Air New Zealand Passenger Reviews and Air New Zealand Customer Trip reports

Flew Air New Zealand from Sydney to the US (in to LAX and out from SFO). I must compliment Air NZ on very friendly staff. Ground crew are a little inefficient but cabin crew are excellent. You do need to look at your code share partners, though, because they are nowhere near your standards. The Air NZ premium economy seats on the LA flights are a dream. Even their normal premium economy is a definite step up from economy (and not just a cm of extra leg room). I highly recommend Air NZ for anyone who desires customer satisfaction as part of their flying experience.

Very satisfactory flight, March 31, LA to Auckland. Especially nice as plane not full and flight staff moved us around to have max. room for long flight. Flight 28/4/13, 2 of staff in our area were very friendly, attentive, and gave excellent service.

I flew Auckland - LAX on 6 May and return 26 May. First flight was on 777-200 which was looking pretty tired but that's about the only criticism I have. Service, food, entertainment, crew and seats in business premier all to a very high standard. Return leg was on a 777-300 and, although similar, had a much fresher cabin, a bigger touch screen TV and a really good thick mattress which they put over the bed, plus two decent sized pillows. As seats they are nothing special with very limited settings but as a bed they are superb - fully flat, plenty long enough and much wider across the shoulder which makes a huge difference compared to say Qantas where you feel you are in a slim fit coffin with not enough room to turn over. Crew were friendly and professional on both flights, very generous with beverages and food of a very good quality, not a huge selection but that's a minor gripe.

LAX to LHR. Left on May 20th and returned on June 5th. I go out of my way to fly Air New Zealand especially on long flights. First class service in economy, great food and champagne can be ordered at no charge at any time, friendly staff. You are in good hands with this airline.

Tuesday 11th June, Christchurch to Melbourne on the 6.05 am flight. Boarding was a mish mash and those boarding last found the overhead lockers full. Carry on bags checked at gate for weight. FA's friendly and served with a smile. Frequent water runs during the flight. Again the A320 is cramped and you hope that the person in front of you doesn't put their seat back into the little space you have. Ok for a short over the Tasman Sea.

Friday 7th June. Melbourne to Christchurch. Paid for the seat only and took on hand luggage. Seat comfort is reasonable but it feels like you are sitting in a sardine can. Luckily the person in front of me didn't recline their seat for the 3.5 hour trip. FA's friendly and did frequent water runs. Was greeted by name as I boarded the flight.

Travelled Auckland to Port Vila this last weekend. For such a short hop to Vanuatu, all aspects of the flight were excellent. As this trip was for a long weekend travelled with hand luggage only. Crew on both sectors warm and welcoming, not to mention hardworking.

Sydney to DFW in Business Premium. 777 aircraft. 200 series between Sydney and Auckland. Very comfortable. Great food and very professional crew. Overnight flight to LAX on 300 series aircraft. Seat fantastic. Great inflight entertainment. The seat is amazing, slept for about 7 hours. Food very high quality. Have flown this route numerous times this year and Air New Zealand deliver each time. Will be nice when the 777 200 aircraft are updated to the 777 300 standard as the older cabins are getting a bit tired and worn. For a very comfortable flight across the pacific at a competitive price ANZ deliver.

Auckland to London via San Francisco and at the Auckland check-in they initially charged me 400$ for two extra bags, definitely higher than other companies. Furthermore, before going through the security they checked the carry on luggage weight so I had to go back to the check-in and pay 250$ for 7Kg excess of my trolley. In total they charged us 650$ (ridiculous). Staff at Auckland check-in were completely unqualified because they did not know how to deal with extra bags and they took the original copy of the excess baggage charges, so at San Francisco airport British airways charged us other 250$.

