AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 16 July 2008 : by B Smith

Customer Rating : 4/5

LAX-LHR return, Business. The outbound flight was excellent. Nice lounge at LAX. Orderly boarding. Inflight service first rate. Flat bed seats explained by FA's. On the return flight there was a mechanical problem, then a weather delay which caused us to be over 2 hours late in departing. Cabin service on this flight was poor. No explanation of the seats to the passengers, no coffee or tea refills. The arrival at LAX was chaotic because we could not deplane at Terminal 2 and had to be bussed into Tom Bradley Terminal from a remote stand. The passengers continuing on to AKL now had to find their way back to Terminal 2. Air New Zealand is a good carrier that could be great. They need to pay attention to the comments on this site where the inconsistent quality of in flight service is often mentioned.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 12 July 2008 : by S Miller

Customer Rating : 3/5

SYD-CHC-SYD Business Class. The flight to Christchurch was delayed 3 hours due to a technical fault. The flight and cabin crew did a good job of keeping us informed. Air New Zealand ground staff made alternative arrangements for those passengers with connecting flights. Once we took off, service was good, friendly and enthusiastic crew. Balancing a portable DVD player on the tray table while eating lunch was a bit difficult. Baggage came quickly at CHC. The return flight was uneventful, departed on time, although the cabin crew were not quite as enthusiastic as the first flight, although the quality of the food was slightly better. Arrived in Sydney 20 minutes early. Would have been a 4 star trip other than the long delay.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 12 July 2008 : by X Iyer

Customer Rating : 3/5

MEL-AKL, PMR-AKL-MEL. MEL-AKL good, long haul aircraft (continuing AKL-SFO) so fantastic IFE, seating, legroom. Very pleaseD with product. Other pax on NZ seem to be the most demanding and irritating I've ever had to fly with. PMR-AKL fantastic, ATR-720 aircraft with lower cruising altitude giving us views of Mt Rupehu. AKL-MEL On 767-300 disappointed at the lack of IFE and my seat wouldn't recline. Cabin crew collected headsets 45 minutes prior to landing which seemed ridiculous to me. All in all, average experience, not fitting of the reviews I've read here.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 7 July 2008 : by Bert Morris

Customer Rating : 5/5

Air NZ took us from Brisbane to Auckland and then on to Los Angeles. Lay flat seats on Air NZ across the Pacific. On both these long legs we had 747's first sector and 777's second.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 5 July 2008 : by John Munns

Customer Rating : 5/5

First time on Air New Zealand MEL-AKL-HKG-LHR. Very long flight but service excellent from all three crews and meals great. Recommend Premium Economy seats as bigger than average passenger, good leg room and recline. Worth the extra cost. From my observations service good to other passengers as well.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 27 June 2008 : by Neil Ramsay

Customer Rating : 5/5

Sydney to Rarotonga and back via Auckland. Clean 767's, reasonable seat pitch, good food, standard IFE and friendly crews. Flight out uneventful. Flight back delayed 12 hours due to crew sickness in LAX. By the time we got to Auckland, we and lots of other pax had missed last available connecting flights. But Air NZ had everything well organised with busses ready to take us for an overnighter at an airport hotel soon after landing. Dinner, breakfast and return shuttles to the airport the next morning for our rebooked flights were also organised.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 17 June 2008 : by Geoffrey Earl

Customer Rating : 4/5

AKL-BNE return in business class. Both sectors on a 747-400 - a plane with a feeling of spaciousness. Cabin crew, food and service acceptable and up to the standard one would expect with this airline. In my opinion, the only drawback with this airline is the awful angle seating plan in business class. Talking to other passengers or your family seems to be taboo, so you just sit there like dummies all in a line with your feet sticking out! Also too bad if you want to look out the window as a sore neck is likely to be the end result. The sooner Air New Zealand go back to a simple 2 by 2 layout the better. And I know many other passengers agree with this comment. I hope Mr Fyfe, the CEO, take these comments on board!

