ozflier

A nice brother organisation wants to fly me F class AKL to LAX next January/February.
After some comments earlier ,I am a little concerned about booking on NZ-although i would prefer to after reading such glowing reports here.
Is there any truth to the suggestion that NZ will downgrade their F class service to the USA.
Ozflier

zrs70

Not sure about downgrading service.

NZ's current F service in fantastic. The seats are not LH or UA, but they are still sturdy and comfy.

number_6

NZ does have a very nice service, and has a special charm thanks to the excellent staff, but to put fantastic into context, ignoring the seats it does not quite make the top 5 airlines in the world. Including the seats, it does not make the top 10. I admit to not having flown NZ in the past year, but I've heard there have been some service reductions and other irregularities (such as crew action due to schedule change). My next flight LAX-AKL is booked on QF -- despite having 2 class service. Those wanting luxurious F service from AKL should consider flying CX, which does offer a service that is several notches above NZ (and QF, UA and most other airlines, for that matter).

Koru Flyer

I would love to see your top ten!

I can think of BA, LH, QF, SQ, CX, ANA and perhaps a couple of others then I begin to scratch my head as to what you think is significantly better. Incidentally, I have always beleived that in every cabin QF is is the world's most overrated airline. Good yes, but best or exceptional I think not.

Okay, they do not have beds which is a significant issue but do have very comfortable seats that recline around 160 degrees, with a footbvall pitch of space. Also they have only 12 seats in F rather than the 14 that QF and BA have.

It is still a great service. Very attentive staff and the consistenty best food I have had of any airline in First (Okay just NZ, BA, QF and UA!) . The wines suffer from snob value of those who look wines up in value books. i.e. NZ wines might be around $40 whereas say SQ or BA might $100 but find an NZ wine that in NZ sells for USD$100. Ignoring the snob factor the 1998 cloudy bay pinot is a great wine and you cannot complain about Dom.

All in all enjoy the flight, it is great and the service makes up for the seats which are not quite up with beds but no where near as bad as what TG has - which is what some descriptions would have you believe!

Mark

number_6

A decade ago NZ would have been in my top 5 list. No longer. You mention my current top 5.
JL is equal to ANA (but barely better than NZ on some routes, equal to SQ on others). I would rank LX (Swiss), AF and AA solidly ahead of NZ mostly due to the seats, and UA marginally ahead (entirely due to excellent seat and good ground service, offsetting the poor inflight service). That is 11 ahead of NZ. Then there are the fringe J carriers, like VS and BD that offer a business class service that is roughly comparable to F on NZ. Of course there are lots of airlines worse than NZ, even comparable ones like SA, AZ, KE, not to mention TG.

NZ is just below critical mass to survive. Lots of good, even great, things about the airline, but falls short in some areas. Like the dated interior, erratic lounges (and awful lounge/terminal conditions at LAX), shrinking route network. It is sad to see but understandable. Less clear is how NZ can work its way out of this; my own opinion is that the QF merger is the best way, but who knows if it will happen. And NZ should convert to 2 class and abandon F to airlines like CX that do it better, if it can't afford provision it properly.

Delta141

Air NZ's F service is superb! Far better than UA, I would rate it better than BA in terms of food, service and general comfort! You should give it a try!

Delta141

taupo

Does NZ First offer VOD and noise cancelling headphones?

UnitedFirst

AirNZ First Class offers VOD via Sony Video Walkmans. They have a selection of around 14 movies.

There are no noise-cancelling headsets.

taupo

Does anyone know if NZ has portable DVD players in F yet? I would like to bring a couple of DVD's with me.

RTW4

Just flew NZ 1 in first from LHR-LAX. No DVD players but there were portable SONY video players. Excellent service

taupo

Thanks RTW4. I presume the Sony's use the Kiwi VHS format as opposed to the NA. I would hate to lug a couple of videos only to find the players won't play the NA format. Can anyone please confirm this for me?

Good to hear of the service, 3 more sleeps, get to use it ourselves.

Koru Flyer

The players are Super8 format. (I think that is what the format is - anyway they are the small cassettes slightly bigger/wider than a audio cassette tape).

Mark

FlyMan

I think taupo is asking if the broadcasting system of the cassetts are either NTSC (North American Standard) or PAL (Kiwi and other areas).

I can check it tomorrow on NZ 3.

taupo

Thanks Flyman and KF. Yes, Flyman, that is what I was wondering. No need for me to pack tapes if they machines are Super8.

ozflier

Just travelled on NZ from AKL to LAX in F.From the moment we had the pretakeoff drink of Dom,I was in heaven.The food was unbelievable,there was even a 6 course breakfast.Great choice of wines and no queues for the toilets .What about the seats you say - well they looked old but did all I needed - even had some sleep but not too much as I didn't want to miss all the attention and my personal video player.
I cannot conceive of United ever getting to this level of service and catering.
Ozflier