After booking a flight from Christchurch to London via Hong Kong last year, and being a long term Koru member, we received what I can only describe as very 3rd class attention. Our flight from Hong Kong to London was cancelled after ANZ dropped this route as being unprofitable prior to March this year (travelled in May). We had to make other arrangements as LA was not an option for us. The alternative offered was Cathay Pacific who provided a truly super service. However one of the reasons my wife and I choose ANZ internationally was to be able to use the lounge facilities in Hong Kong going out and in London Heathrow and Hong Kong returning. It just makes the 22 hour flight more bearable. However during the dropping of the London - Hong Kong sector, ANZ have made no alternative lounge facilities through any other airline and the code share at Hong Kong does not allow a guest since March this year. I understand the need to rationalise flight sectors, but the poor way ANZ staff handled the change in my case is very disappointing and not worthy of a so called 4 star airline. Our Next international flights will be with another carrier, some who offer complimentary lounge facilities and a genuine customer care attitude as a given.

We travelled on a 767 from Auckland to Shanghai last week business class. The seats were uncomfortable, if the seats were fully reclined in front. I had to climb over the next seat to get out, surely this is unsafe. This is a 12 hour flight with very poor meals, certainly worse than economy, in fact a fellow passenger, although business class elected to travel economy, because he had experience of this before and stated it was far more comfortable. The seats were very uncomfortable, service poor, entertainment nearly non existent. We originally booked through Virgin Atlantic and your airline was code sharing, what an insult to Virgin Atlantic. Their service and comfort was far superior on the second flight. I felt paying for business class for this substandard service was a complete "rip off" I certainly will never travel with Air New Zealand again and will advise others of this. I am well travelled and this is the worst flying experience ever.

A very disappointing experience, AKL-SFO. At check in they tried to seat our party of two in different rows (eventually rectified). Got onboard the ancient 747 to find that half the archaic IFE (which had very limited options as it was) wasn't working, so they had to reboot system (a long, drawn out procedure). Slow, disorganised service from the crew - very mixed bag, with some putting in the effort and others completely uninterested and even rude at times when requesting things such as tissues. Disgusting meal (first choice ran out in 7 rows), and missed for drink services twice by the Flight Services Manager! All in all, big let down and would reconsider paying the premium to fly on Air New Zealand for these long flights again.

Checked in at 8am for NZ135 to Brisbane, used Air NZ Premium Check-in area, then self service terminal and dropped bags off, all done in 5 mins, used private lift to Customs and security area, through very quickly! Entered a very busy Air NZ Lounge for B/fast and coffee, standard cold breakfast items but disappointed in hot food items. As we entered the gate area the flight had started to board, only 1 other going through priority boarding so very quick to board, shown to our seat, jackets taken, newspapers offered, also Champagne, fresh orange juice and water. Departed on time. Flight supervisor introduced himself to every passenger! Menu's handed out, To start, Fruit Smoothie or Fresh Juice, selection of cereals, fresh fruit and yoghurts, then offered croissants, Danish selection and toast with fruit Conserve. For the hot option I had the scrambled eggs and they were excellent I especially loved the mushroom ragout! To finish Coffee/Tea selection and hot Chocolate. Leather Seat is very comfortable and although for a short 3 hr flight. 10.4" personal Screen with everything you would need! Landed on time, crew were very friendly and efficient. All passengers were held back until Business class had all left, Brisbane customs not busy at all and went through very quickly leaving airport all in around 25 minutes!

SYD-AKL-LAX. Smooth flight from Sydney to Auckland. The flight was a little delayed in boarding at Sydney because the plane arrived late but still managed to keep me on schedule for my flight to LAX as I had a decent layover. Lunch served from SYD-AKL was actually pretty good and quite tasty for airplane food. Dinner served from AKL-LAX was not so good and took forever because I was at the very back of the plane. The service was ok but not amazing and some of the flight attendants were a bit cold. When boarding the plane, I had no one on hand to assist me in storing my bag in the overhead compartment, and I could have done with the assistance as I'm only 5'2". In-flight entertainment was good and had a large selection. Seating was comfy and had ample leg room. Overall, I wouldn't mind flying with them again.

AKL to HKG. 772. Midnight flight. Very strange that all cabin crews in economy class were all Asian males. Services were good, nice and friendly. After the meal, went straight to sleep. Have to say the seat was not bad at all. Managed to get some sleep. Landing was super.

