mmonster

question...
anyone knows when is hot meal services end at AKL?

I usually still have something to eat when I am flying out at midnight from the old AKL lounge... but it does not seems to be the case for the new flagship?

NZ operates to HKG, PVG and SIN at that time and it is a little bit disappointing that there were nothing 'hot' to serve around 10pm.. or maybe I am just expecting too much.... what's new

Kiwi Flyer

I've often departed internationally from AKL late at night and generally the hot food disappeared around 10pm. I assume it will be the same with the new lounge.

mmonster

thanks KiwiFlyer
if that is the case then they should consider extending this... given now there are three services departing PVG, SIN and HKG..(would be 4 with CA operating to PEK)

just need to learn more from CX or SQ flagship......

cavemanzk

In the domestic lounges, about 6months or so ago they made dinner extend till closing (used to end around 7.30pm ish).

Did they not do the same for the Intentional Lounges? Most of my flights have been early morning lately for Intentional.


You'd think for an airline that promotes it self as being tech savy, they would atleast make the days menu available on the app?

NZDavid

Colleague left on NZ282 on Monday and mentioned there was no food options at all in the evening and he mentioned there was no more alcoholic drinks available to pour yourself - all controlled through bar. That sounds quite different to the *A Gold lounge at LAX.

I'm flying out again on Monday so look forward to having a look around! I'll also check out (finally) the SYD lounge. NZ has just been really expensive on the SYD-AKL legs recently so have ended up flying QF (who have a nice lounge but a terrible on-board product!)

sbiddle

It wouldn't actually surprise me if the move to bar service only ends up happening more often with our semi draconian liquor licensing laws, particularly when renewals come up.

Kiwi Flyer

There are more late flights than that. Some Pacific Island flights, CZ to CAN (uses NZ lounge), MH (uses NZ lounge), etc.

ANZ787900

There are a few pour your own bottles in the small self service bar area, on the right wall when facing the food area. Look closely at about 2:12:

ANZ787900

Drinks include 42 Below (plain), JW Red, Bulleit Bourbon, Appleton Estate rum, Tanqueray and there's one more..

SeaProf

Thanks for including the YouTube video. It looks nice but the video makes it sound rather noisy in there. Is it quite loud inside or is that just the video?

Kamadan

Just my 2c on the new AKL International lounge, on Friday midday.

First impression: MUCH better than the old one, much better sense of space and airiness.

However I can see that it's already very busy, about 70% full, I hope there is scope for some sort of expansion especially with all the new routes starting end of the year.

The outdoor patio area is VERY cool, plenty of natural lighting and expansive view over the tarmac.

Food wise, they were cooking smoked fish cake for lunch today which was quite tasty, general offerings from the buffet is a slight improvement over the old lounge. As a few has questioned/mentioned before, there are 2 "self-service" areas in conjunction with the fully-tended bar (one is to the side of the food/buffet station, the other one behind the bar/just inside from the outdoor patio).

It is a bit loud on the inside like today when it's rather busy, and you certainly won't miss any boarding announcements (loud and clear over the PA).

Not that thrilled about the design... thought they could've really done something different and warmer, but that's just my opinion.

Hope they keep up the quality in the coming months/years.

NZbutterfly

That tasty fishcake is yum with the ?dill dip!

There is no charging station either but they have a wee basket of plugs/USB cords in exchange for your BP. There are 2 computers across the corridor from the media room in that little corner room. Not sure if pax can use these or if it's only for staff but if you really needed to access a PC I can't see them turning you away? (Although I wouldn't sit there surfing the net on it).

Cocktails not ready for another week I think (verbal from bar staff). I guess if you're going to offer cocktails it makes sense to have a bar and therefore have wine and beer poured here also as I doubt they'll be run off their feet with cocktail orders. Pity I only have morning flights coming up! Oh well - omelette here I come?

Edit: I didn't get the coffee app coming up last week. Not sure if it's a new lounge thing or an IT overhaul issue. (Alternatively it could be my crappy phone but it did work previously!)

SamB2356

I've had this problem during most lounge visits over the last month or so, in each of the domestic lounges.

Rebound

it's worked for me 4 times in the new lounge no problems

SFO_FT

The architects are constrained by what the client wants -- in this case, as with the NZ brand identity, it's "cool Kiwiana". Agree that the lounges are a bit sterile looking, but they do fit well with the overall BI of the carrier -- sleek, modern, global rather than regional. A huge improvement over the tired bach theme.