Air New Zealand

Used ANZ from AKL to Japan /Narita. Very new and modern aircraft. Bid for upgrade and won. However, upgrade means to Premium Economy, not business class. As first time ANZ experience I paid for nothing. 25kg luggage (I only had hand luggage), comftable seats and almost business class service. At least what the ticket service promised. Not sure were, but not in that aircraft. Seats are the same size like economy, food is not great. Stewardesses seam to be employed by weight and size. One time experience, never again.

EDITORS COMMENT: The seats are quite different to Economy in that there is 4 inch more legroom and double the recline. They also have a leg or foot rest and slightly more width. if you were expecting a Business class seat then of course you would be disappointed in the Premium Economy seat – they are VERY different but this seat is very much what premium economy is and it’s different to economy. In fact Air New Zealand has one of the best premium economy cabins in the world.

Being a heart patient in my 70s I am unable to carry a 20kg case around so I carried two items of baggage which I can manage more easily. When checking in at 6am on a domestic flight I was told to pay an extra $60.00 as only one item was permitted. I had not noticed the fine print (am visually impaired). ANZ insisted I pay. I complained to Customer Relations by mail – got no reply. Followed up with letter to the CEO who passd it their customer relations who rejected my complaint. To me ANZ is as bad as the worst budget airlines anywhere. I won’t fly ANZ again.

EDITORS COMMENT: This is a tough one as the rules for baggage are strict for a reason and if they bend the rules for one then they will end up bending them for everyone. Unless you have a doctors note in reality anyone could say they have a heart condition and can’t carry one big bag. Next time you fly – notify the airline of the condition and why you will need two small bags and also bring a doctors note. I think armed with this you will find the airline are very willing to help you out at no extra cost.

I took the first scheduled flight on the new 787-9 to Auckland from Perth return and was very impressed. I repeated this with my wife this year and was totally unimpressed. It would appear no maintenance has been done to the cabin. The seats appeared to be loose, I couldn’t get the footrest thing to go all the way back and it was a most uncomfortable flight. I prefer to use Air NZ as it is the only direct flight from Perth, but I am now considering a stop over for a day or two using another airline.

EDITORS COMMENT: That’s unfortunate as like you say they are excellent. Hopefully just a one off!

Flew from London Heathrow to Nadi in Fiji via Los Angeles on 12/09/15 returning on 24/09/15. Very comfortable flights, cabin crew were helpful and worked hard and in-flight entertainment was of a good standard. Service comparable to other airlines I have flown long haul with and beats Air France into a “cocked hat” (cabin crew were lazy and arrogant).

Flew Air New Zealand for the first time as always heard it was the best. But disappointed to find that it now offers a fairly stripped back long haul experience.
Comfortable seats and friendly enough staff, but no comfort pack with socks and toothbrush etc. which I have come to expect after many years flying down under. No pre-meal drinks and snack, no hot flannel on embarking. Meal as good as one can expect these days, and adequate for length of flight, but if one felt peckish in between meals would have had to pay for anything extra. Free on Singapore airlines and others.