"suggest avoiding Air New Zealand"
Branko Passauer (New Zealand)
✅ Trip Verified | I had a concerning experience with Air New Zealand. It seems they prioritize cost-cutting over customer satisfaction, as they will try to switch you to a cheaper flight whenever possible. I was put in this situation and had no choice but to accept the change if I wanted to get back home. Moreover, I received poor treatment from their staff, which was disappointing and almost discriminatory. Their customer service did not address my concerns adequately. I suggest avoiding Air New Zealand and suggest looking at other airlines like Qantas or Jetstar.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Auckland to Melbourne |
Date Flown | March 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Never fly with them again!
W Lee (Australia)
✅ Trip Verified | I travelled with Air Newland a number of times in the past and was generally happy with their service. But I was very disappointed this time when I took my parents to South Island. We paid over A$700 for return tickets, during the 3 hours flights, we had to buy the food and drink ourselves. It looks that Air NZ is so desperate for money and greedy. In addition, the services provided were just as the budget airlines. Never fly with them again!
Aircraft | A330 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Sydney to Christchurch |
Date Flown | March 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"A comfortable flight"
4 reviews Jane Laidlaw (Australia)
✅ Trip Verified | A comfortable flight in a well appointed aircraft. Great range of TV and movies. Staff professional and regularly offering water. We had paid more than the Jetstar offering and you do get what you pay for. We had booked “the works” meaning meals and entertainment were included. Staff were visible, great in seeing who did not and who did have the works
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Rarotonga to Sydney via Auckland |
Date Flown | February 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"Poor communication"
S Borena (Spain)
✅ Trip Verified | 5.5 hour delay. Poor communication. No vouchers offered. Customer service only offered apologies, which is acceptable for 2 hour delay but this is ridiculous
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Melbourne to Auckland |
Date Flown | January 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
“An incredibly painful process”
G Harvey (New Zealand)
Not Verified | An incredibly painful process. I understand that people are very busy, but the wait times were so long that my case was passed around multiple agents and it felt like they came to the case without paying any attention to the messages that had already transpired. It did not feel like the agents had taken time to read what had already been discussed and the information I was being given was inconsistent depending on who I was talking to. I have lost time and money in this process and have come away feeling very frustrated. If you didn't have a monopoly on air travel in NZ, you would have lost a customer today.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Christchurch to Los Angeles |
Date Flown | December 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"again I am disappointed"
J Nowacki (New Zealand)
Not Verified |
Unfortunately again I am disappointed. Flight to Tokyo was delayed due to technical condition of the plane. Return- cancelled with no support (no alternative flight, explanation, etc). Helpline not working. Eventually I managed to book a flight with Quantas to avoid being stuck in Tokyo on my own cost - good I have insurance. Never again as in previous flights to NY ANZ did similar thing.
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Auckland to Tokyo |
Date Flown | January 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"flight credit rather than a refund"
S Provis (Australia)
Not Verified | Booked flights and the airline cancelled my ticket. all I got was flight credit rather than a refund, now the prices have gone up and I have to pay almost double for the same flights I originally purchased.
