Ixian

My wife and I are taking a holiday to Sydney and Auckland over NYE. For the trip, I've booked business/J round trip:

LAX-AKL
AKL-SYD
4 days in SYD
Then
SYD-AKL
5 days in AKL
Then
AKL-LAX

All flights appear to be on the 777-300 even SYD-AKL

We've never flown ANZ before; I am a longtime United 1k (150k miles so far this year alone) and my wife generally hits Platinum, so that is what we are used to. However I couldn't find decent prices/times for United business (and didn't want to deal with waitlisting upgrades) and I've flown United business enough to know it is not exactly tops in the industry. Particularly on widebody long hauls.

First question: I still have flexibility in choosing seats; due to the way ANZ uses reverse herringbone, would it be better for one of us to sit in the middle and the other in the window seat across from it? Right now we are booked side by side in the middle two but it almost looks like the person across the aisle in the window from you is easier to talk to

Second: Anyone who has regularly flown United business, particularly on their 777 and 767, care to comment on the difference in hard/soft product? It looks like the ANZ seats are better for sleeping, which would be good because we leave LAX at 9:30pm and arrive in the morning - perfect for knocking oneself out.

Third: When I booked I gave them my wife and I's United MP numbers. I assume this means we'll get United miles/status? According to their site if we didn't book through them/016 we can still get them in J class but want to be sure.

Any other comments/things we should be aware of?

Thanks!

AviationNZ

Personally I prefer to sit across the aisle from each other when travelling together. Remember that there is the ottoman that can be used as a seat if you want to eat together.

The Air NZ J class product is far superior to the current United 777 product. The hard product is designed primarily as a great sleeping experience and it provides this, one of the best sleeps in the sky IMO. The soft product is also very good with wonderful food and wine.

You shouldn't have any trouble earning UA miles/status, but would be worth double-checking is there are any excluded booking classes.

dadig

Pick the same aisle rather than opposite. Row 3,4, plenty of thoughts in previous posts. You'd be screaming at each other across much to the annoyance of other J passengers

WLGNZ

+1
Across the aisle is not comfortable for conversation. For yourselves, and everyone else.

Bub001

Don't expect the personalised, polite, deferential service you get as 1K on UA. Air NZ doesn't do that...they want to be your mate.

Ixian

Thanks everyone. Looks like I will be sticking with my current seats as availability has dried up but based on advice probably stick with them anyway. This puts us in the middle two seats of J, aisle 5 and 6 (depending on flight).

I am interested to see how well duo-dining works. That would be different, anyway, from what I am used to with United.

Does ANZ have a bar up front like Virgin or is it all seat service in J? The outbound trip back home is during the "day" (leave 10am NZ, arrive 10:30am LAX) so I don't know how much sleep we'll get on that one.

Surprised at how short the flight from LAX actually is. You may be thinking that is a strange perspective but I frequently fly IAH-NRT direct on United which is 13.5 hours. 3 times last year I not only did that flight but then after a 3 hour layover continued to Singapore which is another 7.5 hours from NRT. Now that is a long day. 12-13 hours from LAX-AKL is longer than going to Europe, sure, but I am not sure it will even qualify as the longest flight I have taken.

All said those beds do look comfier than anything United has managed. Since we are on holiday my plan is to sleep (hopefully like a baby) on the long haul and then start the party, as it were, on the 3 hour flight to SYD, which will also be in J on a 777. Am I crazy thinking this can work?

Ixian

No offense to United but wanting to be my mate would be a nice change of pace if it's consistent, which I'm hoping that since I paid for J will be the case.

United can be nice to 1k but it's hit or miss even on long haul. I've noticed in the last few years that they seem to be more "class" aware, meaning they know if you upgraded (via a coupon or award) to a seat or actually paid for it. I'm too small a sample size to make a sweeping statement but I get treated better when, for example, my company pays for business vs. me using a GPU (and getting the upgrade at the last second most likely). One time I had a FA ask, only half-jokingly, how much I actually paid for my ticket when I went up to get a drink refill.

Then again I've had crews who for whatever reason seemed like a genuinely happy bunch who went the extra distance to take care of everyone. The best crew is usually IAH-LHR, the former Continental bunch, who are very friendly, informal, and generally in a good mood. If ANZ is anything like that I will be very happy.

sbiddle

IMHO NZ don't have the best business class seat on the market overall and many people don't like the herringbone layout but if sleep is important to you then you'll get exactly that. It's fantastic for sleeping.

You might want to check your return flight as well - NZ don't fly out to the US in the morning. They're all early to late evening flights (or late afternoon to IAH) which I find perfectly suited to sleeping.

Ixian

Whoops you are exactly right. I transposed PM to AM somehow. So, 7:30pm out of Auckland, which is actually perfect and also makes more sense given that neither I nor ANZ have worked out how to bend time

I have been to Singapore so many times - where most flights (or at least the ones I take) leave at some ungodly early hour that I am just used to a miserable day. Now I get to spend an extra half day in NZ and will be ready to go to sleep on the plane

trooper

Just to make sure you are aware.... the two middle seats angled away from each other are QUITE separate....

You'd have great difficulty IMO conducting any kind of conversation....

ehillnz

I am traveling as a group of six AKL-LAX, 3 in J and 3 in PE.

Any tips/ comments for seating two groups of three in the two classes?

GeorgieNZ

My recommendation is that the the people in J buy some very nice bottles of wine for the people in PE when they arrive in Los Angeles

Ixian

I haven't flown ANZ yet, only done a lot of research, so keep that in mind:

From everything I have read, Skycouch isn't worth the premium.

If you are on a plane that still has their angled premium economy - the one that looks almost like J class except the seats don't lie flat - I've read those are pretty decent though some have issues with legroom.

The premium economy on newer planes (787) is more in line with what other airlines offer and is supposed to be pretty decent.

Regular economy is the same miserable experience it is on all other airlines. In that case, I will echo the previous comment - send booze to the back Lots of it.

I appreciate everyone's advice here. Since I (we) really want to get some sleep on the long haul it sounds like J class on ANZ was the right call. I rarely sleep on long haul flights but that is because even when I fly in J I am usually on United metal and while their seats up front are far better than in back it isn't very comfortable for racking out, at least for me. Which means even after a relatively comfortable J class flight I arrive tired and ready to crash in the hotel, which I am trying to avoid this trip.

I read ANZ has "real" ovens on board and that's one reason the food is better, any comments? Again keeping in mind that I am used to heated-up United meals.

SeaProf

Don't worry, given your comparison is United, you'll enjoy Air New Zealand's J class. The last time I flew United business class was 2012 - it's been NZ or Lufthansa ever since (and Lufthansa was not nearly as good as NZ). I purposely go out of my way to fly NZ to London instead of flying United. And the food is usually quite good.

There's just no comparison with United.

Osmo

When hubby and I fly with ANZ, one of us gets the window seat and the other one is sitting across the aisle/a middle seat slightly behind. At least this way we can make eye contact/pass things to each other.

I actually enjoy the ANZ seats, found them comfortable and I can sleep in them.