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 17 June 2008 : by Steve Hayes

Customer Rating : 4/5

AKL-SFO-AKL 777-200ER. Leg up to SFO was in Business Premier. Service was good and attentive, the bed was good but firm, though I find asking for and extra duvet to use as a mattress helps lift the comfort level of the lie flat beds in Business Premier. Return in Economy. Lucky enough to get three seats to lie out and sleep. The pitch while good compared with other airlines is still tight, especially if you want to look at a movie and the seat in front is fully reclined. Onboard concierge proved to be very useful to me in sorting out a query.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 17 May 2008 : by P McLean

Customer Rating : 4/5

Boeing 777 200ER YVR/AKL return. First leg in Business (airpoints upgrade from prem economy). Flight and service first rate. Lie flat bed excellent. IFE great. Code shared Air Canada Maple lounge at Vancouver is average with very little food but adequate seating, drinks, reading material and internet access. Return journey was premium economy. AKL business checkin was busy but efficient and friendly. Usual rigid side seats are tight widthwise but legroom ok although I had a bulkhead and thus not able to put my feet under a seat in front for a bit of extra stretch. Food and service excellent. IFE fine. Bathroom access fine and no lineups. Flights were both extremely full - a problem for people trying to get upgrades using their airpoints. Air NZ have to watch that they dont burn off customers who cant buy Prem economy (because so few seats available and limited number of flights) or cant get upgrades due to too full flights. 4 stars because of narrow prem economy seats and lack of availability of upgrades.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 16 May 2008 : by Chris Cook

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR-HKG-LHR in Economy Class. The seat pitch is very good although the seats themselves became very hard on the backside after about 2 hours in the recline position! IFE one of the best I've come across with over 40 movies and TV, games and audio channels. The food was excellent with dinner, snack and breakfast outbound and brunch, snack and lunch inbound. FAs were mostly HK and UK based (with a couple of French nationals) who were pleasant and efficient. Altogether, a thoroughly enjoyable experience and Air NZ definitely gets my recommendation.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 30 April 2008 : by Elizabeth Bell

Customer Rating : 4/5

Auckland-Brisbane return business premier and Auckland-Adelaide return business class. The Brisbane flights were on a 747-400 and were excellent. Friendly and efficient FAs, good food and wine. Enjoy the new layout and being able to sit with one's feet up during takeoff and landing. Sometimes the foldaway tables have a mind of their own. Adelaide flights were on A320. Not only a smaller plane but these flights are operated by an AirNZ subsidiary, Zeal320 Ltd, the company that used to operate its budget airline, Freedomair. As others have said this business class service is not up to scratch. FAs are friendly enough, but not the same calibre as full AirNZ crew. The food is not as good and wines are inferior. If you have a choice go for 747-400, 777 or even the aging 767 which has a more comfortable business class section. The fares are the same, but the service is definitely not.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 30 April 2008 : by D Nelson

Customer Rating : 4/5

LAX-LHR; LHR-HKG; HKG-AKL; AKL-MEL; SYD-ZQN; AKL-LAX RTW fare on Air New Zealand. First 3 long hauls on 747-400 and last one on 777-200 - in Business Class. Long haul flights were comfortable with good food and service - overall 4 star. Planes were full but good personal attention on all but 1 flight. FAs personable and professional. Flight deck crew did very good job of communication. AVOD system top notch with no glitches. ANZ Koru lounges were excellent. The Red Carpet lounge shared at LHR is dreadful. Check-in was good at all airports. We liked the business seats just fine. Others have complained about not being able to see out window at angle, but this was OK sacrifice for privacy and sleep comfort. Interesting on last long haul, they have started with nicer amenity kits (cloth instead of plastic) and better linens. Would have no hesitation flying with ANZ on transPacific long hauls in the future. The trans-Tasman flights on A-320 were OK, but not worth the extra $$ if I was not on RTW fare.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 30 April 2008 : by Otto Huhta

Customer Rating : 5/5

Hong Kong to Auckland return. The service was excellent, food was good and the video screen in front of you was good. The only negative thing would be the passengers in front of us who couldn't keep their seats in one position for over two minutes at a time. Their prices on the Hong Kong-Auckland route were the best ones we could get.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 29 April 2008 : by I Ervin

