Like most New Yorkers, Andrew Lim doesn't have much space in his apartment.
The 51-year-old e-commerce specialist shares a tight one-bedroom with his husband in Manhattan's Flatiron district. But there will always be room for one prized possession: His collection of about 200 airline amenity kits, the travel-sized toiletry pouches that come free with first- and business-class seats on long-haul flights.
Lim, a travel content creator, has spent decades accumulating the kits. After flying more than 3 million miles, his collection includes rare finds like United Airlines' 'Star Wars' collaboration and newer offerings like China Airlines' partnership with fashion brand Marc Jacobs.
He keeps them all tucked away in a closet -- out of sight of his husband, who isn't as keen on the enterprise. But sometimes, he can't resist taking them out for a trip down memory lane.
"He thinks I'm crazy," Lim said.
For most fliers, amenity kits are a quick fix for the annoyances of even business-class travel: A sleep mask to darken the cabin; lip balm and lotion to help with dry air; socks to find a little more comfort in a cramped chair-bed. But for the rare travel enthusiast, they are so much more: a way to memorialize a favorite trip or claim their own piece of airline history.
Devotees collect them by the dozens, even hundreds. They show them off alongside airline memorabilia. They tuck them away in storage, waiting for the next flight or a bigger apartment. Some take care to use all the items inside, while others clear them out -- wary of what could happen, chemically speaking, to an errant lotion left in a bag for decades.
On the resale market, highly sought-after kits can go for more than $100. But many collectors say buying online is tantamount to cheating.
Chris Miedl, an airline blogger from Germany, estimates he's accumulated at least 70 from his travels. There's a neon-yellow China Airlines collaboration with the North Face and a square black Singapore Airlines pouch that comes with a Lalique candle and a warning: DO NOT USE IN AIRCRAFT.
"I love every single one," said the 51-year-old, who stores them in a silver airline service trolley he bought at auction for a few hundred euros. He's since ordered two more trolleys, one for pajamas and the other for more amenity kits.
To Miedl, the kits are a way for airlines to treat their high-spending passengers like valued guests, not just customers. And the airlines have gone to great lengths to outdo each other, inking deals with high-end fashion and beauty retailers: Turkish Airlines and Lanvin, Delta and Missoni, Saudia and Elie Saab.
Currently, women who fly Emirates first class are treated to more than $100 worth of Bulgari's Le Gemme Sahare eau de parfum. There's also a golden pocket mirror. Men get their own Bulgari perfume, a woody scent "inspired by the vibrant energy of the Blood-red Jasper gemstone."
It wasn't always like this, said Rhonda Crawford, the senior vice president of customer experience design and strategy at American Airlines.
In the wake of blistering cutbacks during the pandemic, she said, some airlines wondered if they should keep offering amenity kits at all. (American said it never considered it.) But the postpandemic boom -- and a travel-obsessed generation of young fliers -- has reinvigorated the call for high-end products.
"There is just a growing demand for experiences -- and, quite honestly, premium experiences," Crawford said. She considers the kits "the sparkle on top of the core offering."
American has dabbled in some specialty kits, including a collaboration with U.S. Soccer tied to this summer's World Cup that tucked cooling gel into a clear, stadium-friendly bag. Its standard fare -- which, unlike many airlines, is also available in premium economy -- includes cosmetic products from celebrity facialist Joanna Vargas.
A kit's beauty offerings are a major deal for Ben Nickel-D'Andrea. The Seattle-based freelance travel journalist said he relies on the travel-sized bottles for much of his day-to-day skin care.
He takes a more utilitarian approach to his roughly 150-kit collection. Mini toothbrushes and socks go to charity. Beauty products stay until Nickel-D'Andrea or his husband, also a travel journalist, need them again. Some bags -- like the hard-shell United case he uses to carry medications -- get frequent use.
About 15 are on display in his home office, alongside model planes and other travel paraphernalia. "It wasn't intentional," the 41-year-old said. "We just ran out of space in our storage bins."
Parth Kochhar looks to see what amenity kits are available before he books a flight -- though it doesn't yet influence his final purchases. "I'm not being spoiled with that choice," he joked.
He's collected around 30. Once the 34-year-old has his hands on a kit, he wouldn't dream of using the high-end beauty products inside -- even on a flight. That could disturb the thin slips of paper some kits are wrapped with.
"I just don't feel like opening it," said Kochhar, a consultant from Gurugram, India. "I could slide it and probably see, but I feel like if it doesn't go into the same shape or the same place, it wouldn't seem right."
The kit he's currently coveting is Qatar Airways' collaboration with Diptyque, full of beauty offerings from the French perfumer. If he can't resist sampling it, he said, he'll ask a flight attendant for a second one to take home.
For Lim, the e-commerce specialist, the holy grail is something rarer still: a kit from North Korean carrier Air Koryo.
"I don't know if they give out amenities," he said. "But that would be a good one to have."