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Brisbane to Queenstown |
Date Flown | February 2023 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
“customer service was abysmal”
Lisa Pere (New Zealand)
Not Verified | My son was on NZ8161 to Gisborne on 15/1/24. We PAID extra as he was an unaccompanied minor - Harlan Pere. Hes 11 [his brother was travelling with him but he is 13]. Checked in for the flight at special assistance as normal. Flight was slightly delayed. Then flight was called. Lined the boys up in the line but was very surprised as all their previous flights - [a couple of times a year for the last several years] unaccompanied minors have been called first. EVERY SINGLE TIME! When the boys got to the gate and swiped their boarding passes, that's when the gate agent realised there was a minor on the flight. Kelly, the most unprofessional, rude and disgustingly inept gate agent I have ever met, then decided the boys needed to stand to the side and be boarded last. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE! When we queried why they weren't called first Kelly informed me that Air NZ never calls for unaccompanied minors before a flight and she had never done this in her 8 years working there. THIS IS A LIE! When I asked to speak to a supervisor she said she was the supervisor. When I asked for someone higher up to make a complaint Kelly told me she was the highest person. When I asked for the name of her supervisor so I could make a complaint she refused to give me this information as well as her last name. All of this was getting very loud - she was just as loud, and I had to tell her several times to listen to what I was saying and not talk over me. At this stage there is approx 200 people in the AIR NZ departure lounge listening to this heated discussion. As well as the boys who were confused why there were being held back. No one explained it to them from Air NZ. I went back to the Special assistance desk and they pointed me to the Premium check in desk and I spoke to Marianne - Team Manager - who listened and confirmed that Kellys behaviour, attitude and customer service was abysmal. Several people I don't know came up to me after and said it was shocking and I should complain about Kelly and her incompetent service. Mariana did her best to listen but Kelly is disgraceful. I have paid extra for this service, been lied to, been yelled at, been dismissed and made to feel like we were the issue as we didnt bring him up sooner when we were never informed by Special Assistance this was now a requirement. If the policy has changed [which Mariana confirmed hadn't] or Kelly didn't pick up there were unaccompanied Minors on the flight all she had to do was apologise and say a mistake was made. Not flat out argue and lie in front of 200 people that she was right and MINORS HAVE NEVER BEEN called in her 8 years doing the job.
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Auckland to GIsborne |
Date Flown | January 2024 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"certainly will not fly them again"
T Wartin (United States)
✅ Trip Verified | I would strongly recommend avoiding Air New Zealand if possible. I certainly will not fly them again - my experience was so poor that I will go so far as to change my travel plans to avoid flying with them. My first concern is the nickel and diming that this greedy airline does for its customer. In fact, I say Air New Zealand is worse than Spirit Airline in this regard. Your ticket gets you a seat only - you need to pay extra for a suitcase, a seat to ensure you and anyone you are traveling with can sit together (yes, they will separate you even if you purchase tickets together), and changes (even if the other flight has open seats). My second concern is the abysmal customer service. Gate agents are unable to help and require you to leave security for any and all questions. My gate agent was lovely enough to yell at me that she would not be able to help me before I even asked my question (I wish I was exaggerating). My experience with the help desk was worse. I waited for 10 minutes as two free agents refused to help the line. I also had two separate agents help men before me who walked up to the desk after those of us in line had already been waiting 10+ minutes. When I did finally get them to be willing to help me, they refused to answer my question of how much it would cost to switch flights to an earlier one. Their response was a condescending, “too much, hun. Your flight is only in two hours. Why don’t you just wait?” My third complaint is the lack of respect to inform customers of delays in a timely manner. My flight was supposed to board at 1:40 pm. At 1:35 pm, we were informed that the previously flight was arriving late and we would be delayed by an hour. Note, they had also known about this for at least 45 minutes, but refused to share the information.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Christchurch to Auckland |
Date Flown | December 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"flight was superb"
A Richmond-Rex (Niue)
✅ Trip Verified | I'd booked air NZ being Koru but I ended up paying 75Euro from Dublin so this was disappointing hence the one point down instead of 10 which is very generous as Koru isn't cheap. I flew along way and still flying (Air NZ) tomorrow to get to my island roughly 33 hours flying. Anyhow, to the NZ27 flight - from the get go the Male Purser/Manager was fantastic. All staff in economy treated you like you mattered which is rare. Spoilt throughout the night to have staff come down the aisles asking if wanted a snack and water, and then attended when you requested another drink. The rapport already with customers excellent esp. with families - massive credit to the empathy and compassion to accommodate and treat your clients like each one mattered. The ability for me to connect to do my work over the 15.5 hour flight was superb and the fact we didn't have to pay internet was a great Xmas treat. Thank you so much for restoring faith in the airline (albeit it's fine re: the Koru thing) but just the service. Fakaue lahi mahaki/Thank you.
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Chicago to Auckland |
Date Flown | November 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |