zoovet

I was lucky (so thanks AirNZ) to be able to use RUs to upgrade to premium economy on both legs of an Auckland to Vancouver return flight recently. Excellent service both ways by the F.A.s but I was horrified to have only instant coffee available both at dinner and breakfast.

I know that the penny-pinchers rule in this airline now, but the extra cost per customer or serving genuine coffee would amount to only a few cents. NZers take pride in their cafes serving excellent food and coffees but Air NZ just doesn't seem to care on what it offers for a "premium" product. I would have been even more annoyed if I had paid the full premium price for the seats, as the instant mixture was virtually undrinkable.

Air NZ proudly presented the otherwise excellent meal as being designed by NZ chef Peter Gordon. Does he serve instant coffee as the only option in his restaurants?

Markhm

Don't worry it is in Bus too! Apparently the grounds block drains. I think this changed in August last year.

brenrox

Maybe they are playing the Made in NZ card to save a few bucks cents http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fo...ted-down-south

ANZ787900

Nobody said coffee dregs had to go down the drain! Sounds like a big excuse to cut costs.. With the air being so dry up there, they could squeeze it out and put it in the bin and it'd be dry in no time (don't think I ever recalled them having an espresso machine onboard).

Markhm

I generally carry plunger and coffee in my bag when I travel and on most ocassions, the FAs will make me coffee with my own equipment. I should deduct off the Bus Prem price!

zoovet

So AirNZ could make brewed coffee for all of its passengers for 20+ years but now it blocks the drains.

Some of the changes made by AirNZ over the past 18 months have the same relationship with common sense as their instant coffee has with coffee beans. There's a saying that if you do the small things well, the big things look after themselves. Obviously the airline's bean counters don't agree.

serfty

It's been a downward spiral since the pinnicle reached with that at the introduction of the 77W services.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-n...ntroduced.html

I don't think they really care - I am am thinking they consider they basically have a 'captive market'.

treadsoftly

Really? That's quite astonishing. Instant in Business too...

jeffrocowboy

take a look at this "gushing" review

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/new...ectid=10863389

deconz

and a particularly foul version of instant coffee too

Quokka

And note at the bottom of that gushing review that the writer of it "travelled as a guest of Air New Zealand"

Trumpkin

It also reads like it was their first ever experience of travelling on a flight in a premium cabin.

Can you imagine how serious someone would take a review of a fine wine costing $500 a bottle when they had only ever had $10 bottles on special?

pbl22

Are you suggesting that the Herald get FTers to review flights? That would be interesting.

Trumpkin

It might provide a more accurate review. But then that might not be what they are after. Would Air NZ be giving away free premium flights to people who can compare service between multiple airlines and not just write a glowing review?

Or am I too cynical?

everywhere

With factual inaccuracies contained in the article it is amazing any newspaper with Herald in its name anywhere in the world would print such an appalling piece of crap.

For example:Try for example doing this flight in CXs new business class or fly SQ Suites or EK First on some aircraft and try to take this statement as anything but a poorly researched and incompetent lie.The screen is tiny compared to what SQ is offering. NZ have the same movie selection in all classes.Well I guess we can give them the benefit of the doubt on that point as it does vary from flight to flight. In the extreme.Sparking wine is served pre-departure. This is not Champagne. I have never found NZ's table cloths to be crisp and if that is "the best silver" then it should have been flogged to the highest bidder who would strip it some time ago (much like the airline itself come to think of it).I don't do Economy so I wouldn't necessarily know, but I would have thought the toilets were the same size. There are few exceptions in the world, e.g. LH's latest F product and EK 380. Also SQ 777s the toilet in front of 1L is huge. On NZ 772s in particular I find them particularly small.Air New Zealand attempt to offer Priority luggage handling to half the plane, including Business Class.Er...