Plane Types, Seats, Entertainment Systems etc

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#1699269 6-Jan-2017 11:12

nzkiwiman:

Air New Zealand show they fly to Haneda, but you can't book that flight on the website .. it does not show up when you look for flights to Tokyo

Via Skyscanner however I found the flight to Tokyo, but nothing returning (leaving 20th September, returning 4th October)

Expedia are showing only 7 seats available @ $780NZ - Auckland to Haneda 20th September
I wonder if that is why it is not showing on the AirNZ website?

Does anyone viewing this thread have issues sleeping on flights? One of the other potential restrictions I have put onto myself when looking for flights is to try and get a flight where I am not flying overnight; the vast majority of the flights I look at are however overnight.

And normally I despise "value" Airlines, but I can't help looking at a flight operated by Scoot (Singapore to Sydney) for $317NZ (plus baggage?) verses one of my prefered flights on Singapore Airlines for $1140NZ .. That is a good saving but ...

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#1699344 6-Jan-2017 13:38

nzkiwiman:

Expedia are showing only 7 seats available @ $780NZ - Auckland to Haneda 20th September

Beware that airlines (and I guess Expedia and the like) use cookies track your interest. They will sometimes falsely say that the plane is filling up fast. They will also bump up fares to persuade you to buy now rather than later. And "specials for this week only" may roll on for months.

OTOH, what they say *may* be 100% true.

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#1699374 6-Jan-2017 13:58

Don't have much issue sleeping on flights. You want to have an eye mask and earplugs, or even better - active noise cancelling headphones.

Travel to/from Norway regularly and those things have really made the travel a lot more comfortable, even on economy. Being able to travel on Emirates A380s also helps (haven't found any other airlines that are as comfy in economy as the economy on Emirates A380s).

Not the right airline to fly to Japan/Asia from NZ, but for Europe I would highly recommend it. Especially the nonstop route from Auckland to Dubai with one of their A380s.

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#1699403 6-Jan-2017 14:17

frankv:

nzkiwiman:

Expedia are showing only 7 seats available @ $780NZ - Auckland to Haneda 20th September

Beware that airlines (and I guess Expedia and the like) use cookies track your interest. They will sometimes falsely say that the plane is filling up fast. They will also bump up fares to persuade you to buy now rather than later. And "specials for this week only" may roll on for months.

OTOH, what they say *may* be 100% true.

That will be 7 seats @ $780. It does not mean there are only 7 seats left on the plane.

An Air NZ flight for example can easily have 16 (or more) different booking classes on it. Each airline will allocate a certain number of seat allocations for each booking class at a certain price. Each booking class also has a fare basis that goes with it that determines the fare rules. When all the seats sell out in a certain class that class becomes unavailable and the price goes up as you're now booking the next class up.

If you look at Air NZ fares to Japan you'll see the following fare basis codes for Japan flying economy -

TLSVJP 730
WLSVJP 780
VLSVJP 880
QLSVJP 980
HLFXJP 1080
MLFXJP 1180
BLFXJP 1330
YLFXJP 1580

The first letter is the booking class (ie T,W,V,Q,H,M,B,Y), the SV means it's a global saver fare, the FX means it's a flexi fare. The further down the list you get (and the more you pay) is typically a fairly good indicator of aircraft loading.

nzkiwiman

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#1700716 10-Jan-2017 08:36

There is that Air New Zealand sale; if I go a week earlier than planned the one way flight from Dunedin - Auckland - Tokyo is $715 vs $894

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#1700879 10-Jan-2017 13:07

nzkiwiman:

There is that Air New Zealand sale; if I go a week earlier than planned the one way flight from Dunedin - Auckland - Tokyo is $715 vs $894

Sort of off-topic, but does anyone know how Skycouches work? Specifically, if I buy two of the 3 seats in a row, AND the 3rd seat doesn't get sold to anyone else, can my accomplice and I use the Skycouch anyway? I suspect not, but thought it worth asking one of our frequent flyers on here.

