Air New Zealand Air Points - NZ First vs Business class

I would be grateful for an update on the comparison of these two classes.
My wife are travelling on a Star Alliance Award to Canada early in 2004 and we are thinking of travelling in NZ First AKL -LAX and VV.
I know that it involves an extra 30,000 or so miles each but I would be prepared to lose them if the Board though the difference in seating and catering was worthwhile .
Ozflier

Hi!

I just returned from a trip "Down Under." I flew AirNZ J-Class LAX-AKL and SYD-LAX.

I would say that First Class on AirNZ doesn't differ too much from Business Class...at least that's how it seemed to me. Sure, you get a seat that reclines almost flat in First Class, the food is probably a bit better, and you get a Video Walkman...but other than that, I think that Business Class is pretty equivalent.

I would say save your points and go Business Class...unless you have a real desire to go Int'l First. In that case, you should consider it this way:

If you plan to sleep, United's First Suite would be the seat to fly in.

If you want the best service in the air (believe me, it doesn't get better than AirNZ), then go AirNZ.

~Derek

I flew Air NZ at the end of February for the first time from SYD - LAX. I was upstairs in J class.

The food was very good. The seats were really quite uncomfortable and moreover it was packed and noisy. Staff were not at all pleasant...not nasty but not going out of their way.

Went for a walk back in economy where most people were lying flat out on 3 or 4 seats. Hostess told me it is often like this.

Maybe I was spoiled by too many flights on SQ and VS.........

First class looked a lot quieter than J class. If it is a rest you are after there is no choice.........

After years of anticipation I would have to say I would avoid Air NZ J class in future.

Hi ozflier

Well, from my 2 flights in first, here are what I see as the the differences to business:

- the cabin is extremly spacious... there are only 12 seats, where other airlines have up to 16, and no seats in the middle bit - it's just a big open space (a trolly of wines and snacks is set up there during the flight). Even business class seems cramped after it.

- food is definately a large step up from business - the service is canapees, starters, soup, salad, main course, dessert, cheese, tea & coffee. On the flights I was on the food was excellent. As with most other airlines, it's a freedom menu so you can eat what you want when you want it. Actually, I don't think I've seen an AirNZ F menu on a.net, so I'll take the opportunity to type up mine...

First Class - London to Los Angeles

Air New Zealand is proud to present our exclusive inflight dining experience, designed by chefs from some of the world's leading contemporary restaurants.
Today's menu has been created for you by the award-winning Peter Gordon of the Providores, London.

We invite you to enjoy complete flexibility and a choice of dishes from our a la carte service. You are welcome to select any combination of dishes including a full meal service at your convience. Please dine at your leasure, whenever you choose, throughout the flight.

dinner

appetiser

White crab and avocado tian
with land cress, cucumber and tomato chive dressing

Warmed field mushroom ragout
in puff pastry on a delicate champagne cream herb sauce

soup

White bean, leek and truffle oil
soup with creme fraiche

main selections

Lemon and coriander infused snapper chargrilled and served on a sweet potato and spinach bake with black beans, lemon and olive salsa

Roasted New Zealand lamb
marinated in pomegranate molasses, and served with jacket potato wedges, golden herbed butternut, cranberry and kumquat relish

Honey mustard glazed gammon ham
with summer vegetables, baby potatos and honey mustard jus

light choice

Lemongrass risotto cake
with sesmae broccoli, Spanish red peppers, lemon tahini and basil puree

salad

Freshly tossed salad offered with your choice of blue cheese dressing or extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette
You may choose this either as a side salad to accompany your main selection or as a seperate course

desserts

Ice cream dessert selection
of real orange, vanilla creme and double peach ice cream

Summer berry pudding
with raspberry coulis and mascarpone cream

cheese and fruit

A selection of fine cheese and seasonal fruit

beverages

Freshly brewed or decaffinated coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate. Artificial sweetener is available.

light refreshment

A selection of light refreshments, cold snacks, sandwiches and fruit is available throughout the flight


afternoon tea

appetiser

Selection of chilled fresh fruit

sandwiches

Assorted sandwich selection
Tomato with egg mayonnaise, shaved turkey and cranberry jelly, smoked ham and gruyere cheese, smoked salmon, cream cheese and dill

pastry and scone selection

Delicate pastry and tart selection

Freshly baked scones
with strawberry jam and clotted cream

beverages
Freshly brewed coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate. Artificial sweetener is available.


- excellent wines. The wine list is printed daily and I think the selection is basically different on every flight. The wine list I have is: (without the descriptions)

White wine
Selaks Drylands Winemakers Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2000, New Zealand
Grove Mill Riesling Winemakers Reserve 1999, Marlborough, New Zealand
Vidal Estate Reserve Chardonnay 1999, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
Tyrrells Stevens Semillon 1997, Hunter Valley Australia

Red wine
Lillydale Vineyards Cabernet Merlot 1998, Yarra Valley Australia
Palliser Estate Pinot Noir 2000, Martinborough, New Zealand

Dessert wine
Forrest Estates Botrytised Riesling 2000, Marlborough, New Zealand

Champagne
Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 1990
Palliser Estate Methode Champenoise 1996, Martinborough, New Zealand

The Philipponnat was excellent, I don't really like champagne but this was really good. They were serving it pre-departure or I probably wouldn't have tried it, but I'm glad I did.

