Dreamliner 787-9 Review - Honolulu to Auckland Inaugural Flight

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networkn

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#195919 11-May-2016 20:54

Returning from our holiday in Hawaii we ended up on the first flight from Honolulu to Auckland on Air NZ's latest plane, the DL 787-9.

Sadly we didn't get it on the way there, where we had managed to secure business, in the older 767 we have taken many times.

It's a nice new plane, and looks the part, with the new LED Lighting, and definitive Air NZ Livery on the Outside and inside Decor.

I am a terrible flyer despite having easily done 500+ flights in my life. I've never been able to get far from white-knuckled despite knowing how safe it was. ( I hate how every change in speed, every turn, every unusual sound makes me sweat and my heart race)

The plane was 90% full I'd estimate and Air NZ did a great job of getting 6 of us in shared areas, and still got a few seats between us.

Newer Planes are QUIET compared to the older ones, though I think the 777-300ER are even quieter.

The new Entertainment system is a REVELATION. Insanely responsive, huge selection, though some of my favourite artists weren't in the music section! The screens are high quality and crystal clear, I enjoyed action movies non-stop pretty much!

The Plane is really LONG. Huge really, we were at the back, choosing not to upgrade to the space seats. Ordering food was simple and fast, with full credit card facilities. (I didn't personally use them as I was on Works).

I was a little unhappy they ran out of Milo and a few of the other more common items. (things like butter were unavailable because they were frozen)

The Tinting Windows were nice, and the toilets are better laid out and plenty of them, no LONG queues).

Biggest difference was the cabin pressure, which meant despite being on a plane for 9 hours, with 2 small kids, we arrived in reasonable shape.

Air NZ cabin staff are the best in the business on the whole, and they treated our kids really well, and whilst there were some hiccups due to them not being as familiar with the new plane and it's ins and outs, it was fantastic.

Our kids got to hand out the pre-landing lollies, and got photos with the crew etc, which was dynamite with my 4 year old!

I hate flying economy but must admit, for a long haul flight, this was the best experience I've had. We cruised at 40,000 ft which is the highest I've been on a plane.

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#1551176 11-May-2016 21:02

Excellent : ). How was the leg room and pocket organisation?

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#1551177 11-May-2016 21:03

Does it handles turbulence better? The sole reason why I don't flying along with takeoffs.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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#1551178 11-May-2016 21:05

gzt: Excellent : ). How was the leg room and pocket organisation?

I'm not very tall, but I have big feet (and am mildly claustrophobic) and I generally find Economy unbearable, but in this flight it didn't seem to be an issue.

Seat Pocket is pretty small, I preferred the old style that took more stuff.

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#1551179 11-May-2016 21:08

billgates: Does it handles turbulence better? The sole reason why I don't flying along with takeoffs.

Not sure how I'd say it handles turbulence, as I can't compare two flights with the same levels, but I'd say it was fairly smooth. I've never had terrible turbulence on a modern plane.

I am generally ok with turbulence if I know it's coming and so long as they are no "weightless" moments or sudden drops (I am ok with moderately strong side to side). It's the "unexpected" nature, combined with what I think is called Hyper Vigilance.

I hate flying but not enough to not go the places I need to, or want to go.

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#1551185 11-May-2016 21:15

How busy is HNL airport with the morning departure now rather than evening?

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#1551188 11-May-2016 21:23

sbiddle:

How busy is HNL airport with the morning departure now rather than evening?

Well, it's offpeak now, so generally less busy than we have experienced the past 5 times we have been there. I think we are going to try hard to fly during the day from now on.

We flew overnight on the way over, leaving at 9pm, and our kids are superstars and go off to sleep after 30 minutes of screen time, so we tried to sleep, but by the time they serve meals, then dim the lights, then you drift off to sleep (if you are lucky enough to be able to do this) then they turn on the lights and serve "breakfast" maybe 4-5 hours later, it makes

for a pretty rough time arriving.

I do wish they flew that route more often, and given we haven't really benefitted the same way since they butchered the airpoints system, we are considering next time, we may fly with Hawaiian as we usually go straight to Maui, and it makes it a bit more seamless.

My Hawaiian Airline flights have always been awesome.

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#1551259 12-May-2016 07:32

networkn:

sbiddle:

How busy is HNL airport with the morning departure now rather than evening?

Well, it's offpeak now, so generally less busy than we have experienced the past 5 times we have been there. I think we are going to try hard to fly during the day from now on.

We flew overnight on the way over, leaving at 9pm, and our kids are superstars and go off to sleep after 30 minutes of screen time, so we tried to sleep, but by the time they serve meals, then dim the lights, then you drift off to sleep (if you are lucky enough to be able to do this) then they turn on the lights and serve "breakfast" maybe 4-5 hours later, it makes

for a pretty rough time arriving.

I do wish they flew that route more often, and given we haven't really benefitted the same way since they butchered the airpoints system, we are considering next time, we may fly with Hawaiian as we usually go straight to Maui, and it makes it a bit more seamless.

My Hawaiian Airline flights have always been awesome.

That's always the issue with overnight flights, especially when you're in economy and service takes such a long time.

