Air New Zealand

A recent flight on Air New Zealand's night time service to Singapore left me thinking this airline is more and more becoming a lost cost airline than an actual low cost airline. Arrived early at the airport to be greeted by one very helpful person who referred me onto service agents. The first lady was ignorant and could not care less about acknoeledging those waiting while helping others. Then went to somone else even more useless who informed me no I cannot check luggage through as they don't code share with the carrier I was due to travel from Singapore to Hanoi which was ridiculous considering both Air NZ and that airline share the same terminal in Singapore and also the same transer counters. Checking in these days on multiple flights on seperate tickets is possible all over the world, obviously not at Air New Zealand. Much more assistance provided by Changi airport staff than by Air New Zealand. The aircraft a fairly new 787 was tight in economy due to squeezing in as many seats as possible including its overvalued sky couch. Food and beverage way below par compared to other four star airlines. No bread roll,jam and butter for breakfast and scrambled eggs run out after 9th row of economy with the rest getting some tasteless noodles with not much though having gone into their menu where most passengers are european. Avoid this Airline if you can at all costs

Hong Kong to Auckland overnight flight with Air New Zealand. Wide selection of entertainment options on AVOD, and it is great to be able to watch gate to gate. Dinner and breakfast served, both meals delicious. Frequent water runs during flight and washrooms kept clean. The only downside is the seat comfort and spacing-10 abreast seating makes it very tight indeed. Overall enjoyable flight experience.

✅ Verified Review | Auckland to Houston. A thoroughly enjoyable flight, with a very competent crew in the business class. Food was sublime, as was the service. A good range of snacks were available during the night, plus tea or coffee. Breakfast options were comprehensive. We arrived on time in Houston.

✅ Verified Review | Air New Zealand is one of the best in business class. The staff are exceptional, caring and have everything down to perfection. The menu is restaurant quality and flat beds allow for a decent sleep. I have just arrived in Auckland on NZ5 from Los Angeles and I wish to thank the staff for their wonderful help and care.

Wellington to London via Hong Kong. I am a Kiwi expat, have lived in London for 17 years and have used Air New Zealand many times over the years when returning to NZ to see family. I have to say that gradually, over time, I believe the airline has fallen into the trap of believing its own PR. The first thing you hear when you get on a flight these days is about the latest award the airline has won. While there have been upgrades over the years to the fleet, in-flight entertainment and recently check-in procedures (more on this later), the personal touch and focus on service that made the airline stand out, are no longer as obvious and seem to be replaced with a slightly superior cockiness that is not that attractive. Over recent flights Air New Zealand have dropped a brand new solid suitcase on its corner, stoving it in. When I complained (which was extremely time consuming and difficult), I was told the suitcase still works fine so Air New Zealand were not going to offer anything by way of remediation. Lost our luggage between Auckland and Wellington (via the high tech new check-in procedure). When I registered concern on the return flight I was told by a cocky attendant that Air New Zealand doesn't lose luggage so I must have been on another airline!). Ironically when we registered our lost luggage we were in a not insignificant queue and the ground staff gave the impression that this was a very frequent event. On my last trip, 4 out of 6 flights on the return journey from London to Wellington were late, one of which arrived very late in Auckland which required a group of transferring passengers to run from domestic to international to make the next flight. This caused stress and anxiety. While I am sure Air New Zealand would say that some of the causal factors are out of its control, I think it is the general air of disinterest mixed with self congratulatory arrogance that puts me off the most. Will I continue to use Air New Zealand - well possibly because the network of flights to and from the UK is generally very convenient in terms of door to door elapsed travel time. But I certainly don't feel as patriotic and loyal towards the airline as I used to and I certainly check out other flight options a lot more than I used to.

✅ Verified Review | I was absolutely shocked and disgusted to discover on my 3hr 50mins flight from Queenstown to Brisbane no meal was provided. For an international flight you are offered water, tea or coffee. Not even a snack. When I queried the flight attendant she made me feel like an idiot for not knowing. Travelling with a 5 and 6 year old and not being prepared for the fact there would be no food supplies was not fun! I will never travel with Air New Zealand again.

