Which is your preferred airline across the Tasman? [of QF, NZ or VA]

[Mattg]

The trans-Tasman market has had a bit of a shake-up lately, with Virgin/Air NZ splitting up and Emirates withdrawing from most of their trans-Tasman routes earlier in the year. So I was wondering, which is now your preferred airline to New Zealand?

I've been regularly flying across the Tasman for the past several years and have tried each airline at least once. But I've mostly flown Qantas as I found the service to be good (and meals, drinks etc. are all included).

I never really used to consider Virgin Australia but they seem to have picked up their act lately. They now give a hot meal and baggage allowance to every passenger and their fares have been really competitive lately (not to mention the double status credits promo). Lounge access is still a bit of a mess at some airports (with the loss of Air NZ lounges) and their exclusive use of Boeing 737s is a bit of a downer though.

I like Air NZ's lounges, and also the fact they use Boeing 787s/777s on flights to/from AKL. But I don't like their low-cost service model.

I can't fault the cabin crew on Qantas, Virgin or Air New Zealand which are all excellent.

EK is also great if flying SYD-CHC, and SQ is good for MEL-WLG, but they're of limited use if my destination is Auckland.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Which is YOUR airline of choice to New Zealand, and why?

 

[AIRwin]

There is also CI between BNE and AKL

 

[Mattg]

There is also CI between BNE and AKL

Yes, indeed. There's also LATAM from SYD-AKL, and Air Asia flies OOL-AKL (although this will soon end). And many JQ routes.

My question was really about which airline out of the "big 3" is peoples' favourite - Qantas, Virgin Aust or Air New Zealand.

 

[Ewing]

I don't fly Y internationally and most of my TT is SYD-AKL so my preferred airline was Emirates.

Now that Qantas run the A330 across the ditch with the lovely J suites they are now my airline of choice. Service has been consistently excellent and I love the hard product.

I also occasionally fly NZ, but only the 777 services. On the rare occasion I have to take an A320 (usually SYD-WLG) it'll be in Works Deluxe.

I still fly Emirates when I fly SYD-CHC.

 

[Silvia]

If it’s on the A330, definitely QF. The seat is probably the best out of the 3.
I tend to do MEL-AKL and also having access to EK lounge in AKL prior the leg back to MEL has been helpful.

Undoubtedly if going to CHC, EK is the product.

 

[AviationNZ]

For me, it's a mainly mixture of QF/NZ;

• Best IFE - NZ
• Best business class - QF A330 or NZ 777/787
• Best premium economy - NZ
• Best economy seat - NZ 777/787, but have also now tried the NZ A321NEO and really like it
• Best food/beverages - NZ or QF
• Best crew - mixed, but generally NZ or QF
• Best lounges - NZ, unless you get access to QF First, in which case QF

VA and NZ (partial) have the benefit of wifi, and I do like the NZ product choice as I can book a Seat/Seat+Bag product, then use OneUp to bid for an upgrade, and if it doesn't come through, just manually upgrade to The Works.

I can't stand VA's new "one drink" policy and their seats/planes are the worst of the bunch.

 

[serfty]

For Price ... VA
For First Lounge at SYD/MEL, EK lounge at AKL - QF
Not on radar - NZ - I despise their Seat+Bag fare structure as I don't check luggage - it means I have to pay for Works if I want to be assured of F&B. (I had been *Elite with airpoints until this was introduced.)

 

[Forg]

Not on radar - NZ - I despise their Seat+Bag fare structure as I don't check luggage - it means I have to pay for Works if I want to be assured of F&B.

Woah, am I reading this right … NZ charges extra for carry-on?

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Woah, am I reading this right … NZ charges extra for carry-on?

NZ's 'basic' fares across the Tasman includes 7kg of hand luggage and 'tea, coffee and water'. There are three higher fares providing options of 23kg of checked luggage, a meal and drinks and a guaranteed empty seat next to you.

 

[Mattg]

I find it interesting that nobody (so far) has said they fly VA for the in-flight wifi. They're the only airline doing this at the moment. Is this something people value?

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I can't fault crew on QF or NZ although it's been a number of years since I've flown NZ. EK crews are the most unengaged of the three but that's less of a concern after the first glass of Bordeaux

About half of my TT flying on QF is in Y, all off EK is (was) F. TT flights are the only international ones I fly Y and a bulkhead or exit row on the QF A330 is acceptable for the maximum four hours.

 

[Forg]

I find it interesting that nobody (so far) has said they fly VA for the in-flight wifi. They're the only airline doing this at the moment. Is this something people value?

