vulle

We are planning a trip to Asia this Summer and are looking at a few different flight alternatives - flying in economy. Right now the most attractive alternatives are CX and NZ which are priced similarily. We are originating our travels from HEL and will be connecting via LHR (on CX or NZ) or via FRA or AMS (on CX), heading to HKG. We have never flown on CX before, I have flown on NZ a few times in 1989-1990 so I'd expect that the product has changed quite a bit.

As many of you have experienced both airlines, which would you recommend? For €400.- more (one way surcharge) we could fly in Premium Economy on NZ - is it worth it? Reading through previous threads it seems to me that not everybody is happy with Premium Economy on 777.

Thank you in advance for your help!

graraps

If I were you, instead of messing about with premium economy, I'd try to get a cheap business class ticket by trying a few alternative departure points (e.g. TLL for AY, ATH for the European majors or CAI for Asian airlines). For example, looking at random dates in July gets me a price of just €1343.98 exCAI on Turkish or €1822 exBUD on QR (though this includes two stops, as QR don't fly to BUD and they throw in the MA flights to/from IST). Cheapest exHEL seems to be MH (via ARN and KUL) at just over €2k.

vulle

Thanks for a fast reply! R/T economy ticket is priced at ~€600:- so I'd of course like to pay that, maybe a bit more, up to €1K or so, but €2K is unfortunately out of my price range at the moment.

libertyuk

Hi, while CX service is good, the seating is very tight. I'd choose NZ in economy over CX in economy anyday, although I can only report about the "old" CX economy seats which are still in a lot of its aircraft, I've heard mixed reports about the new CX economy seats which don't recline into the row behind, but are still tight.

NZ in economy on the 777 will offer more room and comfort than CX in my view.

Premium economy on the 777 is really about whether you value the extra 6 inches of legroom enough to pay the surcharge, because you get no extra width. It is still 3-3-3 in premium economy, the same as economy. Premium Economy also gives you business class food/drinks which may or may not be important to you. The main complaint about the premium economy on the 777 is not getting extra seat width, but if you are slim and tall that may not matter (or if there are three of you).

You MIGHT find very cheap business class, as many airlines are discounting heavily because demand has dropped dramatically in the premium sector due to the global recession - but these wont be discounted until a lot closer.

taupo

I would be cautious of paying too much for NZ Prem Y on the 777. I was very disappointed by it. It is only two rows deep, the front row is bulkhead that severely restricts legroom, as previously mentioned seat width is the same as Y.

NZ's Y and C/J product on the 777 is excellent.

inasmuchas

IIRC the pitch on NZ's 777s is 32", as opposed to 34" on their 744s. Therefore they may not have any space advantage over CX economy, which is also 32".

Additionally, the vast majority of CX services out of LHR to HKG now operate using the new Economy product.

Premium Economy is a whole different ball game though.

Cornish Exile

I understand that NZ are reconfiguring the 777s to increase the number of Y+ seats in the near future - this may be a consideration for the NZ/CX decision. I have trawled the comprehensive information in this forum (inc. the sticky), but I cannot find a recent update. Does anyone know when the extended Y+ is likely to be fitted out?

One further question about NZ Y+ (slightly OT). Is there a separate check-in desk/area for Y+ at LHR, HKG, CHC or AKL? Many thanks in advance.

kiwibigdave

Certainly at AKL you can use the same premium check-in area available to Business Class pax, Elite FFers and KC members. The print on the glass mentioning Y+ is petty small, but it's there all the same. Not sure about the other ports you mention, but I'd have to guess it's the same rules ...

vulle

I am curious about the reconfiguration - is it just to add additional seats or will the seats be changed to better at the same time?

Blackcloud

Same seats but doubling capacity to 36.