Air New Zealand Air Points - What time meals etc in NZ2 AKL-LAX-LHR?

I am going to be flying this in Business Premier next year with my wife and daughter - we were wondering what time do they serve the meals and when is "bedtime" on these eastbound flights? Just wondering how I am going to get my body clock back in order in time for work 48hrs after return!

Also, is there actually enough time in LAX to visit the ANZ lounge, or does the fingerprinting / photography / form-filling etc take so long that it is not worth it.

Welcome to FT redshift27 :)

NZ2 AKL-LAX leaves in the evening (currently 9:45pm). Vege crisps are handed out with a drink soon after take off. Dinner perhaps an hour into the flight. Many pax prefer to eat before the flight (there's some reasonable food in the AKL lounge but not really a full meal substitute) and sleep through. Breakfast is a couple of hours before arrival into LAX (ie around noon in LA).

NZ2 LAX-LHR leaves late afternoon. Again snack first, then dinner a couple of hours into the flight. Breakfast a couple of hours out from LHR (ie around 9am in UK).

Unless your flight arrives particularly early, or you have a US passport (since shorter queues), I wouldn't bother visiting the NZ lounge at LAX. While the airside holding cell is no fun, it is better than spending the entire 2 hour transit queueing at immigration and again at security, plus the belt and shoes hassle can be avoided at the airside holding cell but not if going to the lounge. The NZ lounge is very nice, but when you arrive after lots of other aircraft (I've had queues at immigration of more than 1500 other pax not counting our flight) you have no time to enjoy it - enter and have to go board straight away.

Thanks for the info. How do you go about the body clock thing? Try to stay awake to LAX and sleep to LHR? That would be tough in the first flight in the dark.

It seems easier westbound. Stay awake on the first leg whilst it is daylight outside, crash out on the second leg when it is dark.

ANZ's Flash presentation murmurs that "the lighting on the plane adjusts to ease your body clock through the change" or somesuch. Is this more sophisticated than merely going dim when it is dark outside? :)

Its personal preference and depends on what you need or want to do when arrive in UK. I like NZ2 better than NZ1 for adjusting.

AKL-LAX is long leg and end of usually a busy day for me, so I'll sleep several hours on that flight. LAX-LHR I tend to stay awake for, unless I didnt sleep much the first leg. So on arrival I am already a bit tired. Lots of long walks in London (or more usually another destination within europe) to get really tired. Good sleep first night and wake refreshed and on local time.

The window shades are down for all of both legs, apart from take off and landing. The lighting is a kind of dimmer switch as you suggest, better than the old harsh lighting which had to be on or off. In practice it means if you eat the dinner it is a little dim. The lights go right down or off in the middle of the flight.

My strategy is to stay awake and eat dinner on the AKL-LAX leg, then watch a movie until I drop off about six hours into the flight.

I sleep about four hours until breakfast arrives, and feel like a zombie for the next five hours (2 more hours flying, then 3 hours at LAX in the business class part of the holding pen).

I stay awake for the first four hours of the LAX-LHR flight, and eat dinner, then sleep another four hours until breakfast, which is served at around 830 am UK time.

This way, you suffer around the time of the LAX transit, but when you arrive in London you've had a total of 8 hours sleep in roughly the right time zone.

For good jet lag advice, go here (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/drsleep/public/en_us)

You can put in the times you're arriving etc and it will tell you when you need to sleep.

More info here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4886770.stm)

Thanks for the link, but not too helpful I fear. For example plugging in UK and NZ time zones I am advised

Day 1
Seek light between 12(noon):00 to 14:30 pm
Avoid light between 14:30 pm to 17:00 pm
Day 2
Seek light between 21:00 pm to 23:30 pm - yeah right
Avoid light between 23:30 pm to 2:00 am

Also for longer multi-day trips involving several different time zones each day - what do you plug in?