reviews are included with this kit, but these sport sticky grippers on the base – perfect to avoid slipping on cabin carpeting. The eyeshades are certainly an upgrade from other business class offerings and feature an adjustable Velcro strap and soft inner lining. Also included are soft foam earplugs with a plastic case and a handy brush/comb combo. Nicely done, SAA. Score: 5.5 out of 7
Intangibles: Even though this kit doesn’t exude luxury, it’s a notch above what you’d find on many other airlines. I particularly like the consistent color scheme among items and the South African Airways branding on the bag and eyeshades. Score: 5.5 out of 7
Total score & comments:
The South African Airways business class amenity kit impresses and earns a final score of 5.13 out of 7.00.
– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.
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Thanks for the review. We’ll be flying to SA next year and it is nice to know that SAA has avery good amenity kits for Business Class.
@Jane: Enjoy your trip! I have yet to fly SAA myself, but hope to one day.
Glad you liked the kit from SAA, Darren – your take was pretty much in line with my own
@Food, Wine and Miles: Thanks again for the kit!