NZbutterfly

I've noticed even the QF/EK flights e.g. sale or saver have been cheaper than a lot of seat + bag fares recently on NZ although as you say it may be that NZ has sold more of the lower fare buckets (but then again my EK flight was very full and only booked a couple of weeks out), but you still get a meal with these lower fares. The QF morning brekky's have been scarey. The baked beans run into the sausage/egg/hash brown or whatever else is in there.

I find the QF evening meals significantly better than their breakfast Y meals. NZ I always buy seat + bag. I would do so on QF if offered also.

cavemanzk

I think it help that we've been so lucky with food in the NZ lounge, it makes it's more of an option to just go seat+bag.

Thai-Kiwi

Perhaps a cunning plan to encourage S or S+B flyers to buy KC membership...

cavemanzk

its not an bad it you make two return trips a year to Aussie in Seat Only.

If you take the creditcard rate which is about $400/year that's only $50/per flight. The Works is typically $50 more than seat only.

The $50/flight on Koru is better value than the Works.

- Freequent Flyer Seating
- Preiume Check-In
- Loung Access
- Pirority Boarding (a key to success with carry-on on the a320)

Kiwi Flyer

Your maths is off - 2 return trips is 4 flights.

SkyTeam777

How does the meal work then onboard? You can choose a meal from the menu?or is it just one-option hot dish tray for everyone that booked the Works. If people are paying for these services, they will expect a choice. Curious what to expect on my SYD-AKL lunch flight now.

sbiddle

Two meal options and crew announce these on board.

I would never pay for the works now - in fact I think apart from a time somebody else booked flights I've never had it since they launched S2S. I see absolutely no point.

jeffrocowboy

I never pay for Works now either - even though company policy is to book Works.

I use the lounges either end for food; and am not bothered about movie access - happy with TV access if I get bored.

That said I have not done a 6 hour flight without onboard catering; am about to tackel PER-AKl (overnight), will see how that goes without food. I always carry food with me anyhow, after one of my early United flights I took coudn't heat the chicken and half the plane went without food.

SkyTeam777

Are they generous with wine refills at least?

curioustill

Yes in my opinion they are. On my recent AKL-SYD and SYD-AKL I recall the staff going through the plane at least twice for extra drinks.

I.e. One initial glass of wine + two chances for refills.

It's interesting to see others say that the Works is not worth it.
I don't get lounge access so I always buy food at the airport. It's not cheap either - usually a sandwich will cost something like $10.
Then with the Works you also get free seat selection - which would otherwise cost $10 if you didn't pay the Works.
So actually it makes more sense for me to get the Works - since you also get free orders of drinks during the flight too...

jeffrocowboy

agree: if you dont have status (food and wine in lounge, seat selection) then Works becomes a more attractive option

drajknox

robbau

IME they turn off the ordering system - it normally says "Not available at this time" for a large part of the flight (if it is turned on at all).

You can get good crews (where it flows freely) and poor ones (who make up rules like "there is a limit of two drinks").

Inconsistency of service, application of rules and unwritten rules are the biggest bugbear for me.

mapleg

Not that hard. Eat before getting on plane.

I just finished a 16 hour flight. They served one meal, a pretty heavy snack mid way and then breakfast. I could only eat the first meal, and passed on the other 2. It's not like I am a light eater normally, but sitting on a plane and not moving a muscle does not really make me work up an appetite.

mad_atta

I usually order Works for the evening departures from SYD to AKL/WLG/CHC - it may not be a long flight, but it's right on mealtime and I'm usually hustling to get there straight from work so I don't like the pressure of trying to stuff down a full meal in the lounge beforehand. Since I also usually watch a movie and have several drinks onboard, it works fairly well for me. However what really does annoy me is the reduced quality of the food (and, to a lesser extent, the wine) - since I'm actively electing to pay for it, there's no excuse for the quality not to be better. Everything has just got stingier, right down to the pathetic brownies they sometimes hand out for dessert (though recently the Kapiti ice cream seems to have made a welcome comeback).

If I'm travelling the Tasman at a non-mealtime, I'm more likely to book Seat or Seat+Bag, and will sometimes pay for a drink or movies onboard. I do actually like having the choice of what option to pay for, provided the cost:benefit ratio is properly aligned (ie: they make a bit more effort with the food I'm choosing to pay for). You can indeed order snacks and drinks via the IFE, whether on Works fare (in which case the booze is free) or Seat/Seat+Bag (when you of course have to pay), however this function is only activated after they have finished the food/drinks run for the Works passengers. On an eastbound Tasman flight, that can leave fairly little time, so you need to move quickly once the notification comes through the IFE that onscreen ordering has been enabled.

I few QF trans-Tasman in Y for the first time in ages recently, as it was one of the occasions when they were a fair bit cheaper than NZ. Although the quality of the food was higher on QF, the overall experience on NZ's A320s is preferable to QF's B738s: NZ's seats are wider, more comfortable, and the extra legroom of Space+ makes all the difference for me, plus NZ's IFE system and screens feel about a decade newer. I also really don't care for QF's international business lounge in SYD, which is a bizarrely poor offering for their global hub.