ajnz

I've had indifferent through to excellent non-inflight staff - anything from some great people on the phone organising seats and joking around with me, through to taking over an hour on the phone from LA to rebook a LAX-AKL sector and basically blaming me for something NZ TravelCentre had done to my booking, and refusing any leniency at all. (It was going to cost me $300 in change fees to fly home in Economy on a Premium Economy ticket, because of the way TC had booked it).

Had checkin staff rebook me onto the next flight when I've missed my original flight on a FlexiSaver fare (ie. use-it-or-lose-it) 'because we value our *G pax'. Had extremely patronising staff at checkin as well, who assume that because I'm young I have no idea what I'm doing. "Do you know where the gates are, young man? It is quite a big airport..." (It's WLG, and did you notice the NZ*G on my BP and business class BP?)

I've also had good responses from the flightcomment address when I've raised other concerns....

I think it's endemic to NZ & AU as countries, rather than Air NZ in particular. We're too casual and laid back to raise much of a fuss publically over poor service.... so we suffer from it.

That said, the crew that are good and excellent really do make the airline stand out and I always make sure that feedback goes in about those crews and other staff I deal with. I want to encourage NZ to get all staff meeting those standards.

AndDee

I think this is feedback that should be well read by Air NZ management.

I have always found Virgin Blue/Pacific Blue customer service to be outstanding. They go above and beyond what they need to do, which is why all my fights in Australia are with Virgin and not Qantas nor Jetstar.

AndDee

So any reviews yet

aussierach

I would love to hear any reviews too!!! Come on someone must have flown the new PE What food did you get? What amenities? can't wait to hear!:-:

AndDee

Well the way this thread is going, I'll give a detailed review in about 19 days... A new pic that I just found on airwhingers.net though is interesting.

I asked ages ago when Air NZ refurbed the 744 if they installed "mood lighting" and the answer was no, but just found this pic of the 777. Yes I know it's a much newer plane but surpirsed to see it none the less

Clicky

You can easily see the purple lighting in Business class, so now for my question.

Is the PE cabin on the 777 include with this lighting ??? I would assume so as the curtain is between Econony and PE ? ??

Oh and any PE reviews please

ajnz

Well, I'm in the AKL Intl Koru Club this morning, waiting for my PE (22C) flight back to MEL, but I guess another Tasman report won't really help much .

ajnz

Small update - just into MEL now after a rather pleasant flight over. Economy was over-sold, and PE had 16 or so seats on the upper deck full. Not sure how many downstairs. Business on the upper deck had 2 seats in use.

In chatting with the crew, they let said that the March menu change could/should see some changes for the better on the Tasman routes for the Economy and Premium Economy classes, in particular around catering. It sounds promising.

Interestingly, this is the second time I've been in PE and been seated next to people receiving an on-board op-up.

Ann Tyrol

Hi all

I flew the new PE HKG-AKL-HKG over Xmas and New Year, and was really impressed with the little touches they made. Here's a bit of a good / bad checklist:

Good

- Upstairs 747 cabin is really nice and cosy. Good atmosphere and with the exception of one very efficient but rather unfriendly FA, all of the FAs we had were extremely helpful, friendly and good humoured.
- Seats were fine (we were in Exit row for one leg). Don't quite know why people complain about the seat width, as it was absolutely fine.
- Pre flight drink: offered Veuve, Water or OJ before the flight. We were last on and the plane was supposedly about to take off, but the FA ensured that we were offered drinks before takeoff.
- Noise cancelling headsets were a nice touch. V similar to the Cathay business ones from memory
- Full service meal was excellent. Tray brought out with entree and dessert / bread plate. Hot bread served with entree, then mains choices brought around 10 mins later. Food quality was excellent (and thankfully nice and hot where appropriate). I think we got the same food as Business, but I couldn't be certain.
- AVOD selection was really good, something for everyone. Mine crashed for about 10 mins at the start of the flight, but restarted itself and was fine for the remaining 9 or so hours. I was thrilled to see that they even had a few rugby games on there, and I managed to watch the game of the century (according to me - July 2000 Bledisloe game in Sydney)
- Amenity kits were simple, but had everything you needed (toothpaste, socks, eye cover things for sleeping, ear plugs)
- Snack bar was good - nice mix of food (fresh fruit, chocolate, some water and a bit of wine)
- Premium checkin and immigration in Akl was good, although a tad slow given that it wasn't overly busy.
- After dinner mints with tea/coffee service were another nice touch.
- Food and drink in Akl koru lounge was excellent

Bad

Not really much was bad about the flight itself, but here are a few things that bugged me:

- One FA was admittedly very efficient, but extremely unfriendly. Perhaps with the plane delay she was a bit tired or something, but the others were delightful.
- In HKG Air NZ supposedly use the RCC lounge - which from all accounts is pretty good, esp compared to other RCC lounges. Strangely, we were given access to the CNAC lounge, which was miles from the Air NZ gate. It was far enough away that we just didn't bother going there. Disappointing, esp as the RCC was right next to the Air NZ departure gate. Didn't notice until after check in, so didn't say anything to the checkin agent.
- Intl Koru Lounge in Akl was a mixed bag. The food and beverage selection were excellent, and we greatly appreciated the "kiwi lolly" section by the tea and coffee. Although I'm no fuddy duddy, two things annoyed me greatly about the lounge. Firstly, the dress code was clearly not being taken seriously. I have always thought that "smart casual" was the Koru lounge dress code, but there were some seriously sloppy people there. A group of young guys (mid 20s) were sitting in there with their legs over the sides of the chairs, dressed in ripped jeans and hoodies, knocking back beer after beer after beer. I know it can't be easy to police something like that, but some of the people in there were seriously scruffy and really brought the look of the place down. My second gripe was with the number of screaming kids there were running around. I love children, but really felt that the number of them causing chaos in what is supposed to be a relaxing environment was disappointing. Parents' fault of course - most of them thought that the buffet and computer stations were good enough babysitters, but I was a little surprised that none of the lounge staff said anything to the parents of the kids. At one stage there were five of them running around playing tag or something, ages from 5ish to about 12. Highly irritating.

