PaulST
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
- Posts
- 1,196
I had a brief visit to Auckland last weekend and thought I’d try something new and try a non-OW/EK airline on the return flight. Air NZ had a sale on so I grabbed a seat in Business Premier in one of their new 787-9s. I had also heard that they’ve upgraded their AKL lounge so I was keen to try that as well.
I took my camera along for the journey.
1. The lounge. It’s really quite large with heaps of space to get away from everyone else. The food offerings were only average but at least there was barista-made coffee (a must for this coffee snob...
). The view was great and I settled down in the corner of the lounge overlooking the airport and used their fast wifi (which was certainly one of the faster internet connections I’ve used in NZ). There’s also a living wall which, I’m assuming, was inspired by QF’s fantastic living wall in MEL and SYD. While it was fairly large, it was incredibly busy at 0830 on a Sunday morning (although I did still find seating) so I suspect it would be even busier on a week-day morning!
2. The flight. PB was well enforced and I was one of the first on board and settled down to a glass of bubbles and started watching the IFE, which I’ll get to later.
The staff. One word… ‘fantastic’. They were friendly, prompt and I didn’t recall seeing a single frown. Often you get at least one FA who’s having and off day but they were all fantastic. Food was served and removed promptly and my glass was never empty.
The food was really good. I had chicken for a starter and salmon for my main. It would have probably been one of my best trans-Tasman J meals. The food in the lounge was fairly average so I had a rumbling stomach by the time I boarded, but by dessert, I was full.
The IFE was mixed. The actual content was limited and the TV shows were quite old. The hardware was impressive with a great quality touch screen which was really responsive and, importantly, there were no ads (a bug bare I have as I figure I’m kinda paying not to watch ads…). One feature I really liked was that when the screen is stowed away for takeoff/landing, you can keep watching it as it’s still angled towards you. (BA F, for example, have their stowed-away screen at an angle that is impossible to see). As you’d expect, it came with noise cancelling headphones which worked well.
The seat was also mixed. Look, it’s comfortable and private, but there wasn’t a lot of storage (I carry a lot of cough). I must admit that I miss those massive storage bins next to you you get upstairs in a QF 744 and A388. Obviously there were overhead bins, but you can't reach those whilst sitting. I was in seat 6A which ended up being a blessing in disguise (and I’d argue soon was the best J seat on board) as it had a ledge next to your right shoulder where you could sit stuff. My biggest gripe was that the seat didn’t recline a whole lot. Oddly enough, it folds forward to make a bed so there was no way to make it half-flat (which is how I like to sit when I’m not eating). So you end up bolt-upright, slightly reclined or completely flat. As I said above, I’d argue 6A is the best seat for the following reasons:
1) I was served first the entire flight. They seem to start on the left side and work their way forward before serving the pax on the right.
2) The middle pax (it’s a 1-1-1 layout) look towards the right so the left side is more private and there’s less traffic.
3) The two J toilets are at the front of the aircraft so you don’t have other pax walking past you.
4) 6A and 6K both have ledges next to them which are reasonable storage places for books/magazines since there wasn’t really anywhere else to store them.
Look, it’s certainly a comfortable seat, but it’s not one of the best J seats around and this is a new product so ANZ are stuck with it for quite a while (the aircraft was only 12 months old).
The aircraft was a 12 month old 787-9 and, as you’d expect, was really comfortable and quiet. As I’ve identified in other reviews, the electronic window dimming doesn’t work in direct sunlight so you have to either use your eye shades (and therefore can’t watch a movie) or block the sun with your hand. Airbuses’s traditional plastic window shades in the A359s seem much better…
Over-all, the soft product made up for the limitations of the hard product. And if you want the best seat, go for 6A.
My video: [video=youtube;vOF8EwAbTR0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOF8EwAbTR0[/video]
I took my camera along for the journey.
1. The lounge. It’s really quite large with heaps of space to get away from everyone else. The food offerings were only average but at least there was barista-made coffee (a must for this coffee snob...
). The view was great and I settled down in the corner of the lounge overlooking the airport and used their fast wifi (which was certainly one of the faster internet connections I’ve used in NZ). There’s also a living wall which, I’m assuming, was inspired by QF’s fantastic living wall in MEL and SYD. While it was fairly large, it was incredibly busy at 0830 on a Sunday morning (although I did still find seating) so I suspect it would be even busier on a week-day morning!2. The flight. PB was well enforced and I was one of the first on board and settled down to a glass of bubbles and started watching the IFE, which I’ll get to later.
The staff. One word… ‘fantastic’. They were friendly, prompt and I didn’t recall seeing a single frown. Often you get at least one FA who’s having and off day but they were all fantastic. Food was served and removed promptly and my glass was never empty.
The food was really good. I had chicken for a starter and salmon for my main. It would have probably been one of my best trans-Tasman J meals. The food in the lounge was fairly average so I had a rumbling stomach by the time I boarded, but by dessert, I was full.
The IFE was mixed. The actual content was limited and the TV shows were quite old. The hardware was impressive with a great quality touch screen which was really responsive and, importantly, there were no ads (a bug bare I have as I figure I’m kinda paying not to watch ads…). One feature I really liked was that when the screen is stowed away for takeoff/landing, you can keep watching it as it’s still angled towards you. (BA F, for example, have their stowed-away screen at an angle that is impossible to see). As you’d expect, it came with noise cancelling headphones which worked well.
The seat was also mixed. Look, it’s comfortable and private, but there wasn’t a lot of storage (I carry a lot of cough). I must admit that I miss those massive storage bins next to you you get upstairs in a QF 744 and A388. Obviously there were overhead bins, but you can't reach those whilst sitting. I was in seat 6A which ended up being a blessing in disguise (and I’d argue soon was the best J seat on board) as it had a ledge next to your right shoulder where you could sit stuff. My biggest gripe was that the seat didn’t recline a whole lot. Oddly enough, it folds forward to make a bed so there was no way to make it half-flat (which is how I like to sit when I’m not eating). So you end up bolt-upright, slightly reclined or completely flat. As I said above, I’d argue 6A is the best seat for the following reasons:
1) I was served first the entire flight. They seem to start on the left side and work their way forward before serving the pax on the right.
2) The middle pax (it’s a 1-1-1 layout) look towards the right so the left side is more private and there’s less traffic.
3) The two J toilets are at the front of the aircraft so you don’t have other pax walking past you.
4) 6A and 6K both have ledges next to them which are reasonable storage places for books/magazines since there wasn’t really anywhere else to store them.
Look, it’s certainly a comfortable seat, but it’s not one of the best J seats around and this is a new product so ANZ are stuck with it for quite a while (the aircraft was only 12 months old).
The aircraft was a 12 month old 787-9 and, as you’d expect, was really comfortable and quiet. As I’ve identified in other reviews, the electronic window dimming doesn’t work in direct sunlight so you have to either use your eye shades (and therefore can’t watch a movie) or block the sun with your hand. Airbuses’s traditional plastic window shades in the A359s seem much better…
Over-all, the soft product made up for the limitations of the hard product. And if you want the best seat, go for 6A.
My video: [video=youtube;vOF8EwAbTR0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOF8EwAbTR0[/video]
