Not really a proper TR - I don't really have a huge amount to share, but thought I'd jot down a few thoughts as it may be of interest: I've now added NZ and UA to the list of airlines I've travelled with, and it was quite a bit better than expected! 
MEL-AKL NZ 772 (ZK-OKB), credited to VA
Check in at MEL was relatively painless, though the TA clearly hadn't attached the advance passenger info to the booking - annoying, but no biggie. No express pass offered, and I forgot to ask - but had spares from previous trips, so again no big deal. NZ lounge at MEL was busy. Flight boarded and left pretty much on time; I was seated in the Premium Economy section and would be seriously unimpressed with it for a long haul flight. Basically economy with extra leg room. Couldn't eat the meal offered - no vego options available. Partook of an extra glass of wine or two to compensate.
AKL-LAX NZ 773 (ZK-OKQ), credited to VA
Transit at AKL was relatively straight forward, transit security were polite and pleasantshock and in fairly short order was through to the lounge. Nothing to write home about, but the wine selection was pretty decent (as expected), as were a couple of the salad options. Proper barista service offered through to 8:00 PM, did a fairly decent flat white for me - not quite as good as I've had at the VA lounge in MEL, but no complaints. Flight was called a bit too early, arrived in the "holding pen" and waited for 15 mins along with everyone else to board the flight. Managed to score a flight on the special livery 773 - it really is quite spectacular in the black! Hope they keep this paint job.
Boarding got underway, priority boarding was mostly meaningless as it was offered to everyone except pax in economy with no status. First time seeing / sitting in the new whY+ seats - LOVE them! Very comfortable, legroom excellent, glad I chose to sit in the middle pair ("inner space") .. definitely wouldn't choose to sit in the window pairs ("outer space") unless I knew my seat mate well .. quite a bit of effort involved in getting out from the window seat. The middle pair also appears to have extra space to put stuff, which can be handy - and extra elbow room, definitely nice at feeding times. Being angled slightly toward the aisle means not having to look at the seat mate, which works well for me as a single traveller.. all up, easily the nicest whY+ seat I've parked my behind in. Entertainment system is pretty awesome, gate-to-gate entertainment options available though not any of the games (they become available later in the flight). Borrowed an iPod cable so I could watch my own TV shows on the IFE; thought that was pretty neat.
Managed to sneak a peek at the pax manifest - VA Platinum comes up as "DJ-E"; the in-flight concierge made a point of coming up and making a fuss about how wonderful it was to have DJ status pax on board blah blah blah (over the top but kinda nice). Nothing particularly special offered or requested, so I don't know if there was anything I missed out on. SPML requested for this flight and for once - all the food was quite tasty! Serving sizes were massive - I don't think anyone would go hungry. Was interested to note that there were no vego options on the standard whY+ menu; ordering SPMLs on NZ appear to be necessary. Also massive were the wine pours - no fiddly little wine glasses to be seen, nice big stemless glassware filled very generously (though am undecided whether they were catering to the alcoholic in me or just not wanting to refill quite so often..) either way, I was quite happy. Couldn't partake of too much booze as I needed to be in a fit state to drive at the other end.. I don't remember specifics now, but there were several wines to choose from, as well as Mumm NV champagne. In flight service was excellent in general, though the NZ crew aren't as engaging as VA crew tend to be. whY+ on the 773 has two dedicated toilets which are both quite spacious - the complete opposite of the 772, which doesn't have dedicated whY+ toilets at all.
Managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep on the flight - arrival in to LAX was fairly civilised - went from plane door to landside in about 20-25 minutes. Dropped bags and out - then had a bit of a hike to get to T7 for my next flight..
p.s., the safety demo videos are APPALLING. Makes DJ's safety demos of three years ago look like the height of professionalism!
p.p.s., both flights credited to VA in two days - can't complain about that!
LAX-SFO UA 763 (no idea of rego), credited to BD
Schlepped over to LAX T7, couldn't find *G check in (needed to talk to an agent to update the frequent flyer details) - first rookie mistake, expecting to find helpful staff at UA..! Finally realised "premium" check in was next door at T6; finally got an updated boarding card with my BD details and the all important "Star Gold" listed on it - got fast tracked through security and made my way to the lounge thingy. Nothing really to recommend it, especially not the dragons on the door - however they at least recognised the BD *G card (something the check-in agent didn't..!). Got seating sorted out - plane had been up-gauged from a 752 to a 763, moar First seats of course means that my original seating allocation didn't exist any more, but thankfully I was still seated in the "Economy Plus" section. +10 points for a spare seat next to me, -10000000 points for a screaming child directly behind me.. Still, hardly UA's fault and I was tired enough to snooze until just before touchdown in to SFO.
No idea what the service was like (if any was offered at all), so I have no basis for complaints - I had lounge access, I got a decent seat, everything was on time and my bags arrived on the same flight I did. Pleasantly surprised, given it was UA.. though my flight *still* hasn't credited to BD as yet #firstworldproblems
So, I wrote more than expected .. whoops!
