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Geektastic

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#201339 14-Aug-2016 20:56
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Just flew AKL/LAX return in PE and thought I would give some thoughts.

 

In both legs, we used One Up for me and Recognition Upgrades for my wife, who has Gold status (I have none - just basic).

 

Outbound we were in the centre pair, about half way back in the cabin, return we were in the centre again, but right at the front where PE begins and Business ends.

 

First, I do not recommend the front pair in the centre. The leg room is compromised by a large bulkhead that curves towards you and it removes all the floor space in between the two seats. In the other rows, there is quite a good space there. I also found that the plastic edge of the storage net on the bulkhead (where the safety cards etc live) pressed annoyingly into my leg throughout. I am just under 6ft tall, so perhaps if you are shorter or something it would be less of an issue. It also felt as though my feet were in the aisle the whole time. (We'll ignore the visual torture of seeing the Business folks settling down on flat beds under duvets through the curtain gap...!)

 

Second I found the service a bit ho-hum if I am honest. I first took ANZ PE from AKL to YVR in 2008, which I think was not too long after PE was introduced. The service then was excellent - the Purser (or whatever they call that person these days) went round with the passenger list, introducing himself to the passengers with "Good evening Mrs Smith, I am Joe Bloggs, the Purser..." etc. , we were served champagne on the ground as we waited for boarding to complete, we had linen table cloths, china crudités and a wine list.

 

Now, all that nicety seems to have vanished into the ether. We were 20 minutes into the flight before we saw a drink, no one introduced themselves to the passengers, there was no table linen, just plastic trays and the wine choice was "red or white". Salt and pepper had been banished to the same Economy paper packets rather than nice china shakers.

 

It all rather felt as if the bean counters had been through it and slashed out all the niceties that made it so pleasant before.

 

The Space Seats were great - wide and reasonably comfy (although a bit firm for my taste, I like soft chairs!) and it was a joy not to have anyone tipping the seat back in front of you into your lap. Screens were good, although I did not watch much as I had seen all the movies I wanted to see already and so I mostly read my Kindle.

 

Food was passable. Better out than back. Not noticeably better than the last Economy meal I had though. The cheese was another change - last time, it was served as a seperate course. There were 3 or 4 portions of different cheese, with grapes and so on. crackers served by the crew with tongs from a basket. This time, plastic cheese, one kind, and a sealed pack of 2 crackers.

 

The bathroom was nice - twice as big as usual! I did note a lack of the nice NZ brand soap and hand creams etc that used to be in the PE bathrooms this time - more cost cutting?

 

In short, much more pleasant that Economy but seemed to have gone downhill.

 

One thing that really does rate praise is the lounge at LAX. Absolutely hands-down the best lounge I have been in. Superb design, excellent service and very good food. Also very nice showers and an outside patio with bar! I was immersed in a book when a polite lady interrupted with "Pardon me sir, would you like fresh churros or cookies? We just made them." I did - and she offered a glass of cold milk from her trolley to wash it down with! Excellent.






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Boeingflyer
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  #1611594 14-Aug-2016 21:36
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How much did you pay for your one up?



Geektastic

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  #1611616 14-Aug-2016 22:45
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$600






dipper
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  #1611617 14-Aug-2016 22:47
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In 2014 I flew PE class to New York on Qantas and last year did LA to Auckland on ANZ. The service on Qantas was far superior to that of ANZ with Qantas providing a personal greeting (without using a list of names), your meal was served as a three course meal with a full dinner service and in general I preferred the older style Qantas seat that had so much leg room.

 

For ANZ I got no personal greeting, your meal was served as one services and it just looked and tasted like a bigger version of economy food and the Space Saver seat was not that comfortable in general, the only thing that I liked about the seat was that you could curl up into the seat more than you can with Qantas due to the shell nature of the seat.

 

Overall the product provided by Qantas was superior than that of ANZ it was just a shame that I had to fly via Sydney but I did have the benefit of a ticket that was $600 cheaper than ANZ and when flying between LA and New York you stayed on the same plane unlike ANZ who you had to fly a partner airline and fly economy.

 

I did fly to Hawaii two months ago in economy (was taking the family away) with ANZ and I must say that the staff were brilliant to deal with on that flight and I did enjoy the Dreamliner.




networkn
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  #1611625 14-Aug-2016 23:18
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The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline. Gone are the loyalty benefits and so we don't feel compelled to offer them Loyalty in exchange any more. 

 

The oneup system is the most horrible system I've come across. 

 

The DL experience is quite something, but I'd imagine it pretty hard to not enjoy a DL Experience with any airline. 

 

 


sbiddle
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  #1612111 15-Aug-2016 18:23
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Air NZ PE meals are the exact same food as BP but with fewer options. The only difference is it's served on a meal tray rather than being plated up like it is in BP.

 

Personal greetings seem to have disappeared from PE, and even as an Elite I didn't get one last month to Hong Kong


allstarnz
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  #1616080 22-Aug-2016 22:25
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with no access to Koru any more, i have very little incentive to fly Air New Zealand any more.  Their penny pinching means they have been overtaken by a lot of other carriers in my estimation.  They are hanging on a to a outdated reputation.  They aren't even competitive on price any more either. Why would I pay a few hundred more for a long haul flight when there is no more value add?


networkn
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  #1616092 22-Aug-2016 23:13
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/83447735/air-new-zealand-to-invest-100m-in-fleet-upgrade

 

Basically, that doesn't change much for me. Unless I can get BC upgrades when I have earned them in a transparent manner, or they are price competitive, or in some other way can show me they value my loyalty, I'll fly with the "best" airline at the time of booking. 

