cavemanzk

Basically if one the main reasons you fly J or PE is for the hard/soft product.

Then your probably best to avoid an service operated by HiFly.

ottiehund

I suspect my flight will be a 'oncer' ... probably for exactly this reason, although with the flight cost only $50 more for PE than economy on the 787 via AKL and $120 more than the NZ direct service from ZQN I was happy to pay to experience the A340. My expectations of hard and soft product are not high!

Craig Whitmore

Just did J to Sydney via Hifly . Very disappointed .
No real proper interaction with staff (hifly or Airnz). Over cooked Ham and cheese toasty as in the picture (Breakfast). No pre drinks.(got a bag of packaged nuts after take off) . Plastic knives and forks. Had to squeeze past a large number of cabin staff to get to front toilet.
cabin staff were so loud at the front when they were not serving staff (hifly and Airnz staff in the Black T-shirt .

The meal was under Proper Airnz meal standards for Economy! I couldn’t eat it.

Never again but I still have Hifly (in Economy!!!) back to NZ later today.

mikeyf

I noticed last week my flight AKL/SYD Mar 27 changed to HiFly aircraft so I called about seats and the person told me the seat map is not available yet but it will be soon, I asked if I would be able to access online - yes sir once they load it you will be able to access. I called back today and this time I was told no option to preselect seats until check-in but don't worry you are still in business class we will assign you a seat at check-in. Reading above it looks like this is the case? Reading the comment I would really like to switch flights but I'm connecting to SFO on UA and the 9:00 departure would only give me 55min connection so guess I'm stuck with Hifly

RTWFF

I thought I had forfeited cash on my non-refundable ticket on a 787 flight only to find that not only could I cancel and get a refund but it took only a few hours for the funds to return to my credit card. The one small hiccup was trying to persuade the offshore call centre operator that "787" is an aircraft type not a flight number

ottiehund

Thanks Craig Whitmore - I am starting to wonder if I did the right thing... LOL.

As an aside Air NZ is getting a 'bagging' on some traveller review sites (eg: Trip Advisor) mostly from visitors who have been very disappointed with the Hi Fly experience when they booked and were expecting an Air NZ Experience. I don't think I can blame them for their views. The situation may be beyond NZ's control in terms of the aircraft being out of service but their reputation is suffering (which they must be aware of) and I do wonder if they could or should be doing more to explain the situation and to ensure the Hi Fly team actually do make an attempt to deliver NZ levels of catering and onboard service to at least mitigate any reputational damage. I have read a number of reviews warning travellers not to book NZ because of this.

I wonder if RR will be on the hook for reputational damage compensation, no doubt better minds than mine I guess at NZ will be working with them on that!

jeffrocowboy

AirNZ do seem to have been emailing people - my brother who booked direct got an email to explain the situation; I booked though a travel agent and have heard nothing from them

nzkarit

If you booked through a TA it is the TA's responsibility to do customer communications. AirNZ don't "get" control from the TA of ticket until the flight goes to Airport control.

jeffrocowboy

yes I figured that; not concerned about lack of info as there has been a fair bit of noise about the HiFly substitution. Although as a flight is linked to my airpoints number and showing in myairnz could they not use that as a means of communicating?

codyc1515

I can only guess that they must've gotten a fair few complaints, so much so that they now put up this notice when booking a HiFly operated flight (unsure if this is new or not). Looks like quite the ominous warning LOL.

furballs

nzkarit

Yes, but the way relationships etc work with TA their are protocols to follow, with TA booked flights.

The TA clips the ticket and this money covers all the pax Qs, support, etc. AirNZ sending out an email to these pax may be a breach of contract with the TAs and also may mean pax contact AirNZ rather than the TA for Qs. TA booked pax ringing the 0800 number would eat into AirNZ's profit for the seat, as the % of the fare to cover the 0800 number has been given to the TA, not internal teams for the TA booked flights.

ottiehund

Codyc1515 - yes, I received a similar message when booking, in a 'pop up' window that you can't ignore, so maybe NZ is "running scared" as they say.....

The whole situation, unprofessional crew, poor product, poor service, etc - makes me question just how professional the flight crew may be???

QTFLYER

I recieved the Air NZ email even though my ticket was ticketed on VA stock

sbiddle

Theoretically - but the "agent" in travel agent means they are responsible for the booking and are the point of contact for the booking.