jakeller

I'm helping my folks book their flights to Australia/NZ and they're planning to take NZ all the way.

The first leg (with the weirdness) is from LAX-SYD via AKL. First flight is NZ005 on a 777-300 which has premium eco (spaceseat). After a quick stopover in AKL they continue on NZ103 which too is operated by a 773. For this leg, though, no premium economy is available (even if booked alone as AKL-SYD).

Anyone know why that's the case? It's strange to pay for premium economy when you don't get it for the last 3+ hours.

Thanks,
JK

cavemanzk

Because its not sold on the Tasman, they only had PE on the tasman for about a year.

Between Auckland & Sydney the PE seats are just used as a frequent flyer perk

Xiaotung

NZ do not sell Premium Economy on short haul international flights. Instead Economy fares are divided into 4 products types. If you are connecting to or from a long haul premium economy flight, your folks will be booked in Works Deluxe on the AKL-SYD sector which will seat them in the premium economy section on a 777-300ER aircraft. The good news is Work Deluxe allows lounge access which Premium Economy fares don't. The below link will tell you more.

http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/tasma...conomy-service

robbau

Deleted

cavemanzk

You don't get booked into Works Deluxe, but get booked into the Works.

jakeller

So you don't get premium economy then?

robbau

No

I recommend your folks call the call centre and ask if they can get seats allocated in the PE section, on the basis that they have a PE fare from LAX to AKL.

They can only ask.

samnz

There was a thread here a month or two back (can't find it now) which mentioned that PE and (Business pax on A320s) are now seated in Works Deluxe on TT sectors.

I have just done a dummy PE booking and can confirm this is the case, the seat select specifies Works Deluxe seating TT. However the service class simply says "Economy", so it is not clear to me whether the other Works Deluxe benefits apply, such as lounge access. Has anyone experienced it?

Xiaotung

I can confirm now long haul Premium Economy fares are booked in Works Deluxe on the Tasman.

The boarding pass will have Works Deluxe on it so there won't be a problem with lounge access even if you don't have status.

When contacting the call centre, be aware that agents can't see what product it will be booked into until it's ticketed so you may not get the correct advice.

WellingtonFlyer

If the pax is flying LAX-SYD via AKL in PE they will be in Works Deluxe on the TT flight, which is an Economy fare. If the aircraft is an A320 or 767 they will be in an economy seat. if the aircraft is a 777 or 787 they will be in a PE seat. If the pax was travelling BP from LAX-SYD via AKL the TT aircraft type determines the class. On an A320 the pax will be booked into Works Deluxe in an economy seat, on a 767 the pax will be in Business and on the 777 or 787 they will be in BP.

From experience I have flown BNE-SFO via AKL and the above applied.

See here for the benefits of Works Deluxe on TT flights:
http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/the-choice-is-all-yours
http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/works-deluxe

So to answer your question, if your parents are flying from LAX-SYD via AKL in Premium economy and the aircraft is a 777-300ER on the AKL-SYD leg, they will be classed as if they are in Economy. However they will receive Works Deluxe benefits which will mean they are in a Premium Economy seat and will receive the same (if not more, i.e lounge access in AKL) benefits as flying LAX-AKL in PE.

The only reason NZ classifies the short haul TT routes as economy is because not all aircraft have PE cabins and there would be little demand for PE on short 3-4 hour flights. Instead they do not sell Premium Economy, they allocate the PE seats to frequent flyers and Works Deluxe customers (and have some available for purchase as preferred seats). I hope this helps!

jakeller

Thanks everyone for the advice. Had to call them to book the flights that my folks wanted and sure enough, there's no premium economy AKL-SYD, but it does book into Works Deluxe, so they're in row 23 on the 777-300. Hurrah!

Osmo

Isnt row 23 on the 777-300 the space seats?

LyingFlat

Yes. But on TT flights pax won't receive PE service, just whatever "Seats to Suit" product they purchased (Seat, Seat+Bag, Works, Works Deluxe - which is essentially they same inflight service as 'Works' just with a cheese plate...)

Osmo

Ah. Its a 3.5hr flight so the seat is more important than the "service" in my book so its a win for OPs parents.

cheers,

JANZFlyer

as an aside I've never been on a 773 to sydney (3-4x per month) and didn't realise they flew that route!? perhaps the OP will be on the new 789 given row 23 is specified. Or maybe i've just been unlucky and stuck on the 763