So, would I do it again? For longhaul - definitely. For the extra HK$3000 during normal season (so HK$1500 each way) it really made the flight a lot better. Plus - at Xmas it was the same price as a Cathay economy seat. We have decided that all future trips to NZ will be on PE, as we feel that the price difference really was worth it. Unless Cathay's new 2007 seats in Y are simply awesome, it's probably the end of our longhaul flights with Cathay to NZ.

Can't see us ever using it Trans-tasman though - short haul flights in Y are easily done in Y. I can certainly see our next trip to LHR being in PE though.

Very happy with the way Air NZ have improved the service.

AndDee

March menu change ??

AndDee

Ann Tyrol: Thanks for the review !! If you can what was the main meal and desert ?

ajnz

They change the menus quarterly (or so) - with the next one being in March.

I forgot to mention that we were given the same noise canceling headphones from Business on the flight this morning, which was a huge improvement over my last flight on 22/12.

Ann Tyrol, thanks for your update, it does sound like the product is getting a lot better.

I'm not so sure that the dress code thing in the Koru Club is a problem - I'm one of those mid 20s guys with jeans (sometimes torn, sometimes not) drinking beer in the lounge... I spend a lot of time (and someone else's money) on NZ flights; and I'd be rather miffed if they turned me away because of my attire. I completely agree about the kids though - although I've never seen a scene as bad as you describe.

MrSydney

Thanks Ann,

Well from your report it looks like the money I spent to fly PE in March to LAX will be money well spent, particulary since they have enhanced the product.

You mentioned you sat in the emergency exit upstairs - Could you see out the window okay?

Ann Tyrol

ajnz - I didn't really want to seem like a fuddy duddy (I only just turned 30 and am an occasional wearer of the torn jeans...), but it was just a really rough look, and these chaps were in an extremely prominent part of the lounge. The T&C's do say smart casual, and although I'm usually against dress codes, I thought it really did bring down the tone of the lounge and the general ambience. It's tricky - esp on lang haul when it's important to dress comfortably. I guess I was a litle surprised, especially given that the Akl and Wgtn domestic Koru lounges were impeccable.

The kids thing was seriously irritating - thank goodness none of them made their way upstairs

AndDee - don't really remember so well but as far as I can recall:

Dinner to AKl - entree was sliced beef of some sort, dessert was fruit pie. Dinner options were beef (looked yum), tuna or some sort of fish (also looked good), or chicken (didn't see it sorry!). All meals served piping hot.

Breakfast to AKL- hmm, I don't recall, but I think I had pancakes.

Dinner to HK - entree was king prawns with a strange custard type blob. Not my thing, but prawns were good. Dessert was a chocolate cheesecake layered thing and was very good. Main choices were beef tenderloin, wok fried fish, or a Caesar salad. I had the beef, and it was great. Tea + coffee with after dinner mints. Yum.

Breakie to HK - choice of hot bread rolls / croissants / muffins first. Some fruit yoghurt which I didn't have and they also offered cereal (which I also didn't have). Hot food was three egg omlette with bacon, sausage, tomato OR another wok fried fish thing I think OR French Toast with streaky bacon,accompanied by apple and raisins. Very nice.

Food exceeded expectations, and I was particularly impressed by the variety of snacks left out and the fact that mini-bunches of grapes were individually wrapped so that you knew they hadn't been handled by a load of other passengers!

Kudos to Air NZ I must say.

Ann Tyrol

Not really - the window seat had a window at around the 4 o'clock position (so a crooked neck view) but not a very good one.

Strange as it may sound, if you are travelling as a couple, I'd say that the JK seats NOT in the exit row are better. There is plenty of leg room in both the exit row seats and other seats, but your view in the exit row is of BP passengers - whereas your view in other JK seats is of the screen. Even when the seat is pushed right back, the tv is at a good distance and can be adjusted easily. I found that the exit row televisions weren't as adjustable as the back-of-seat ones. Plus the view in the other seats was better.

I am 5'10 and had more than enough leg room (as in there was plenty more if needed) when stretched out. Only minor issue is that when the seat in front is fully reclined, then the window seat person has a bit of a climb to get out to the aisle. No big deal though.

Two minor gripes with the AVOD - firstly if the control unit is secured in the armrest when you are using it, it is easy to lean on it and knock a button. Also, they turn it off about 1/2 hour before landing which is a pain. That said, they do give you a 15 minute warning that they are going to turn it off.

everywhere

But do you sit with your legs over the sides of the chairs?

Also does anyone think it would be a problem (clashing elbow's etc) for two persons sitting side by side typing on their laptop's?