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#1700905 10-Jan-2017 13:59

Wheelbarrow01:

nzkiwiman:

There is that Air New Zealand sale; if I go a week earlier than planned the one way flight from Dunedin - Auckland - Tokyo is $715 vs $894

Sort of off-topic, but does anyone know how Skycouches work? Specifically, if I buy two of the 3 seats in a row, AND the 3rd seat doesn't get sold to anyone else, can my accomplice and I use the Skycouch anyway? I suspect not, but thought it worth asking one of our frequent flyers on here.

Yes and no.

You can pull the leg rest up to the seat is flat however you will not be provided with a mattress, pillow, blankets or seatbelt kit as you did not purchase the Skycouch product.

Unless you're a Air NZ HVC you probably won't be able to select these though as the front.

Air NZ do allocate Skycouch rows to Elite's (and occasionally Gold's if you ask nicely) as a HVC benefit and I've had this happen before. Once again you won't get any of the amenities but they will typically provide you with a belt kit in this situation. Without a belt kit you're not going to be able to sleep as you'll have no way of securing your seat belt and will simply be woken up by crew and told to sit upright if the seatbelt sign comes on.

I'd never pay money for the Skycouch for 2 adults as it's just not worth it. 2 average size adults will really struggle to lie down.

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#1700928 10-Jan-2017 14:41

sbiddle:

I'd never pay money for the Skycouch for 2 adults as it's just not worth it. 2 average size adults will really struggle to lie down.

Thanks for the tip. Yea I am pretty tall at over 6 feet, so it's probably a wate of time for me. I just can't justify the extra $3k for the pair of us to go premium economy (to L.A. and return) #sadface

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#1700980 10-Jan-2017 15:42

jarledb:

Don't have much issue sleeping on flights. You want to have an eye mask and earplugs, or even better - active noise cancelling headphones.

Travel to/from Norway regularly and those things have really made the travel a lot more comfortable, even on economy. Being able to travel on Emirates A380s also helps (haven't found any other airlines that are as comfy in economy as the economy on Emirates A380s).

Not the right airline to fly to Japan/Asia from NZ, but for Europe I would highly recommend it. Especially the nonstop route from Auckland to Dubai with one of their A380s.

Apologies to the OP. I'm planning a flight to London in August and have been doing similar research. The idea of Emirates from Auckland to Dubai has come up, but the thought of over 17 hrs on a plane makes me wonder if I will go nuts. I've done the 14hr trip from sydney to Dubai and it was pretty tough. Have you flown the 17hr route and if so, how did you find it? My best option so far is business class AKL-DXB, then economy DXB-LHR. Any advice?

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#1700996 10-Jan-2017 15:59

its weighing up 17h on a plane vs 2-3 shorter flights and a transfer or 2 in the middle.

time wise i imagine the 17h flight will get you to your destination faster.

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#1701008 10-Jan-2017 16:13

Horseychick:

jarledb:

Don't have much issue sleeping on flights. You want to have an eye mask and earplugs, or even better - active noise cancelling headphones.

Travel to/from Norway regularly and those things have really made the travel a lot more comfortable, even on economy. Being able to travel on Emirates A380s also helps (haven't found any other airlines that are as comfy in economy as the economy on Emirates A380s).

Not the right airline to fly to Japan/Asia from NZ, but for Europe I would highly recommend it. Especially the nonstop route from Auckland to Dubai with one of their A380s.

Apologies to the OP. I'm planning a flight to London in August and have been doing similar research. The idea of Emirates from Auckland to Dubai has come up, but the thought of over 17 hrs on a plane makes me wonder if I will go nuts. I've done the 14hr trip from sydney to Dubai and it was pretty tough. Have you flown the 17hr route and if so, how did you find it? My best option so far is business class AKL-DXB, then economy DXB-LHR. Any advice?

I can't comment on that route specicially but I hate travelling East around the world due to the timezones. IMHO it's a guaranteed recipe for jetlag.

