Air New Zealand Air Points - New 'best' seat in 747 Economy - change your reservations now!

Hi all,

The first 747 with expanded Premium Economy, NBS, rolled out on schedule and is now plying the network. All 747s should be refitted by the end of October (it's a quick job).

The expansion, on the left side of economy, means that seats 37ABC will become the first row of Economy on the left hand side of the aircraft. Due to the new curved bulkhead in front of them, they have very generous personal space.

If you're flying after October, it may be a good idea to ring up and see if you can request these seats (as they're forward economy, probably only Star Silver and above will be able to confirm them over the phone)

Although I haven't operated any sectors on NBS yet, I believe Premium Economy may have had the upstairs rows renumbered, so if you're booked in Y+, might pay to call and check you're still upstairs, as upper deck will still be the more desirable seats.

Thanks for the great tip - the new cabin layout sounds excellent, looking forward to seeing it :)

Cheers, Zac

I'm on to that and checking to see if my flight from AKL to LAX on Oct 2 is on that 747
Will try and snare one of those seats if it is.

Feedback I'm getting from the travel agent is that the new front economy row on left hand side is row 31. Would row 37 clearly be indicated as being by bulkhead and a 'good seat' for an Air NZ travel agent (Wellington)?

Cheers.

Front economy rows..
Original 747 (with F class) - Row 23
Refit 747 (with lieflat beds) - Row 31
NEW refit 747 (with expanded premium economy) - Row 37ABC, Row 31HJK

As I stated originally, one 747 (maybe 2 by now) has received the Mark 3 refit, so I doubt travel agent's CRS's will be updated until the majority of the fleet has been refitted (again, this should be sometime in October).

Front economy rows..
Original 747 (with F class) - Row 23
Refit 747 (with lieflat beds) - Row 31
NEW refit 747 (with expanded premium economy) - Row 37ABC, Row 31HJK

As I stated originally, one 747 (maybe 2 by now) has received the Mark 3 refit, so I doubt travel agent's CRS's will be updated until the majority of the fleet has been refitted (again, this should be sometime in October).

Thanks for that. Will try and follow up.
Would you by any chance know if NZ 2 AKL - LAX on Oct 2nd is the NEW refitted 747?

All the 744s have been refitted

All the 744s have been refitted

I think treadsoftly is asking whether it has the extra premium economy seats installed. Oct 2 is too far away to tell if it is likely or not.

My apologies. I did not read it properly.

I'm a little confused.

Does this mean that the Y+ cabin on the lower deck is confined to the left side of the aircraft?

How does that work in terms of keeping Y+ as its own separate cabin? I must be missing something obvious here!

Well, I imagine that its that part of the cabin - five rows or so where the middle section is taken up with the FSD's 'office', a bit of a galley and the stairs to the upper deck. Should be fairly easy to put the curtain across there, and a new light bulkhead I imagine. I'm sure the lovely nz_crew will give us the steer for sure.

Virgin have a section of their PE in the same position, always fun to hear the pax complaining bitterly and angrily when they are assigned to that section rather than the upper-deck.

Well, I imagine that its that part of the cabin - five rows or so where the middle section is taken up with the FSD's 'office', a bit of a galley and the stairs to the upper deck. Should be fairly easy to put the curtain across there, and a new light bulkhead I imagine. I'm sure the lovely nz_crew will give us the steer for sure.


Stewardo has it pretty much correct. Here's a couple of pics to clarify (note the new bassinet position in the front-most row)

The expanded Premium Economy section, downstairs (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a37/747krew/NBS_premiumY.jpg)

And here's the new curved bulkhead at the end of the cabin, wich will be in front of 37ABC: (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a37/747krew/premiumYbulkhead.jpg)

I've currently got seat 23A assigned from HKG-LHR next month. From what I understand 23A has no window. Do you think it's still a good seat? Should I change?

Thanks.

Thanks for snapping off those photos !!!!

Two questions:

What is the little fold out bit at the bottom of the bulkhead ?

What is all that stuff up against the windows next to seat A ? basinnet ?

Hi Andee,

1) A footwell for the passenger in 23A so their legs aren't restricted by the bulkhead during the flight.

2) Yes!

Thanks nz_crew

Do you or anyone else know if the seat numbers in PE have changed upstairs, I have seats "requested" for early next year and wondering if I should call up again ?

Also I am assuming it would be better to check-in really early, to guarantee those seats ? I haven't requested the first row of PE, but rather the 2nd or 3rd row, so they are not as popular as the first row.

Thoughts

Have taken a punt and changed my seat on NZ 2 on Oct 2 to 37C. Here's hoping. What do you think nz_crew? Have I got a chance?

Ah, comprehension dawns. I was thinking along the lines of CX's 744 layout, where Economy starts after the staircase and just... sprawls, and forgot that this doesn't transplant over to other airlines. This should teach me to consult a seat map of the relevant airline in the future first!