IMHO I preferred the day flight over because you don't end up suffering on the first day there if you didn't get sleep on the plane, but having flown straight out to other islands on my last few trips there the downside was having to spend a night somewhere before the connection and there isn't such as thing as cheap accommodation anywhere near HNL airport.

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#1551449 12-May-2016 12:51

Great review, I have flown to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines in the A320, I paid the $35 and got the reserve exit row seat, they seem to be one of the only ones that it is really easy to pre-book these seats.

I hope to get on the 787-9 next year, I am loving the super jumbos at the moment, this weekend we caught the Emirates A380 to Melbourne, and I have to say that leg room is impressive, I refuse to take the 737 as they are tight, craped pieces of crap! Even for 3 hour flights they are just so uncomfortable!

I will be very interested to compare the A380 to the 787-9

BTW the comment on how quiet the newer planes are is so true, I didn't need to have my noise cancelling headphones one and could hear my partner ever at a whisper.

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#1551452 12-May-2016 13:00

dickytim:

Great review, I have flown to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines in the A320, I paid the $35 and got the reserve exit row seat, they seem to be one of the only ones that it is really easy to pre-book these seats.

I hope to get on the 787-9 next year, I am loving the super jumbos at the moment, this weekend we caught the Emirates A380 to Melbourne, and I have to say that leg room is impressive, I refuse to take the 737 as they are tight, craped pieces of crap! Even for 3 hour flights they are just so uncomfortable!

I will be very interested to compare the A380 to the 787-9

BTW the comment on how quiet the newer planes are is so true, I didn't need to have my noise cancelling headphones one and could hear my partner ever at a whisper.

In theory, all planes of a similar model should be ok, but I can tell you that by a country mile, the 777-300's that we have flown on with Singapore Air are the quietest by a country mile, even compared to the Air NZ ones. I recall one flight where I fell asleep during taxi and woke up at 30,000 FT. If you knew me, you'd know that is bloody amazing.

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#1551454 12-May-2016 13:02

One thing we noticed, and I am unsure if it's related, but I NEVER suffer Vertigo, EVER, but my wife does, quite easily. BOTH of us had dizziness all of last night after being on the 787-9. I am unsure what that is about. We didn't get much sleep the night we flew before the flight, but that hasn't been an issue before.

Anyone else noticed anything similar?

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#1551741 12-May-2016 20:00

networkn:

Well, it's offpeak now, so generally less busy than we have experienced the past 5 times we have been there. I think we are going to try hard to fly during the day from now on.

We flew overnight on the way over, leaving at 9pm, and our kids are superstars and go off to sleep after 30 minutes of screen time, so we tried to sleep, but by the time they serve meals, then dim the lights, then you drift off to sleep (if you are lucky enough to be able to do this) then they turn on the lights and serve "breakfast" maybe 4-5 hours later, it makes for a pretty rough time arriving.

I would have had dinner before boarding (usual suppoer time is about 6pm) and I don't eat again for 12-14 hours usually.....so I tend to follow that on these overnight flights.

That means I skip the supper and the drinks and put on my face mask and insert my ear plugs and try to get comfortable. This usually results in at least one more hour of sleep....so i consider it worth it.

But lately I've been going business class.....and I skip the meal and make up the bed and get a LOT more sleep thanks to the early start and.....the awesome bed.

I don't waste money on business class for anything under 8 hours. There's no point....but a 9 hour flight? Skip supper and movies and roll out the matress.

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#1551744 12-May-2016 20:10

Linuxluver:

But lately I've been going business class.....and I skip the meal and make up the bed and get a LOT more sleep thanks to the early start and.....the awesome bed.

I don't waste money on business class for anything under 8 hours. There's no point....but a 9 hour flight? Skip supper and movies and roll out the matress.

The trick is to drink all the champagne and whisky and then go to sleep. I find I get the best sleep ever!

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#1551745 12-May-2016 20:12

networkn:

One thing we noticed, and I am unsure if it's related, but I NEVER suffer Vertigo, EVER, but my wife does, quite easily. BOTH of us had dizziness all of last night after being on the 787-9. I am unsure what that is about. We didn't get much sleep the night we flew before the flight, but that hasn't been an issue before.

Anyone else noticed anything similar?

Wonder if it's related to the air pressure?

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#1551756 12-May-2016 20:33

Thanks for the review! We're off to the Hawaii (as in the big island) in a couple of weeks. How long did it take to get through immigration and customs after arrival at HNL? Hopefully the new time slot means less queuing.

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#1551760 12-May-2016 20:42

wsnz:

Thanks for the review! We're off to the Hawaii (as in the big island) in a couple of weeks. How long did it take to get through immigration and customs after arrival at HNL? Hopefully the new time slot means less queuing.

The ~9PM arrival time previously never had queues (unless you were at the back of the plane) because it was the only arrival at that time of night.

There are a few arrivals around the same time as the new morning scheduled NZ arrival time so it's possible you'll see queues, but hopefully they also have more CBP staff on during the day than what they historically did in the evenings. HNL has had kiosks for a few months now so if you've entered the US on your current passport previously you'll be able to use these which speed up the process.

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