Yes there are people that hate transiting via LAX but IMHO leaving AKL at ~7pm on NZ6, having a good sleep on the plane in your regular NZ timezone, arriving at LAX around lunchtime and then having around 4 hours before NZ2 to LHR is the perfect trip and something I love doing. I can get to LAX, head out of the airport for a walk in the smoggy LA air, watch some planes, eat some In-N-Out burger, have a shower and then hop back on the plane forgetting all about the last 12hr flight.

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#1701050 10-Jan-2017 17:13

sbiddle:

I can't comment on that route specicially but I hate travelling East around the world due to the timezones. IMHO it's a guaranteed recipe for jetlag.

Yes there are people that hate transiting via LAX but IMHO leaving AKL at ~7pm on NZ6, having a good sleep on the plane in your regular NZ timezone, arriving at LAX around lunchtime and then having around 4 hours before NZ2 to LHR is the perfect trip and something I love doing. I can get to LAX, head out of the airport for a walk in the smoggy LA air, watch some planes, eat some In-N-Out burger, have a shower and then hop back on the plane forgetting all about the last 12hr flight.

Do you mean "west"? LAX is east from here. I prefer to travel east - that's the way the high level winds go and it makes the trip to London 30-60 minutes quicker than the other way.

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#1701054 10-Jan-2017 17:18

shk292:

sbiddle:

I can't comment on that route specicially but I hate travelling East around the world due to the timezones. IMHO it's a guaranteed recipe for jetlag.

Yes there are people that hate transiting via LAX but IMHO leaving AKL at ~7pm on NZ6, having a good sleep on the plane in your regular NZ timezone, arriving at LAX around lunchtime and then having around 4 hours before NZ2 to LHR is the perfect trip and something I love doing. I can get to LAX, head out of the airport for a walk in the smoggy LA air, watch some planes, eat some In-N-Out burger, have a shower and then hop back on the plane forgetting all about the last 12hr flight.

Do you mean "west"? LAX is east from here. I prefer to travel east - that's the way the high level winds go and it makes the trip to London 30-60 minutes quicker than the other way.

Oops yes I meant West! I far prefer flying East.

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#1701078 10-Jan-2017 18:25

Horseychick:

Apologies to the OP. I'm planning a flight to London in August and have been doing similar research. The idea of Emirates from Auckland to Dubai has come up, but the thought of over 17 hrs on a plane makes me wonder if I will go nuts. I've done the 14hr trip from sydney to Dubai and it was pretty tough. Have you flown the 17hr route and if so, how did you find it? My best option so far is business class AKL-DXB, then economy DXB-LHR. Any advice?

So far we have been doing the Auckland -> 2 hours stop somewhere in Ozzie -> Dubai -> Norway route. With A380 from Auckland to Dubai, and 777-300 from Dubai to Norway.

On the way back last time we did Dubai -> Auckland nonstop with a 777-200LR, which is not my favourite airplane of the wide bodies. Its a small airplane and I dreaded the thought of 16 hours on it (the flight from Dubai to Auckland is quicker than the other way).

I would say I would have continued to pick the 777-200LR over the stopover in Ozzie every time. Especially on the return when you have been flying for a long time already. With the A380 now manning the nonstop route between Auckland and Dubai its really a no-brainer. It will be the preferred route in the future for us.

I really haven't had much trouble with jet lag on the recent flights. Just make sure you get sleep when you can (and set it up so you have a good way to get rid of light and noise), and you should be fine (at least in my experience). There will be adjusting to time zones, but thats less to do with traveling really.

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#1701080 10-Jan-2017 18:27

sbiddle:

Yes there are people that hate transiting via LAX but IMHO leaving AKL at ~7pm on NZ6, having a good sleep on the plane in your regular NZ timezone, arriving at LAX around lunchtime and then having around 4 hours before NZ2 to LHR is the perfect trip and something I love doing. I can get to LAX, head out of the airport for a walk in the smoggy LA air, watch some planes, eat some In-N-Out burger, have a shower and then hop back on the plane forgetting all about the last 12hr flight.

To each their own. LAX is a pretty sucky airport IMHO, and I am more than happy to avoid it whenever possible.

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