Note that I'm only answering this in terms of "what would I do", not having the experience to answer from … well, from experience.
But how fast & reliable is the WiFi? Because I could see that if I were heading to/from Auckland for work purposes, a good way to pass the time would be to get a bit of work done on the 'plane. This isn't physically possible in Y of course (especially the domestic setup I've experienced with QF 737's to NZ); but to get most things work-related done I do need access to the internet.

 

[serfty]

Woah, am I reading this right … NZ charges extra for carry-on?

No - base "SEAT" fare gives Seat, 7kg of hand luggage and 'tea, coffee and water'.

Pay an extra $27 to check a bag with a "SEAT & BAG" fare. No F&B

Pay an extra $54 to check a bag & have F&B included with a "WORKS" fare.

Pay an extra $160 to have a guaranteed spare seat beside you. "WORKS DELUXE".

My Gripe is that you can't pay $27 extra for a Seat with F&B fare, no checked bag.

e.g. Base fare $300, Seat and Bag $327, Works $354, Works deluxe $460.

 

[Forg]

^ While I can understand being piqued to the point of boycott just on principle (and it's something I'd do too), wouldn't someone with uber status such as yourself just get something better (than they're ever going to serve in Y) in the lounge before the 4hr flight?

 

[Silvia]

I rather have a good meal and a nice drop of red, or champagne rather than wifi, but ymmv.
I purposefully try to avoid 737s to AKL. If it was on the 737, it would be close between VA and QF as the catering in QF at times hasn't been the best. I guess the lounge would be the deal breaker.

 

[stm1sydney]

For most people it will be whichever airline they need the points / status credits with. So for me it's VA. Bonus - they have now sorted out the lounge arrangements quite well. Their crews are really good and the hard product is fine. Schedule is fine for me.

No, I don't value wifi on flights. In my work, if I do work on planes, I can usefully work off line for a few hours (and actually appreciate being off line).

 

[Altair]

I have never flown JQ or VA across the Tasman.
Being WLG based things have changed for me, but I used to fly LA AKL-SYD on the cheap Business Class return fares until QF dropped the SC earn by 50%.
I then flew EK AKL-SYD in F until EK stopped flying that route, and after a couple of lacklustre downgrades due to A380 breakdowns I just can't be bothered flying to CHC to get the EK CHC-SYD service.
I stopped flying NZ when they brought in S2S fares and dropped Business Class on their A320, their Economy meals and at the time very tight pitch meant QF Economy was a much better value proposition to me. So I dropped my GE status to Gold, based on NZ domestic flying only, then got feed up by poor lounge food and the very over crowded domestic lounges so I decided to give up on NZ altogether.
I now travel solely on QF, now due to young kids I have limited my flying anyway, their Economy product is quite good IMO, but when they put the extra row of seats in and very small bathrooms in, their seating leaves a lot to be desired.
When I travel by myself it is in QF Business, and due to being on more limited time away I cannot be bothered to travel to AKL or CHC to get bigger aircraft over the extra time it takes. QF 737 Business is OK, not great, IFE screens are not good food is good but I could always fill up in the SYD EK lounge, but I know that when I make the booking, I just need to think now with LTSG I should just accept QF Economy for the TT flights and save the money.....

 

[kermatu]

For a few years i flew a mix of Jetconnect and EK, in both Y and J. Didn't like EK Y but J was good. Jetconnect service was always wonderful whether in J or Y.

Once QF mainline started the consistent widebodies and EK largely ditched the ditch, I have been predominantly QF J with the occasional LATAM flight to/from AKL. Up until my last two flights on QF J I've been very happy. Not too thrilled of late.

Always SQ out of WLG. QF to/from CHC (haven't examined for a while but the EK timing never suited me).

Will take my first VA flight in a few weeks (in J). Keen to see how it stacks up service-wise.

 

[kermatu]

I find it interesting that nobody (so far) has said they fly VA for the in-flight wifi. They're the only airline doing this at the moment. Is this something people value?

I value not having wifi.

 

[serfty]

^ While I can understand being piqued to the point of boycott just on principle (and it's something I'd do too), wouldn't someone with uber status such as yourself just get something better (than they're ever going to serve in Y) in the lounge before the 4hr flight?

If you didn't buy the works, you had to pay on board for F&B should 1) there be anything to eat and 2) they deigned make such available. This was a point of reference when "Seats 2 Suit" was introduced.

Also, around the same time, the F&B available in the NZ lounges began to deteriorate markedly.