Air New Zealand Air Points - Business Seats

I am flying UA JFK-LHR and ANZ LHR-LAX in a couple of weeks and am only in London for about 30 hours. Any ideas on best business seats-I will probably want to sleep most of the flight. I've currently got 7A
How does ANZ compare with others? Obviously way ahead of UA but say with BA, Virgin or SAA?
Thanks

Check out http://www.flatseats.com which has a good amount of detail

Jeff

How does ANZ compare with others? Obviously way ahead of UA but say with BA, Virgin or SAA?NZ's new BusinessPremium seat is essentially the same as VS's Upper Class.

I find it a better product than BA's Club World, and certainly better than UA's C seat (don't know about SA—never flown them). The sleeping surface could be a bit softer, if you ask me. But as far as C products go, it's an excellent one.

The NZ C service has been top notch IME, as well.

I think 7A/K are the best seats - they are at the rear of the forward cabin and quite secluded with a wall that curves behind you, and the galley wall next to you. Only problem will be galley noise during the meal services, but presumably you'd be awake for those anyway. Hope the flights go well.

Cheers, Zac

I think 7A/K are the best seats - they are at the rear of the forward cabin and quite secluded with a wall that curves behind you, and the galley wall next to you. Only problem will be galley noise during the meal services, but presumably you'd be awake for those anyway. Hope the flights go well.

Cheers, Zac

Great- I am in 7K. Do you know if the seats have individual power? What is the food/entertainment like? Thanks

NZ's new BusinessPremium seat is essentially the same as VS's Upper Class.

I find it a better product than BA's Club World, and certainly better than UA's C seat (don't know about SA—never flown them). The sleeping surface could be a bit softer, if you ask me. But as far as C products go, it's an excellent one.

The NZ C service has been top notch IME, as well.

I beg to differ. BA's Club World seats, though narrow, are actually pretty spacious. Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand's new Business Premier seats feel very cramped and do not have nearly as much leg room since the ottoman prevents you from being able to fully stretch your legs on the floor.

Great- I am in 7K. Do you know if the seats have individual power? What is the food/entertainment like? Thanks

Yes, the seats have individual power and no converter or different plug necessary. It's a bit difficult to find because it is buried down on your right side (for the K side). There is a little pocket for the magazines, the wall on either side of that pocket is the plug in for the headphones and the power outlet.

Entertainment is great. They will have a pamphlet with all of the movies/shows/games/music. It's all on demand and they don't fire it up until about 15-20 minutes in to the flight after the play advertisements. I thought this was annoying because you can't even watch the flight map when you take off, no big deal though. The system worked fine for me, it's just slow to go through the menus. Just take your time (as they will remind you). I noticed that some of the movies I selected it said where unavailable, but if I just tried the same movie again it worked.

The front section of that plane is nice because there are seats in the middle of the plane so you aren't facing anyone. Row 1 isn't very good because you are practically playing footsies with the person on the other side (so maybe this would be good for two people travelling together).

Food is good. The protions are a bit small, but they give you so many portions that I never felt hungry.

Have a great time...I'm jealous of anyone flying on ANZ.

Scott

I beg to differ. BA's Club World seats, though narrow, are actually pretty spacious. Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand's new Business Premier seats feel very cramped and do not have nearly as much leg room since the ottoman prevents you from being able to fully stretch your legs on the floor.

I am 6' 1" and found the Business Premier seats totally comfortable to watch TV in a slight recline position with my feet on the ottoman.

In terms of sleeping, I know others have said that the Business Premier seats on the 777 and 74R are the same, but I found I had more room to stretch out to sleep when I was on the 74R when sitting in 7K (that is a great seat in my opinion) than on the 777. In that window seat of the 74R , when stretched out flat with my pillow up against the side near the window, my feet could not touch the end of the ottoman. In contrast, when I was in 2B on the 777 which is in the middle of the plane, I found that I could not stretch out as far lengthwise and when lying down completely flat my feet did touch the end of the ottoman. Perhaps there is slightly more room on the window seats in Business Premier in comparison to the seats in the middle of the plane on both the 777 and 74R. I wonder if anyone else has the same observation?

The IFE is 100 times better than the old offering, although I do have a few minor criticisms. The navigation verges on the clunky (a touch screen would be fantastic), and the games are pretty basic in the era of the XBOX 360. Oh, I did work out how to change the screen brightness (essential on a recent flight; far too dark.) Fiddle with the coloured game buttons in various combinations & eventually the option will pop up :) I don't think this is documented anywhere, but I'm willing to be proven wrong.

I just wish they'd relocate the darn table release button, or at least give it some sort of positive action instead of it being touch sensitive. I cannot believe I'm the only one who keeps hitting it by accident :p

My most important criterion for judging the product is quality of sleep. On my last AKL-LAX, I turned in at the end of the dinner service & was awakened at the start of breakfast. 'nuff said :) I'm 6'3" and think the ottomans could be placed just a little further away from the seats, but I guess aisle space is finite.

justakiwi

Here's a nice preview of NZ's new product.

http://www.airnz.co.jp/travelinfo/ontheplane/new_long_haul_cabins/cabins/explore-highres.htm

I just wish they'd relocate the darn table release button, or at least give it some sort of positive action instead of it being touch sensitive. I cannot believe I'm the only one who keeps hitting it by accident :pYou aren't...

...for some reason my elbow kept finding its way to that button regularly ;)

I beg to differ. BA's Club World seats, though narrow, are actually pretty spacious...I have no particular issue with the seats themselves... rather, I find the cabin on the crowded side; so my opinion is about the overall product (I didn't specify that).

...In terms of sleeping, I know others have said that the Business Premier seats on the 777 and 74R are the same, but I found I had more room to stretch out to sleep when I was on the 74R when sitting in 7K (that is a great seat in my opinion) than on the 777...That would make sense, given that the 747 has a wider cross-section than the 777 (yet the number of C seats per row is the same: 4 across).

I just wish they'd relocate the darn table release button, or at least give it some sort of positive action instead of it being touch sensitive. I cannot believe I'm the only one who keeps hitting it by accident :p


Me too, although I managed to lean against it before take-off whilst the crew were checking seatbelts etc. So I got a bit of a stern look as I think they thought I was just mucking about :o

Yes, the seats have individual power and no converter or different plug necessary. It's a bit difficult to find because it is buried down on your right side (for the K side). There is a little pocket for the magazines, the wall on either side of that pocket is the plug in for the headphones and the power outlet.

A heads up for those with powerbooks (and possibly other notebook computers)

I found that when I plugged my PB in it would not charge and ran on batteries (using my standard NZ/Australia plug). However, if I used my NZ to US plug adapter then it charged the PB as expected. I wonder if it's related to the 100v that the outlet provides

I did fine of course (as I had an adapter plug) but they do advertise that no adapter plugs are required which of course is not true all of the time

Jeff

A heads up for those with powerbooks (and possibly other notebook computers)

I found that when I plugged my PB in it would not charge and ran on batteries (using my standard NZ/Australia plug). However, if I used my NZ to US plug adapter then it charged the PB as expected. I wonder if it's related to the 100v that the outlet providesBy scaling back your processor or running the laptop without a battery in it (so it doesn't try to charge) might make it work through the 240V transformer.