Have taken a punt and changed my seat on NZ 2 on Oct 2 to 37C. Here's hoping. What do you think nz_crew? Have a got a chance?

Look on the bright side - even if it's not the new config your 37C won't be any worse than any other seat on the plane!

Look on the bright side - even if it's not the new config your 37C won't be any worse than any other seat on the plane!

Absolutely - had nothing to lose on that one, as I wasn't giving up an exit row or anything. Will check the situation when I arrive at the airport in Auckland.

With the new information generously provided by nz_crew ^ , we have added the new seatmap at:

http://www.seatexpert.com/_NZ_Boeing_747_400_suites_extra_PE.html

We have the following open questions:
1. Are the new PE seats numbered 31-34AB?
2. It appears that 37AB is offset toward the aisle, perhaps to allow space for the bassinet, is this true?
3. Are the next three rows of PE behind the first row closer to the fuselage than the first row? Or do they have the same offset at the first row?

Please feel free to point out other errors and inconsistencies, we appreciate your help in providing better quality information for our users.

nz_crew

I see 31A is a window seat!. Its not one of those window seats that is windowless is it ie; blank wall.

Cheers

3. Are the next three rows of PE behind the first row closer to the fuselage than the first row? Or do they have the same offset at the first row?Maybe all four rows are offset from the fuselage because of under-window lockers? Just like upstairs? ???

So did they choose to have wider seats downstairs in the new PE section or are they the same width ?

Sitting next to the gallery was well is not a good idea in my opinion

Jet2K: On your website you show 4 toilets upstairs on the 744R, I belive it's only 2

Do you or anyone else know if the seat numbers in PE have changed upstairs, I have seats "requested" for early next year and wondering if I should call up again ?


Row 22 upstairs is now the front row in the Premium Economy cabin of the new reconfigured 747 so row 23 is now the second row.

Row 22 upstairs is now the front row in the Premium Economy cabin of the new reconfigured 747 so row 23 is now the second row.
Well the September Koru Review has row 23 with the most legroom for PPE and says they are upstairs just behind the BP seats.

Well the September Koru Review has row 23 with the most legroom for PPE and says they are upstairs just behind the BP seats.

I have changed my seat assignment from 23A to 22A (after checking the seat map on expertflyer) for my upcoming HKG-LHR flight.

Hmm - I'm confused. I've got 23AB on the way to NZ from HKG in Dec 06, and 24JK on the way back.

I don't mind 24JK because the two of us will be together (and 40" seat pitch will be sweet), but the right side was full on the way over so we opted for the ER seats - but I guess they aren't exit row seats anymore?

I'm keen on upstairs, but perhaps we should aim for seats downstairs on the way over? Would we be better off asking for seats 32AB on the HKG-AKL journey? Any thoughts?

Called up Air NZ today, and they rep said the same seat maps are still showing for Upstairs, so I queried downstairs.

She said "Premium economy downstairs, there isn't any!"

:mad: :mad:

Oh dear I think the res staff need an update on the revised seating in PE. I spoke to a lovely lady in AKL yesterday. She was saying there has been a rush for people to snag the 23 row after it was described in Koru Review as being the best seats in PE.

She reallocated me the 22 row which is the exit row and now the best seats in PE. There will be a lot of disspointed people when they board and realise that its 22 that is the best row not 23. :td:

Oh dear I think the res staff need an update on the revised seating in PE. I spoke to a lovely lady in AKL yesterday. She was saying there has been a rush for people to snag the 23 row after it was described in Koru Review as being the best seats in PE.

She reallocated me the 22 row which is the exit row and now the best seats in PE. There will be a lot of disspointed people when they board and realise that its 22 that is the best row not 23. :td:

Very disapointing that the Koru Review has incorrect information. I have never seen it nor read it cause I dont' get it.

The information for the Koru Review was probably complied in July/August for publication/distrubution in September, but the media release about more premium economy seating was released on the 14th June 2006 !

Just rang ANZ to change my seating from 23A to 23K and I mentioned to the agent about the wrong information in Koru Review. He said Res staff had been made aware of the incorrect info in KR but still..........I suppose these things happen :td:

Well, on the other hand, it's not neccessarily a bad thing -- it means those that are correctly informed can still get the best seats without having to fight the general populous :D.

Rang again today, and got moved from 24 and 25 JK to 22 JK for both flights :) :) :) :) :)

The person I spoke to today was abrubt but knew her info!

Absolutely - had nothing to lose on that one, as I wasn't giving up an exit row or anything. Will check the situation when I arrive at the airport in Auckland.

Missed out on this - I was one of those fogbound in Wellington on Monday, meaning I missed my flight to LA, and onward to Vegas. Sat in an old-new 744 and now in the US Airways lounge in LAX waiting for my flight to LAS Vegas on American West (a first time flyer on that carrier).

Out of interest, flight was about 70% in economy (NZ 6) - and nice seat agent blocked a whole row for me when I turned up at Wellington.