 

 


 
 
 

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jarledb
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  #1616109 23-Aug-2016 04:04
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networkn:

 

The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline.

 

 

Who are you flying with instead?





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networkn
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  #1616167 23-Aug-2016 09:11
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jarledb:

 

networkn:

 

The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline.

 

 

Who are you flying with instead?

 

 

 

 

Lufthansa which is Singapore Airlines to Singapore and A380 Lufthansa to Berlin. Same on the way back.


MikeB4
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  #1616172 23-Aug-2016 09:24
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We sit up the front all the time, planes are just buses in the sky no matter what spin is put on it.


MikeAqua
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  #1616178 23-Aug-2016 09:32
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We flew PE AKL-SFO and return in Feb/March.  Recognition upgrades, we are both 'Elite' customers (hate that word).  Got bulkhead seats both ways.

 

My thoughts: -

 

- I'm just over 6 foot I found the PE seating didn't quite have enough leg room for me.  The curved bulkhead restricted width for my feet so I had to stack them which was uncomfortable, or spill into the aisle which is hazardous/inconsiderate.

 

I was reminded of the scene from MIB with the egg shaped chairs.  In the end I found position that worked and I could snooze lightly in.  Still much better than economy though!

 

- Service was great.  Express pre-boarding checks at Auckland, name recognition both ways (including correct pronunciation which is rare with my uncommon surname). 

 

- Great food, additional drinks offered and I could order additional complimentary snacks and drinks from the touch screen, which came promptly. My brandy didn't come in brandy balloon resting on a glass of hot water, but there have to be some compromises on an aircraft :)

 

- Our luggage was literally first out onto the carousel both ways.

 

- United was on Star Alliance lounge duties in SFO and their regular lounges are very basic in the food and beverage department.  But otherwise nice places to be and still better than sitting in the public departure lounge.

 

 





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  #1616817 24-Aug-2016 13:07
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networkn:

 

jarledb:

 

networkn:

 

The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline.

 

 

Who are you flying with instead?

 

 

 

 

Lufthansa which is Singapore Airlines to Singapore and A380 Lufthansa to Berlin. Same on the way back.

 

 

I hope you aren't flying PE on the Singapore flight.  I flew PE return to Dubai for work recently and PE in the Singapore operated planes was atrocious!  The two AirNZ PE flights on the other hand were brilliant in comparison.


networkn
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  #1616818 24-Aug-2016 13:08
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Satch:

 

networkn:

 

jarledb:

 

networkn:

 

The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline.

 

 

Who are you flying with instead?

 

 

 

 

Lufthansa which is Singapore Airlines to Singapore and A380 Lufthansa to Berlin. Same on the way back.

 

 

I hope you aren't flying PE on the Singapore flight.  I flew PE return to Dubai for work recently and PE in the Singapore operated planes was atrocious!  The two AirNZ PE flights on the other hand were brilliant in comparison.

 

 

 

 

Flying normal economy unfortunately. 


Satch
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  #1616819 24-Aug-2016 13:12
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networkn:

 

Satch:

 

networkn:

 

jarledb:

 

networkn:

 

The dreamliner I agree the staff much better, but for me, AirNZ has gone so far down after the departure of Rob Fyfe. It's pretty ordinary now, and one reason that despite flying exclusively AirNZ for the past 15 years, my most recent trip coming up I have booked with another airline.

 

 

Who are you flying with instead?

 

 

 

 

Lufthansa which is Singapore Airlines to Singapore and A380 Lufthansa to Berlin. Same on the way back.

 

 

I hope you aren't flying PE on the Singapore flight.  I flew PE return to Dubai for work recently and PE in the Singapore operated planes was atrocious!  The two AirNZ PE flights on the other hand were brilliant in comparison.

 

 

Then you won't be disappointed paying the extra (as my girlfriend did to accompany me) and basically getting economy everything except for a slightly wider seat with a little more legroom.  The PE cabin on each Singapore flight was mostly empty.  I suspect people realise that Singapore PE is really not worth double the price of economy so don't bother booking it.  Because hardly anyone was flying PE on the flights I was on, the service was almost non existent.

 

 

 

Flying normal economy unfortunately. 

 


Linuxluver
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  #1616853 24-Aug-2016 14:25
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Geektastic:

 

Just flew AKL/LAX return in PE and thought I would give some thoughts.

 

 

 

In short, much more pleasant that Economy but seemed to have gone downhill.

 

 

I flew Premium Economy once - before the space seats - and didn't bother with it again. The Space seats are pretty good. 

 

But most often lately I've bitten the bullet and flown business class - mid-week when its usually a couple thousand cheaper. Usually to Vancouver, but once to Singapore. All good. 

 

Love those beds. Worth every penny in my view.....if you have the money to do it. You arrive having had a proper sleep and there's virtually no jet lag, so you don't waste two days getting into sync. That has opportunity value if not monetary value. 

 

Having said that, when we fly to Canada in October we'll be trying out the "Sky Couch". I know it's not the greatest, but having a guaranteed 3 seats space for the two of us should be a good start....and if we can possibly manage to bent-leg spooning lie down.....then maybe it'll be ok. I have another trip in May next year....and I'm holding off booking the tickets until I know the Skycouch is good or a waste or time. 





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