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR-HKG-AKL return. Flew Economy class. All flights on time, enough seat/leg space. Good in-flight entertainment. Good food. Friendly staff. Plane was a little tatty (seats, carpet etc) but I've seen worse. All in all considering it was one of the cheapest options, I was very impressed.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 28 April 2008 : by Wane Pulford

Customer Rating : 3/5

Business Hamilton to Gold Coast. Seat width good, recline & footrest poor. Small bland meal, advertised IFE not available. Staff not friendly. A totally underwhelming experience. Business class on A320 business not up to standard.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 23 April 2008 : by N McKay

Customer Rating : 4/5

BNE-AKL-LAX return in economy class. On the 2 long haul flights and one short haul we had the new 777-200ER planes and a newly refitted 747-400 on other short haul flight. The seat pitch was OK for someone 6 foot tall. The inflight entertainment system on all legs was very good, a top quality AVOD system with many choices. The food was tasty for airplane food. Price was very good.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 23 April 2008 : by John Wilson

Customer Rating : 5/5

LHR-HKG-LHR. Outbound Economy, return Premium Economy on Boeing 747-400. Outbound to Hong Kong - boarding in row order so no scrum. The economy seat was fine for comfort and legroom was excellent. Excellent entertainment system which was on demand. Loads of films, TV channels, radio channels and CD's. Nice food with snacks available from galley mid flight. Bag was on the carousel by the time I got to it. Return in Premium Economy excellent. The only criticism of the whole trip was the slightly narrow seat for Premium Economy, kept banging elbows with the person next to me. Aside from that great legroom and seat recline. Service excellent - welcome drink of sparkling wine or fruit juice on boarding, Four course breakfast, midflight sandwiches and cakes and a four course meal towards the end of the flight. Bar service on demand and great New Zealand wines. FAs on both flights very friendly and helpful.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 23 April 2008 : by J Kneijber

Customer Rating : 3/5

Trans-Tasman Business class Hamilton to Coolangatta on A320. New Route for the airline which explains distinctly underwhelming experience. Food was bland & poorly presented - have had better in economy on other airlines. Advertised entertainment was not available. Business seat width was excellent however the recline & footrest were poor. Staff surly who appeared to resent any requests. Not worth the extra money for a short 3 and half hour flight. Short haul services are not this airlines strong point.

AIR NEW ZEALAND review : 22 April 2008 : by M McCandless

Customer Rating : 1/5

If Air New Zealand passengers flying long haul are in transit in the US , particularly Los Angeles airport, you are subject to American Customs regulations. So any legitimate duty free purchase bought by you either in Auckland, London, or on the aircraft itself, for consumption in NZ or the UK may be in breach of American Custom limits, eg. 1 litre bottle of spirit will be confiscated. This is exactly what happened to a family member recently when in transit at Los Angeles airport, on flight NZ2, where he bought 1 litre of expensive spirit as a gift in Auckland and had it confiscated by US airport officials. This is contrary to the advice given by ANZ to their passengers on the ANZ website, ie. "There is no requirement to complete the (US) Customs form when in transit." My advice to people flying NZ1 and NZ2 is simply don't buy any duty free, because you may find yourselves seriously out of pocket and left with the feeling that you have been robbed.

Air New Zealand review - by Andrew Mair

15 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Interesting to note customer comments about HK to AKL cabin crew older and surly. Must have been the same people who were on my flight. They were gruff and unhelpful who never raised a smile. On all the other flights, the cabin crew couldn't have been more helpful and friendly. I went from AKLLAX, LAXLHR, LHRHKG, HKGAKL all premium. Due to my booking being last minute I paid quite a high amount, in that respect it wasn't worth the extra money.

Air New Zealand review - by Haider Burkhard

15 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

WLG-AKL-RAR. Domestic 737 only 76cm seat pitch, very poor. AKL-RAR 777 Business Class cold cabin. Small 3 course meal, FlatBed good for Business Class.

Air New Zealand review - by R Wells

12 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Hong Kong to LHR March 2008. Picked up flight on route to LHR from Auckland at HKG. Premier Economy - paid for comfort, space and quiet as well as service. Beware seats H & K27 ON 747-400.

Air New Zealand review - by Greg Ward

5 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-LAX-AKL-WLG. LHR-LAX leg was okay. Beware of the bulkhead seats however if you're wider than average. I found it quite uncomfortable and had to move after an hour or so. Thankfully, there was space to do that. The armrests are immobile in those seats and if in the aisle seat, everyone passing by is guaranteed to hit your TV screen. The quality of the IFE is exceptional. The food was better than expected. However, be careful of coffee cups during turbulence! My only problem with Air NZ is that the recline of the seats is ridiculous. The lumbar support when reclined, pushed my back into unnatural angles. I had to sit with my seatback up. When the passenger in front of me reclined, the screen was about 4 inches from my face. The staff were friendly and helpful. If you have the option to pre-book your seats, be sure to do so. Most of the flights are full and rows 65 & 66 towards the window, seemed the most comfortable. Keep away from the seats near the galley as the light will be keep you awake, although the staff do their best to minimise it. On the way over, the dedicated customs facility in LAX was closed so we went through the central one. That was fine. In AKL, the 10 min walk to the domestic terminal was very welcome. If you go on to AKL to LHR (or vice versa) on the same plane, LAX will be a real test of your patience. On the way back, LAX was a joke! Queuing in a corridor waiting for a surly customs official to stamp my passport. 2 hours between flights. Queued for 80 mins. Transfer lounge for 10 and back on the plane 30 mins before take off. A numbered ticket system would work much better. LHR customs & officers much better than LAX. On returning, if leaving from AKL, make sure you pay your NZ$25 departure fee before you go through customs, otherwise, you'll have to go back and start again. Plane home full and much hotter. Again, flight crew friendly and helpful. Food better than expected. Overall I was happy with the flight. However, if I was doing it all again, I would pay the premium and go for premium economy.

Air New Zealand review - by Kevin Tunnicliffe

4 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-AKL via Hong Kong return, Business Class. London to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to London the service from cabin crew was first class. Strangely on the Hong Kong - Auckland and Auckland - Hong Kong sectors the service was markedly less so with surly, much older cabin crew on each leg. Had I only experienced the Hong Kong - Auckland flights I may have determined never to fly this airline again despite the excellent seats and good food and beverages. The best seats are in rows 1 to 7, as these are in the nose of the plane and have far more personal room. Avoid being seated in business class upstairs on the 747 as the cabin is cramped and the only toilets shared with premium economy, which makes for long queues.

Air New Zealand review - by J Wright

1 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LAX-AKL-NAN-LAX Business Class and on multiple intra-NZ flights. If only domestic US carriers were as good. Clean, modern planes, very good food, and first-rate kiwi wines. Flatbed seats were very comfortable, and service was excellent.

Air New Zealand review - by Alan Parker

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-HKG-AKL return Premium Economy. A real mixed bag. LHR-HKG one of the best flights - seats 23H/K upstairs in a 747. Seemed we got the same service as Business, no economy seating upstairs. Food and seat space excellent. The crew, a mixture of young Kiwi and Scottish staff, were exceptional. HKG- AKL downstairs in 27A/C. Very noisy flight, crew disinterested and just disappeared for 3 hours. One business class customer described them as "surly". AKL-HKG Because we changed our travel plans we could only get economy seats to HKG. No refund but ANZ charged us for making changes even though their Auckland call centre said they had be waived. Flight packed and we had the disappearing crew issue again. Economy seating poor and cramped compared with Singapore/Thai etc. Food truly awful! HKG-LHR Back in 23H/K so much better however the crew waited 8.5 hours to put on a bar service, there was clearly some supply problem as even Business Class did not get any drinks. Crew disappeared again! Air NZ is a good airline let down by some staff and inflexibility when making even simple changes. Premium economy seat has great space, but is too narrow.

Air New Zealand review - by Alex Mackay

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-LAX-LHR out in economy, back in premium. Check in at LHR was quick. Good selection of films and other entertainment and good food served with frequent drinks runs and an open snack bar once the main meal service had been completed. LAX processing also quick with no real issues or delays! Check in for return leg was quick with some delays getting through to the departure area - read the signs and listen to what you are being told. Premium Economy is a much better service than economy.