MEL-AKL NZ 772 (ZK-OKB), credited to VA
Check in at MEL was relatively painless, though the TA clearly hadn't attached the advance passenger info to the booking - annoying, but no biggie. No express pass offered, and I forgot to ask - but had spares from previous trips, so again no big deal. NZ lounge at MEL was busy. Flight boarded and left pretty much on time; I was seated in the Premium Economy section and would be seriously unimpressed with it for a long haul flight. Basically economy with extra leg room. Couldn't eat the meal offered - no vego options available. Partook of an extra glass of wine or two to compensate.
AKL-LAX NZ 773 (ZK-OKQ), credited to VA
Transit at AKL was relatively straight forward, transit security were polite and pleasant
shock and in fairly short order was through to the lounge. Nothing to write home about, but the wine selection was pretty decent (as expected), as were a couple of the salad options. Proper barista service offered through to 8:00 PM, did a fairly decent flat white for me - not quite as good as I've had at the VA lounge in MEL, but no complaints. Flight was called a bit too early, arrived in the "holding pen" and waited for 15 mins along with everyone else to board the flight. Managed to score a flight on the special livery 773 - it really is quite spectacular in the black! Hope they keep this paint job. Boarding got underway, priority boarding was mostly meaningless as it was offered to everyone except pax in economy with no status. First time seeing / sitting in the new whY+ seats - LOVE them!
Very comfortable, legroom excellent, glad I chose to sit in the middle pair ("inner space") .. definitely wouldn't choose to sit in the window pairs ("outer space") unless I knew my seat mate well .. quite a bit of effort involved in getting out from the window seat. The middle pair also appears to have extra space to put stuff, which can be handy - and extra elbow room, definitely nice at feeding times. Being angled slightly toward the aisle means not having to look at the seat mate, which works well for me as a single traveller.. all up, easily the nicest whY+ seat I've parked my behind in. Entertainment system is pretty awesome, gate-to-gate entertainment options available though not any of the games (they become available later in the flight). Borrowed an iPod cable so I could watch my own TV shows on the IFE; thought that was pretty neat.Managed to sneak a peek at the pax manifest - VA Platinum comes up as "DJ-E"; the in-flight concierge made a point of coming up and making a fuss about how wonderful it was to have DJ status pax on board blah blah blah (over the top but kinda nice). Nothing particularly special offered or requested, so I don't know if there was anything I missed out on. SPML requested for this flight and for once - all the food was quite tasty! Serving sizes were massive - I don't think anyone would go hungry. Was interested to note that there were no vego options on the standard whY+ menu; ordering SPMLs on NZ appear to be necessary. Also massive were the wine pours - no fiddly little wine glasses to be seen, nice big stemless glassware filled very generously (though am undecided whether they were catering to the alcoholic in me or just not wanting to refill quite so often..
) either way, I was quite happy. Couldn't partake of too much booze as I needed to be in a fit state to drive at the other end.. I don't remember specifics now, but there were several wines to choose from, as well as Mumm NV champagne. In flight service was excellent in general, though the NZ crew aren't as engaging as VA crew tend to be. whY+ on the 773 has two dedicated toilets which are both quite spacious - the complete opposite of the 772, which doesn't have dedicated whY+ toilets at all.Managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep on the flight - arrival in to LAX was fairly civilised - went from plane door to landside in about 20-25 minutes. Dropped bags and out - then had a bit of a hike to get to T7 for my next flight..
p.s., the safety demo videos are APPALLING.
Makes DJ's safety demos of three years ago look like the height of professionalism!p.p.s., both flights credited to VA in two days - can't complain about that!
LAX-SFO UA 763 (no idea of rego), credited to BD
Schlepped over to LAX T7, couldn't find *G check in (needed to talk to an agent to update the frequent flyer details) - first rookie mistake, expecting to find helpful staff at UA..! Finally realised "premium" check in was next door at T6; finally got an updated boarding card with my BD details and the all important "Star Gold" listed on it - got fast tracked through security and made my way to the lounge thingy. Nothing really to recommend it, especially not the dragons on the door - however they at least recognised the BD *G card (something the check-in agent didn't..!). Got seating sorted out - plane had been up-gauged from a 752 to a 763, moar First seats of course means that my original seating allocation didn't exist any more, but thankfully I was still seated in the "Economy Plus" section. +10 points for a spare seat next to me, -10000000 points for a screaming child directly behind me..
Still, hardly UA's fault and I was tired enough to snooze until just before touchdown in to SFO.No idea what the service was like (if any was offered at all), so I have no basis for complaints - I had lounge access, I got a decent seat, everything was on time and my bags arrived on the same flight I did. Pleasantly surprised, given it was UA.. though my flight *still* hasn't credited to BD as yet #firstworldproblems
So, I wrote more than expected .. whoops!
