Air New Zealand

Flew on a B767-300 Short Haul. The food drink and service was substantially better than Economy with Air NZ which was excellent as I would rate Air NZ economy service highly. Great selection of modern movies and shows with IFE. The seat while dated was sufficiently comfortable for my 6'3 build. However people who have a slightly larger girth may struggle with the seat. Moving past another passenger from the window seat was also a tricky situation. However overall a very pleasant experience would certainly recommend.

My first trip to NZ what a disappointment. Our economy seats were cramped indeed claustrophobic as the passengers in front insisted on having their seats fully reclined for the majority of both legs of the journey to Auckland effectively preventing use of the inflight entertainment system. The cabin temperature was very cool and we were advised by staff that this was ongoing problem with this particular aircraft. The food quality was at best average comparable to budget airlines servicing Europe. That said the selection of wines offered is very good. The first leg of the return journey was made more bearable by purchasing a Skycouch option but should one have to do this on an ultra long distance flight? Reluctantly we will have to consider other carriers for our next trip.

SYD-RAR NZ60 with a purchased one up. Being an old 767 seats were comfortable enough but nothing to write home about. Generally overall disappointing and have had better seats food and service in Y+ on 773. There was no amenity pack supplied and I had to ask for a toothbrush. That said staff themselves were friendly enough if not overtly taking the initiative with food and drinks!

NZ745 RAR-AKL then NZ709 AKL-SYD both in Y. Full-ish flights and friendly enough crews. F&B were good as far as they went but service was slow with an apparent reluctance to offer more than 1 drink with the works. Seats were bog standard Y for 320 but it does seem that seats on all airlines in Y get smaller as I get older! As a use of Airpoints this was good value for money.

Bought the upgrade for the Premium Economy seats on the 300 Series plane from Auckland to LAX and was ill from the heat. Flight attendants shared that these planes continually have issues with heat - and our video screen had messages from the "pilot" apologizing throughout the flight. I walked the length of the plane and found that some areas were okay but my guesstimate of 84+ degrees F in the area I was seated was not the only one getting cooked. I reached overhead for my laptop and one point and discovered that the storage area was significantly hotter than that! Miserable flight.

MEL-CHC-WLG on A320. Booked and paid for Exit Row seats on the Works and it was fantastic. Seats were ok but extra legroom a real advantage. Water offered after take off and then given a choice of a frittata with bacon and sausages or a healthy fruit breakfast. The flight team were great and had a laugh with the passengers. Movies were also great to watch and the inflight system with movies and map a gem. Arrived in Christchurch on time and went through customs etc. Collected bag and walked to domestic terminal for flight to Wellington. Lounge in Christchurch was great. Excellent choice of food and drinks. Boarded flight to Wellington on an old 737-300 which was in pristine condition. Crew were great on what turned out to be a 25 min flight. Overall a great flight with an excellent team. Just hope they can get rid of the "self" check in arrangements at most airports. Go back to some personalised service.

NZ90 777-200 from Japan to Auckland. Business class. Plane was almost on time departing. Food was dreadful - in the last 18 months the food on AIR NZ has taken a serious nosedive - dinner so poor that I didn't bother with breakfast. Service was the usual indifference. Entertainment system is a joke and the plane is grubby. Only good thing is the lie flat bed - best approach when flying on the 777-200 is to eat at the airport then lie down and sleep the whole flight!

NZ443 Auckland to Wellington on 18 April 2014. The seating on this flight was comfortable enough but the connection from an international to a domestic flight at Auckland airport really needs to be improved (though this is obviously not the fault of Air New Zealand). The flight itself however was delayed and no calls were made about the delay until 40 minutes after the scheduled departure time. Better communication is needed.

I fly Air NZ 8-10 times a year mostly domestic / trans-tasman flights. On domestic routes it's a no brainer. Main routes are serviced by almost brand new A320s and the rest by fairly new Q300's and ATR 72's. All crew members (like all kiwis) are very polite and helpful. Only downside is very basic food/beverage service (coffee/tea + water + cookie) on domestic flights. Long haul not so flash compared to eg Singapore Airlines or Emirates but still decent standard. Heaps of discounted domestic flights if you buy in advance.

ANZ18 Rarotonga to LAX flight on 15 Feb and we spent an extra night on the island because of crew illness. How could a "leading world-class airline" have a situation where they can't have a pilot or steward on stand-by in case of illness? It was a somewhat chaotic scene at the Raro airport. Lots of passengers waiting for instructions and not one ANZ staff member for two or more hours! When they finally appeared the staff were friendly and polite alright but it took them too long to show up at the airport to help us and our hotel had already informed us hours earlier that the flight was canceled so we checked in with ANZ to get the info about what to do and then checked back in to our old room (a complete waste of an evening) Air New Zealand offered to buy our dinner at 10pm! We made it home (after missed connections) about two days late.