Flew Air New Zealand from Auckland to Bali. The cabin was freezing. After 3 blankets and the pilot putting the temp up I could hear other passengers in business class complaining about cold feet etc. I was dressed for Auckland winter. My sister-in-law had the same prob from Brisbane. Staff were very nice.

✅ Verified Review | Efficient airline, but getting a feeling that the personal touch is sacrificed in the name of convenience. Awful (non-existent) food and drinks. You can preselect seats. Anything in front is "preferred seats" and it is very difficult for those with Seats Only or Seats + Bags option to purchase them. Preferred seats are $10 one way and standard seats $5. You have to pay a surcharge if booked via cards. Check in is always done by automated kiosks with no exceptions allowed. You will require assistance if you are non-machine literate or not conversant in using English. I noticed large tour group from China required a Chinese-speaking staff to press the kiosk screens to check in for them. Then you drop the bag onto the continuously running conveyor belt yourself, with poorly designed ergonomics. Also it doesn't matter if you are elite or Koru Club members - you still drop the bags yourself. There are still agents at the gate (for the time being). Boarding is done through rows in order. Often if you are sitting at rows 16 or over you are required to exit the airbridge halfway, climb down stairs walk over the tarmac and reboard via stairs at the rear door. The seats are standard, with pitch left to the bare minimum. They are often rather dirty as well. Safety demonstration is by videos. It is often slick marketing that does not really impart information easily enough to passengers especially non-English speaking ones. Inflight you are offered a cookie or crisp with only tea, coffee, or mineral water. No meals or hot snacks are available. If you fly during Koru Hours (before 8 am and 4:30 pm to 7 pm) you get cheese and crackers instead of cookies and crisps and beer and wine are available as additional options. Breakfast fare is muffins. Staff are friendly - which is the only redeeming feature. Almost all flights between Christchurch and Wellington use the ATR-72 these days which means you walk in the rain on the tarmac on wet days, plus greater chance of weather-related delays, and reduced comfort level due to narrower seats and much smaller overhead lockers. The rationale is to offer "hourly service given the current level of demand". This is a defacto hybrid carrier - not really a full service unlike Cathay Pacific or even Qantas. Decision-makers listen to what some business travellers (not all) want, yet they ended up making a the majority unhappy. Overall, I will pick Air New Zealand for domestic flights just because they are the only airline offering reasonable schedules. The only competitor (Jetstar) offers only a few flights per day and on main trunk routes only plus a few turboprop flights. However I will actively go out of my way to avoid Air New Zealand when flying internationally.

✅ Verified Review | Service and amenities great. Meal service lousy. Seems the finance-wallahs run rampant at Air NZ nowadays based on the (vegetarian) meal service provided - salad, roll and shrink wrapped brownie aside, hot dinner was just sauteed peppers and eggplant on rice. Mean spirited and pretty lazy menu planning. Still at least I did not have to suffer the bog standard butter chicken that seems to appear on every flight. At breafast time my meal was inadvertently given to another passenger leaving me with no hot dish until crew were able to source something from business class - but only after service was finished in J class. Got my meal 30 minutes before landing. Crew very apologetic for the slip up and did their best to put it right. Other than that, the crew make Air NZ, else its a pretty ordinary airline and a far cry from how great it used to be. Lounge great at Auckland and staff service at premium check-in exemplary in checking bags all the way thrgh to Ottawa via Houston and Newark (what is with the self service kiosks at premium check in? Hardly premium).

✅ Verified Review | Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City. The aircraft itself was quite old (it is the oldest among Air New Zealand fleet). The Western food was excellent, but the Vietnamese food was not as authentic. The flight attendant surprised me a bit when speaking simple Vietnamese to me. Staff were friendly, yet not very attentive. Comparing with the price among all other airlines (involving transit), Air NZ is the best airline so far that fly from Auckland to Vietnam.