Air New Zealand

I fly often usually on Qantas where I am Gold or Virgin Australia. This last trip 2 days ago I needed a fast direct flight so chose Air New Zealand. I paid an extra $95 for an exit row (Air New Zealand are now an upscale budget airline with a cost for everything yet still charge. Premium fare) the seat although had plenty of leg room is very very narrow more so than I ever remembered in the past and more narrow than the other airlines I fly. It was hard not to come into contact with the person beside me and we are both not big people. The recline is almost non- existent and both seat pouches are beside the window making it hard for the person in the aisle. All in all I was very disappointed in what I thought were an above average airline.

This is specific to the Air New Zealand SkyCouch. Do Not believe the sales job on their website. The notion of paying premium price for two adults in three seats to be able to lay down is a joke. This would accommodate one adult at the most. This is being marketed for adults and families to lay down on long-haul flights. It is frustratingly cramped and the expectation set by the marketing makes it worse. The flight attendants have obviously dealt with this before as they started apologizing before we took off from LHR to LAX. We should have known something was wrong as the LHR ground staff wouldn't look us in the eye when we asked about the SkyCouch seating. Shame on Air New Zealand.

The flight between the Cook Islands and Auckland had the most uncomfortable seats I have ever traveled in. Armrests do not incline for added comfort if seat is empty next to you. Inclination is practically nil and trying to grab a wink is impossible due to this as you pitch forward when nodding off.

I was put in row 52. When seat in front reclined effective space disappeared. Intolerable. Had to ask them to straighten seat or risk an incident. Temperature in this part of the plane was too hot. At back of plane it was freezing. No air control to regulate personal comfort. I am only 1.62 m yet I found these seats claustrophobic and restricting to a degree worse than older plane layouts. A six foot passenger next to me had to sit with knees splayed further restricting my available space.

Worst flight ever 9.5 hours of being cramped and uncomfortable. Paid $300 per person to have guaranteed empty seat next to us which cabin staff ignored woke up to find someone sitting in the empty seat. Once this was pointed out to staff they did move her. Guy in front of me was fidgeting and moving up and down tv was about 5cm in front of my face during dinner not so much cattle class as sardine class.

We flew to LA from London initially outbound in economy. While the seats themselves were nice and comfy the one downside is that if you have your seat up and the person in front reclines you have a TV screen inches from your face which made for a incredibly uncomfortable journey. On the return trip we tried the skycouch (2 adults travelling) and there is much improvement depending on what you want to use it for. We reclined the seats back and put it into 'bed' mode. For us this was fine as my girlfriend was happy to sit upright in the isle seat which allowed me to lay across the 3 seats. The extra width was lovely and made for a far more comfortable journey (even for my girlfriend who was now able to put her feet up also. The people in front did not recline giving us more space but the problem would still exist with the screen being close if they had and because of this I think if 2 people were to lay side by side with the seat in front reclined it would make it more like a coffin for one person. Saying that if you want to take turns with laying out then I would highly recommend paying the bit extra for have more sitting/laying options and generally more comfort. We are flying again with ANZ on the same journey and have booked the hard shell space seat to see if this improves the journey. I could not find a fault with the rest of the airline staff entertainment and food were all first class hence why we are flying again.

I did a lot of research before I booked theAir New Zealand space seat to LA and back - on the way out we sat in the middle section seats that sort of curved slightly - the seats were amazing the recline is more of a slide and the controls are a bit stiff but when you get the hang of it they are fine the table and TV all moved about as did the arm rests the big middle armrest between the seats is great too - the seatbelts have an airbag so they are a bit bulky at one end - the bean bag for your feet was a bit flat and small - but on the return journey I had a much bigger bean bag. Leg room was fantastic but you do sort of angle a bit so it feels a bit odd twisting one way with your tv etc angled at the other but you get used to it - on the way back we were sat in the window seats and they are not like the middle ones they are off set from each other so there is more privacy I did find these ones had a little less room for your arm/elbow on the joining side but nothing major - there was also plenty of room to get in and out of your seat and it felt very spacious I was really impressed with the whole experience on this flight the seats the services everything was special and I highly recommend it.

We had to ask for assistance from cabin staff every time to try to get recliner seat activated - they did apologise and said there has been problems with this - but it is not fixed! On the first flight over to USA the cabin was not at full capacity and I tried other seating on other rows and experienced the same discomfort. Having been on both the inside and middle seating - there is no difference in comfort and I defy anyone to be seated in the middle seats as shown in the brochure in the seat pocket - I did try and it is impossible. Sleeping was almost non existent due to the headrest being too rigid.

Took a flight from AKL-HKG. Was seated in 44A and 44B (Economy Class). The seat started well but started to get really uncomfortable in the last half of the flight. Air New Zealand have improved their staff service so that when it is catering time all seats must be put into upright position so everyone could eat propoly. Overall good seats.

Premium Economy Row 24 middle 2 seats Heathrow to Auckland via LAX in October. Excellent seats. I was pretty concerned as when they were launched they received a lot of negative press as the legroom was alleged to be awful. Air New Zealand removed a row of seats in August to remedy this. It worked - I am 6'5 and with legs fully stretched could just about touch the back of the footwell - so loads of legroom. The recline could be a tad better but did not prevent me sleeping. The hard shell means your space is not intruded by the seat in front.