The other drinks on the menu:
aperitifs
Lustrau Fino Sherry
Vermouth sweet or dry
Campari

spirits
Glenmorangie Malt Whisky
Chivas Regal Whisky
Jack Daniel's Black Label
Wild Turkey Bourbon
Tanqueray Gin
Absolute Vodka
Hennessy X.O.
Ron Bacardi Superior
Appleton Estate Rum

ports and liqueurs
Taylors 20 year Tawny Port
Cointreau
Drambuie
Tia Maria
Grand Marnier
Baileys Irish Cream

beer
A selection of beer featuring Steinlager, Export Dry, Heineken and low alcohol lager

soft drinks
Orange juice, tomato juice, cola, lemonade, tonic water, ginger ale and a choice of diabetic drinks are available

I think the idea is that if you drink it, they have it on board.

- the IFE is better than business, with a selection of around 15 movies for the video walkmen, in addition to the 15 or so on the PTV, but I understand this still isn't quite as good as some other carriers

- better amenity kit

- seats recline further. They are not suites, and you do notice that they are old, but they are very comfortable and recline almost flat. Seat pitch is 80" which I think is the same as suites.

- inflight service, well as most people who've flown AirNZ will agree, you won't find friendlier or more courteous cabin crew on any airline, not SQ or BA or whatever. The service in first is better, than biz or Y but I think that's just because they have more time per passenger, the style is the same in every class.

Basically I'd say it's worth the 30,000 points, even if it's just to experience NZ F once... also, unlike many other carriers, only a fraction of NZ flights offer first class you you really are top dog, on the ground and in the air.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Zac

Thanks a lot Zaco for your detailed F explanations!

Just back from LHR/AKL in F, and the AKL/LAX in J and LAX/LHR in F. So the mid flight was a good litmus test of the product.

NZ J - I have been spoilt and must admit this is one of my favourite C flights, and after 5 or so years of flying have learnt how to sleep sideways on the C class seat so that I can actually get more sleep than in F. So I personally find the seat comfortable. Food is good with lots of selections, wine is fine, service is usually good. The main difference is C is a mass market product whereas F is personalised.

As a step up to F, this is what I found and it depends on your circumstances. I found the spend of 30,000 points per sector to be well worth it (and so did my wife!).

1. Food. Presentation is on a plate and it is individually placed, i.e. like at home or a restaurant. Nothing is too hard for them to do. For example, my wife is vegetarian and yes a VLML was provided along with a vegetariam standard option, and they were able to show pictures of both meals and combine the food in a way that was perfect. She had, much to my annoyance a very good vegetarian dim sum that was well presented with dipping sauces, chop sticks etc etc.

Personally, I cannot stand airplane breakfasts, everything is egg related http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif . But they were able to put together sausages, tomato, potato and bacon, even though there were no sausage and bacon dishes on the F or C menus.

2. Films. You get a personal video as well as the standard business class channels. So that you can pause, stop, start the films when you wish. I find for the Pacific night flights this is great, as you will fall asleep, and it is great to be able to continue from where you left off.

3. Wine. Wine has improved greatly since August 2002 when I last flew. Dom is now the champagne of choice with Mumm when you board. But if you were like us who boarded early we found that after the first bottle of Mumm on boarding Dom was opened! :-) Other than that we had Michael Shiraz (1998) which is 5 star Australian wine, along with Martinborough Pinot (another 5 star), and Cloudy Bay! Cannot complain there!

So prices were around $40-60 for wine upfront, and about $20 in business, so quite a step up.

Seat. You receive more space than you know what to do with. We like row 3 because the middle drinks area provides a shield from the rest of the pax so it is quite secluded. And there are 12 seats rather than 16. the crew do a good job also of moving people around if the flight is not full so that you maximise your space. The seat reclines to about 160 degrees and is reasonable to sleep on your side and easy for your back. It is not a bed though. NZ have one plane with beds, but it is pot luck to get it.

Service. Among the best I have flown. It is cheerful and attentive. Typically one person will stay out front and the other will work the galley. They have great knowledge and pride in the product. So you should not be let down here. Sometimes C class can be a little overwhelming for the crew there especially when the flight is full.

So in a wrap up, both are good products. I would say go for it! Proper first is becomming a rare thing across the Pacific so go for it!

For us it was points well spent. But that is just an opinion and our personal taste.

Mark

F menus, seating etc can be found here.

http://www.airnz.co.nz/travelinfo/ontheplane/firstclass/default.htm

Mark

Thanks for that.
What I dislike about the NZ J class seats is the legrests do not go anywhere close to horizontal so I do find it a little hard to sleep.
I also must say that the upper deck J class FAs are less friedlier and less helpful on the return LAX to AKL and that is on the 2000 hrs flight.
The better class of wines are the clincher for me!
I think I will go for the F class seats .

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ozflier:
What I dislike about the NZ J class seats is the legrests do not go anywhere close to horizontal so I do find it a little hard to sleep. [...] I think I will go for the F class seats .</font>

Warning: the legrests on the NZ F class seats also do not go anywhere close to horizontal. Some F pax (myself included) take to stuffing a carryon bag under the legrests to make things a little more comfortable.

Any of you has flew the ALK - HKG on J class. I have just enough point for upgrade return. Is that route normally fully booked because I am only a Jade... unlike some Gold Elite , they can do what ever they want. O yar, I am a sliver with Qantas, they are easier to reach hehe, one more year before all my points are in the dumpsters. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

After some recent flights in both cabins ,please see my own comparison in the United Board.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/018751.html
Ozflier



[This message has been edited by ozflier (edited 04-01-2003).]

I was in the SYD lounge yesterday and the business lounge had better food and drink that the first class so I went to the biz lounge and carried food back.

------------------
gfowler-ord-1k
Living in SIN

See my trip report and comparison of NZ F vs C here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/004245.html)

[This message has been edited by Kiwi Flyer (edited Jan 05, 2004).]