Interesting to see various menus being posted but given the lack of printed wine lists its always harder to get a sense of what the wine options are, especially on long haul.
Originally Posted by
cavemanzk
Good to see the post 9am departures to Australia in Y are now lunch and not breakfast.
Well that was the case today in NZ141 AKL-BNE which is an 9:30am departure.
Is NZ103 AKL-SYD at 0900 still a breakfast flight? From memory, I'm fairly sure it always has been...
Originally Posted by
robbau
I've never been upfront on another carrier, however I read and watch plenty of reviews.
It appears (to me) that AIRNZ's business catering is far below the standard of other high-end airlines, such as SQ, Cathay, Emirates and maybe even Qantas.
Plating, presentation, go-to offerings (such as SQ satay sticks), "book the cook" offerings and even champagne options seem to be below the premium fares that are required for travel on AIRNZ.
Happy to be corrected on this, if my view is unwarranted.
Thanks
I think your first mistake is to think of AirNZ as a "high end airline". There was a time when it was, but it's decidedly middle of the road these days (but elevated by generally lovely cabin crew and a fairly attentive elite program). Once you stop thinking of NZ as high end, the catering then becomes pretty much what you'd expect - generally higher quality and more interesting flavours than the American carriers (but smaller portions); wines always respectable (though far below the quality they once were); and very little variation from season to season or indeed year to year.
QF is an interesting point of comparison, though... their food has taken a real dive (certainly in terms of quantity) over the last few years too. My sense is that NZ moved more or less in lockstep with them. If QF suddenly lifts its game again perhaps NZ will too.
Originally Posted by
samjnz
But miles ahead of what United are serving these days in Polaris!
There was a time their meal service was more upmarket than NZ (2016-2018ish period) but those days are long gone now.
I can confirm this is definitely the case. UA's food is back to being awful. The only good United food to be found is in the Polaris lounges (which is where I shall be eating prior to NZ3 in a couple of months' time!).
Originally Posted by
edmm
The 2016 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir was the highlight.
Oooh good to hear that they had Burn Cottage on board. Can anyone else share info about what wine is being served at the moment (besides the Laurent Perrier champagne,
as confirmed here by
Thai-Kiwi )? On long-haul do they still pretend to have that special fines wines program where they listed a few extra special bottles, one of which was supposed to be on board (can't remember what it was called - I just know that whenever I flew and enquired about it, the answer was always "the caterer forgot to load it")?