Sydney to Auckland in Business. We had originally booked 'The Works' for the short hop over the Tasman but were offered 'One Up" to bid on an upgrade to Business Class. Our offer was accepted. This was the first time on Air New Zealand and we were suitably impressed with the service, food and beverage offers. We didn't take advantage of lying on the lie flat beds as it was a day flight. The safety video was entertaining and we could see that many passengers watched it, unlike on other airlines where they are ignored. The flight departed and arrived on time. The only criticism was boarding at Sydney. The departure lounge was packed and was adjacent to an A-380 flight departure. We had been in the ANZ lounge and on arrival at the gate (30 minutes before departure) the flight was already boarding and there was no visible Business Class priority lane. Boarding for all passengers appeared to be a bit of a dog's breakfast.

First time with Air New Zealand on a short hop from Wellington to Auckland. Old B733 but well maintained and with comfortable seating. Loved the safety video. Smart looking crew very efficiently managed to serve a drink (coffee, tea, water) and a snack during this short domestic flight. Ground staff made me check-in my carry-on as it was 1 kg over the weight limit. Wish they would enforce this with all travellers as other passengers brought large pieces of luggage on board. Flight about double the price than Jetstar on same route and as a QF Platinum will give my business to Jetstar in the future. This one time NZ booking was done due to flight times as I needed to catch an international flight from Auckland.

Flew to London from Los Angeles round-trip on Air New Zealand and it was a wonderful experience. The attendants kept us fed and hydrated, there was plenty to do on the in flight entertainment console, I was reasonably comfortable in coach. I'd happily fly with them again.

We travelled on flight 136 Wednesday 15 May BNE-AKL. We sat in row 55. On entering the cabin the temperature was cool and not long after takeoff the temperature dropped to 'very cold'. Other passengers were clearly noticing the same because there was a large request for blankets. On asking the flight attendant if the cabin temp could be turned up we were told "yes when we get down the back of the plane after serving the meals. We know its cold because everyone else has already told us". An hour and a half later it was still freezing. It only began to warm up half an hour out of Auckland. We have constantly supported AirNZ however this would be the worst flight we have had with the airline. One of our inflight entertainment screens wouldn't work and no headset was left at that seat. The cost of our seats covered the meal, baggage and inflight entertainment.

Sydney-Auckland-Christchurch on 777-200 Business Premier and A320 on domestic leg. Lounge in Sydney very busy but as usual good selection off food and drink. Priority boarding was fast and efficient; Flight was excellent with great service from the crew. Have done Tasman sector a few times and food is the same, great selection of high quality NZ wines. The 777-200 was showing signs of wear and tear. Staff service was friendly and was a great flight from Sydney. Auckland to Sydney was on a Tasman configured A320, lounge in Auckland was good with a good selection of breakfast and coffee from their Barista services. Flight was quick and was impressed that one crew member had remembered me from previous flights. Onetime and excellent service.

We booked a "flexi-plus" internal flight AKL-CHC with ANZ. Our international Emirates flight was late so we phoned from Sydney to say that we would miss it and would take a later flight. Although we had flexi-plus tickets "no service fees or fare difference will apply to flight changes made at the airport on the day of departure where changing to an earlier or later flight departing that day" they insisted we pay another £250.

I have flown with Air New Zealand for several years and have always found their service wonderful. That was not the case with my last flight to Hawaii. I felt like a number and some people received food and some did not. In my case my husband did and I didn't because of a new system of paying for food and even a drink of juice. For an international flight I think this is a terrible system which lead to a great deal of confusion and uncomfortableness for both the passengers and the flight crew. The different food services caused me to feel uncared for and undervalued as a customer.

Flew Wellington-San Francisco (via Auckland). Bought the upgrade to premium economy and it was well worth it. The personal and friendly service was the best we have experienced. Cabin was immaculate, everything worked, the seats were comfortable and reasonably new.

Flew from Shanghai to Auckland and then onwards to Wellington. Staff were extremely friendly and the food was lovely, particularly compared with the Virgin food we had on the leg from Heathrow. All the fittings worked and were in good condition, the leg room was fine (I'm 1.84m tall).

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