Air New Zealand Air Points - Best seats on the 747 when travelling with a partner in BP

Hi folks. Got a LHR-LAX return in September on the 747, and was wondering, what are the best Business Premier seats to go for if there are two of you?

Haven't flown in this cabin before, but I was guessing perhaps two seats with the aisle in-between on the upper deck? Or perhaps 1A/K? Any advice from seasoned travellers appreciated :)

I would go for 1AK

Hi folks. Got a LHR-LAX return in September on the 747, and was wondering, what are the best Business Premier seats to go for if there are two of you?

Haven't flown in this cabin before, but I was guessing perhaps two seats with the aisle in-between on the upper deck? Or perhaps 1A/K? Any advice from seasoned travellers appreciated :)

I have 1A/K reserved for my LAX/AKL flight this fall.

Don't just take any AK seat that is offered.

I was travelling with my 5 year old daughter and was offered seats 6 AK or 7AK - problem is there is an island in the middle and we would never have seen each other. So look at seat maps when talking to reservations.

Also avoid 20AK upstairs. Due to the way they put the snack / drinks cupboards you won't see the other person.

Apart from the first few rows in the 747, if you want to talk to a person get one seat behind the other. You have to lean over to see them, but it is easier to talk. If you want to see someone and use hand gestures etc. Go for something like 19A, 20K - but speaking requires someone to move.

Having travelled on NZ 5, I would say either 1A/K, or 3A, 4A, 5A, or 3K, 4K, 5K. Row 1 and 2 do not have overhead bin. Personally I prefer 3A and 4A, or 4A and 5A, than the 1A/K.

I would agree entirely with Happy about preferred seats in BP on 744. I find the lack of bins over 1 & 2 are a real nuisance!

What about 17AK on the upper deck for 2 pax?

What about 17AK on the upper deck for 2 pax?

No advantage and right by the flight deck door, you will get some noise from the comings and goings.

The upper deck aisle is also wider than on the lower deck.

I just got off NZ5 LAX-AKL and was traveling with someone. I was originally booked in row one, and was kinda sad to see my seat assignment changed to 6K and 7K. After having flown it, I can honestly say that I preferred 6K and 7K over row one! It seems easier to talk to someone kind of next to you instead of across, and the lack of overhead bins is a REAL nuisance. BTW, Air New Zealand ROCKS! I have a trip report on the way...

Looking forward to your report lucky9876coins.

Looking forward to your report lucky9876coins.


As am I!!

We're hoping to get a standby upg to BP AKL-HKG and LHR-HKG, and I'm also wondering what seats to go for, given that my options will no doubt be very limited (if we get it at all..:) ). It seems that the front cabin is likely to be gone, so given a choice of these four seating options (747), and keeping in mind that communication with my wife would be nice, what would you go for...??

13A+14A (two windows behind each other downstairs)
12F+12K (across the aisle downstairs)
17K+18K (two windows upstairs)
18A+18K (across the aisle upstairs)

Cheers
TiggerK

Is your wife already in business or you are hoping to standby upgrade 2 pax? If the latter then good luck getting 2 seats (let alone together) - you will need it.

If the former I would choose a downstairs seat in the second zone for her. With the bigger cabin it will be easier for the crew/fellow pax to accommodate 2 seats behind each other onboard if necessary.

Yes, hoping for both of us upgraded I'm afraid... At this stage, availability is good, with 19 BP seats showing available AKL-HKG, but still two weeks to go, and not knowing what other upg's have been applied for... ah well, worth a shot anyway. Gotta use the AP's somewhere....

Thanks for the advice, I suspect we'll just go wherever we can, and hope the crew and pax can help us get close if possible....

Cheers
TiggerK

Where are you getting 19 available from? Most availability tools are constrained to a maximum of 4, 7 or 9 seats in a booking class (and booking class availability cannot be simply added up). If it is the seatmap then that is a very poor indicator of load, especially in business class. Many pax do not pre-select seats.

From my experience, most crew will only ask non-elites/VIPs/full fare(?) to move to help others sit together. Good for the elites, but not good for those who are kept apart. As long as the seat is comparable (which they are in business premier) I don't mind volunteering to switch and often do (most recently yesterday). I think your chances of swapping seats to sit together is highest in the 2nd downstairs business cabin.

OK thanks for that, yes good point about 'cannot simply add classes together', might not be looking as rosy then, thanks for keeping me realistic!!

BTW, Mrs TiggerK has full access to the NZ booking system through her job.

Cheers
TiggerK

To echo and expand on some comments here (based on a trip
this past month LAX-AKL-LAX, my first on ANZ):

Rows 1 and 2 lack overhead bins, which is a pain. If you're
a couple then 2A/3A (or 2K/3K) work well as you can share 3's bin.

My most important comments apply if you're tall!
(I am 6'5" and my wife is 6'0").
Do NOT take 1A/1K if you're tall. First, the cabin height in this area
is LOW, so you will inevitably hit your head at some point standing up.
Also, in spite of all the protestations that all BP seats are the same,
they're not. 1A/1K are shorter than 2-3A/K. The difference seems to be
mostly in the 'vent' area at the head of the bed. Short people probably
won't even notice, but the 2-4" difference was the difference between
sleeping soundly on the way down to AKL for me (I was in 3A, wife in 2A)
and never managing to get comfortable on the way home (1A, wife in 1K).
The vent is raised, so you kind of have to use it as a pillow to take advantage
of it, but that few inches completely made the difference for me. (The
ottoman's for 1A/K are also a little different, but I doubt this contributes
much to their shortness of bed.)

To those who may discount this:
In 3A I could stretch out flat entirely and be pushing my head
into the wall and feet into the ottoman at moderate pressure.
(I'm not saying this was comfortable, but it meant enough room
to sleep on my side with my knees a little bent.)
In 1A I would have needed 2-4 inches to unbend my knees and
lie flat. I ended up piling my jacket on top of the ottoman divider
and hanging my feet up over that edge. Yes, it's high, yes it
was not very comfortable, but it was the best I could figure out.

An additional little ding to 1A/1K is that I didn't think the air circulation was
as good up there as just a few seats back.

My wife and I found no problem talking over the divider when we
were in 2A (her) and 3A (me), I just had to scoot forward on my seat
a little.

Anyway, that's my two bits. Overall it's a very impressive product.

-BP

p.s. I never went upstairs, but a quick glance at the rear BP cabin
suggests the center row seats all lack a vent and thus might be
even shorter than 1A/1K and that the window seats have some vent
that might make them better than 1A/1K, but not quite as good as
2-7.

I haven't noticed any difference in length of seat - certainly not between middle seats and outside seats. I've sat in quite a few different seats (but not yet 1AK on 747). There is a small difference in width. The upper deck seats seem to be angled a bit differently and slightly narrower. I guess that is to squeeze them into the space.

I haven't noticed any difference in length of seat - certainly not between middle seats and outside seats. I've sat in quite a few different seats (but not yet 1AK on 747). There is a small difference in width. The upper deck seats seem to be angled a bit differently and slightly narrower. I guess that is to squeeze them into the space.

I haven't sat in the middle versus window of the rear cabin, so that was based on a quick glance back through the cabin as we deboarded.

1A vs. 3A: No question about the difference in length! No clue whether there was also a slight difference in width.

The main point I'd try to convey is: If you're tall, avoid 1A/1K and go for 2-5 or so. If you're average to short, I can definitely see the advantage to 1A/K for a couple (except the lack of overhead bin space).

cheers,
-BP