Air New Zealand Air Points - meals in economy class trans tasman

Can anyone kindly tell me what "A light, café-style meal" on NZ SYDWLG Y in the evening would likely consist of please...

Are there any advantages to NZ's 320s vs. QF connect 733?

Does the full AVOD operate on 777 + 744 services SYDAKL?

Thanks

Probably pie which is quite a good thing as NZ pies are actually quite tasty.

The meal is very small but fairly tasty. It's usually something like a choice between, say, honey soy chicken or a lamb pie (both hot), served on (cold) pasta salad. Dessert is a tub of ice cream (on the NZ to Aus flights, it's Kapiti brand which is absolutely delicious and the definite high point of the meal; in the other direction it's a less exciting but still acceptable Aussie brand. Portion sizes are very mean, so be warned. Full bar service is still available, thankfully. If you have lounge access, fill up in the lounge preflight - I find the combination of a meal in the lounge (SYD has a great spread in the evenings) plus a mini-meal on the plane works quite nicely.

Advantages of NZ's A320s over QF's 73xs is that the A320s are much, much more comfortable - both in terms of the seats themselves and the overall feeling of spaciousness. Plus they're pretty new, unlike QF's awful old 733s and 734s. NZ wins hands down on that front. Plus their lounges have much better food and drink than QF's bland offerings.

Re AVOD, yes it does I believe (haven't tried it) but apparently they don't turn it on until 30 mins into the flight and turn it off unnecessarily soon before landing so on short trans-Tasmans that would limit your options somewhat.

Last night's dinner on the ANZ SYD-WLG flight was either a Chicken pie (with a sauce sachet) :) or crumbed fish (no sauce!!!!) :mad: both served on a very bad rice "salad" :( . I agree that if you have Koru Club access fill up there, but at least leave room for the ice cream. The vegetarian option is nearly always a vegetarian spring roll on a couscous and pumpkin salad....very good.
A320 is better than the Qantas 737 offerings as the A320 have slightly wider but noticable seats, but if you are tall do not take a window seat, row 11 or 12 are exit rows so try them for that little bit of extra leg room.
Oh I actually prefer the Qantas Club food, especially in winter time for their yummy soups.

Re AVOD, yes it does I believe (haven't tried it) but apparently they don't turn it on until 30 mins into the flight and turn it off unnecessarily soon before landing so on short trans-Tasmans that would limit your options somewhat.

Its on, and it was on v quick after take off, the mag advised and it was also annouced which movies were suitable for TransTasman flight times... I watched the whole of Goodnight Goodluck...

Me partner had a hot sandwich both ways (NZ119/NZ102) in which chicken popped up both times (corned beef on the 118, ham & cheese on the 102 being the other choices).

He got Kapiti on the way back too, leading him to ponder whether NZ had stocked up in AKL, flown them all the way to SYD to serve them on the flight back, but I told him that was a pretty stupid idea given the extra fuel cost due to the added weight. But then I guess it depends on how many 100mL tubs they loaded...

Last night's dinner on the ANZ SYD-WLG flight was either a Chicken pie (with a sauce sachet) :) or crumbed fish (no sauce!!!!) :mad: both served on a very bad rice "salad" :( . I agree that if you have Koru Club access fill up there, but at least leave room for the ice cream. The vegetarian option is nearly always a vegetarian spring roll on a couscous and pumpkin salad....very good.

I was on this flight too but rather liked the rice salad accompanying my chicken pie!

Jeff

A320 is better than the Qantas 737 offerings as the A320 have slightly wider but noticable seats, but if you are tall do not take a window seat, row 11 or 12 are exit rows so try them for that little bit of extra leg room.

I don't think there is any extra room in the A320 exit rows - whenever I have sat there I certainly haven't noticed it. Personally I always go for row 5 - row 4 is the economy bulkhead, which doesn't have enough footroom for my tastes, so row 5 is the most forward row with proper legroom. Only downside is that you can be uncomfortably close to the kids that often end up in row 4, since that's the bassinet position on the A320.

Oh I actually prefer the Qantas Club food, especially in winter time for their yummy soups.

I've never experienced the soups. In fact I've never experienced any hot food at all in the international QC's. Every time I've been (which is admittedly not all that frequently, but probably twice a year for the last few years) the food has been feeble in the extreme, and the wine disappointing. The domestic QCs are better, but still poor compared to NZ's domestic food options (which of course have to compensate for no food on the plane).

I've never experienced the soups. In fact I've never experienced any hot food at all in the international QC's. Every time I've been (which is admittedly not all that frequently, but probably twice a year for the last few years) the food has been feeble in the extreme, and the wine disappointing. The domestic QCs are better, but still poor compared to NZ's domestic food options (which of course have to compensate for no food on the plane).[/QUOTE]

I tend to fly Qantas a bit more. I should have been more specific, the hot food is minimal, non-existent in Wellington, but in winter time, in Sydney, they do bring out the soups....but only in time for the evening flights.
I agree with you that Koru Club domestic is far superior than the Qantas Club and my fiance loves the chicken that Koru Club serve up in Sydney.

