Unboxing the New United Airlines Polaris Amenity Kit
United Airlines is introducing new amenity kits in its Polaris business-cabins, Premium Plus premium-economy cabins, and Polaris Lounges and United Clubs this week.
We unboxed a new Polaris amenity kit to find out what’s inside. The kits we received came in colorful lunchbox-style paper boxes that feature colorful travel icons from airplanes to bicycles to compasses on them, although these boxes were solely for promotional purposes, as was a sheet of stickers with the same colorful icons, clearly intended for the inner child found in all of us.
The new Polaris amenity kit is a soft blue zippered case with multiple compartments inside that will be quite useful as a case after the flight.
United has partnered with Sunday Riley, the eponymously named skin care and cosmetics brand that was launched in 2009, for much of the contents of the new amenity kits.
In addition to a Polaris eye mask, striped socks, earplugs, tissues, a pen, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, we found Sunday Riley hand cream, face moisturizer, lip balm, and a “facial cleansing cloth” similar to a Wash ‘n Dri moist towelette.
The lip palm is produced with pomegranate seed oil and shea butter and felt rather nice on my lips, although it was hard to judge its overall effectiveness as I am not in a dry climate at the moment. The hand cream smelled wonderful and is made from shea butter, cocoa butter, and rose hip seed oil. Finally the moist towelette was very refreshing, perhaps thanks to the peppermint extract used.
If you’ve ever wondered if leaving your amenity kit with unused products means it will go to waste, you needn’t worry, at least not in the case of United. The new amenity kits are part of the airline’s commitment to sustainability, eco-skies. United is working with Clean the World to recycle unused components of the kits to repurpose them for the less fortunate.
CORRECTION – April 15, 2019
The original version of this article stated that the new amenity kits come in colorful lunchbox-style paper boxes. After publication, the airline advised that only the amenity kits sent to the media came in these boxes and that the amenity kits that are provided to passengers come in the soft blue zippered cases that were inside the paper boxes.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)