I don't think there is any extra room in the A320 exit rows - whenever I have sat there I certainly haven't noticed it. Personally I always go for row 5 - row 4 is the economy bulkhead, which doesn't have enough footroom for my tastes, so row 5 is the most forward row with proper legroom. Only downside is that you can be uncomfortably close to the kids that often end up in row 4, since that's the bassinet position on the A320.



I've never experienced the soups. In fact I've never experienced any hot food at all in the international QC's. Every time I've been (which is admittedly not all that frequently, but probably twice a year for the last few years) the food has been feeble in the extreme, and the wine disappointing. The domestic QCs are better, but still poor compared to NZ's domestic food options (which of course have to compensate for no food on the plane).

There is marginally more room with the Airbus exit rows - it is noticable using a notebook. I had the chance to compare them with row 5 a week or so ago.

There is marginally more room with the Airbus exit rows - it is noticable using a notebook. I had the chance to compare them with row 5 a week or so ago.

Really? You learn something every day :)

I don't generally travel with a laptop so I guess my patented "bruised shin" seat pitch index just wasn't precise enough to detect the difference... ;) On those short flights and with such a marginal difference in legroom I'd rather be closer to the front so I can beat the immigration queues, but each to their own.

I found the legroom on the A320 absolutely shocking :eek: I'm 6'7'' and I luckily had an exit row seat. I found the space rather limited and thought to myself "that can't be an exit row". I moved back one row to row 13 and I could not believe how tight the seat pitch was!!! That must have been 30'' at the very most because I could juuust squeeze in behind the seat in front. Honestly, I can't understand that noone has complained about the poor legroom on this aircraft yet. QF Y has more space and I would say that even LH Y is more comfortable. I will avoid all A320s in the future and if I can't get on an older plane I will fly QF. It's that simple, NZ.:td:

On another note, we did not receive any ice cream for desert on the SYD-AKL 4pm flight this week. Do they no longer offer desert on those flights?

According to the seating sticky (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25056) it is 32" on A320, although I can understand it may feel like less due to the seat design.

That said, still better than 733 (A320 seats wider and more pitch) and much better than QF's 733 (which are only 30"). For a shorthaul a/c I prefer A320 over the others found in Australia and NZ.

Honestly, I don't believe that the A320 had any more legroom than the usual QF domestic plane. In fact, I felt even more cramped into the seat on the NZ flight and would never fly them again if I couldn't get an exit row in advance. There is no way they have 32'' legroom on the A320. My legs don't lie (they are actually the same length no matter on which plane I sit, I believe :D ) and I was hardly able to squeeze into the seat (I would say it was the same as the QF plane). So, one of the two airlines is lying about their legroom, and I don't think that QF would say they've got only 30'' if in fact they had 32''...leaves only one possibility...NZ actually has less legroom than they claim... :td:

Maybe the seat pitch is not identical in every seat? I could say the same in reverse based on my own experiences. More room for my knees on NZ A320 in economy than QF 737 in economy.

Here's the deal for the 8J/144Y config A320s:

Row 4:........(bulkhead)
Row 5:........32"
Row 6-8:......31"
Row 9:........30.5"
Row 11:.......33"
Row 12:.......33.5"
Row 13-25:....32"
Row 26-27:....31"

Hope this helps!

Thanks. I have asked a senior mod to add to the relevant post in the seating sticky.

Now my most recent Y experience on NZ A320 was in row 6, which as I said above felt roomier than QF 737.

I have a very vague memory from when the A320 was first introduced that there were 1 or 2 rows with less than the standard 32" pitch... I think they may be the ones just behind the exit rows... though I could be dreaming.

Of course, the other possibility is that this was one of the A320s that had been configured for Freedom Air... don't they have only 30" pitch in Y? Or have they been standardised once again to the same pitch as mainline? I live in fear of getting on one of those.

Edited to add: Oops - blush - I see the question has actually been answered already... However I am now confused; are there still A320s in the original 138Y/8J config or have they all changed to 146Y/8J?

Below is a photo of the Café-style I meal I had on Sunday's NZ135 AKL-BNE aboard the 747-400. Was given the following:

Cajun Chicken Sandwich
Mineral Water
Kiwi Fruit ice cream (lovely)
Tea/Coffee

Meal - NZ135 AKL-BNE (http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f56/qantasflyer/DSC03386Large.jpg)

Had a team of AKL-based School rowers seated behind, who made it clear they were unimpressed with the meal portions :o :p

Cheers