Flight from LAX to Auckland-flown Air New Zealand?

[gmcc]

We are trying to plan for food, sleep, etc. on trip to Auckland in December. We will already have been up almost 20 hours by the time we board in LAX so planning becomes critical. Can anyone provide Air New Zealand's general in-air routine? Do they serve food as soon as soon as they reach cruising altitude, do they start with snack or full meal, etc.? Any info on what can be expected and the timing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[SheilaNC]

I've flown Air NZ several times over the past 12 years. In the past, I found the food very good for airline food and flight attendants helpful and available. Seats have average pitch - not particularly roomy or comfortable but not terrible. On my last trip (March 07), I found the food OK, service adequate, had to walk to the back when I wanted water during the night (not a bad thing since walking around on a long flight is good for you :)) since flight attendants didn't seem to make rounds or offer water unless requested. In other words, the experience was OK but not as good as on past trips (this was true in both directions although the crew on the outbound flight from SFO were better than those from Auckland to LA on return flight. They do serve a meal within an hour or so of flight leaving (but this depends on time of your flight) and it was a full meal on both flights with wine (flew out at 10:30 PM and home late afternoon). Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip. NZ is amazing.

[Aussie Gal]

If you are exhausted when you board your Air New Zealand flight, just tell the flight attendants you will not be requiring a meal and they will let you sleep. We have done this often when flying to Europe and boarding our flight in Singapore around 11.30pm after having flown from Melbourne (an 8 hour flight) and being up for just on 20 hours.

 

We like to try and go to sleep as soon as we have taken off and we find that we arrive into our destination quite refreshed.

 

Jennie

[pinebro]

anyone ever use the premium coach seats?

looking for a little feedback since the cost is high.............

but the little extra room would be wonderful.......

[DrFUN]

We're flying Premium Economy from LAX to Auckland and then AKL to SYD

in three weeks....

 

Can anyone tell me what the deal is at LAX in terms of getting into the Air New Zealand lounge EARLY. (We have an 8-hour layover from Phoenix.) I'm a bit worried as I"ve heard that they don't let you get a boarding pass until near the departure time....:confused:

 

THANKS,

Mary-Lou

[sailingkiwi]

My parents have flown premium economy between NZ and London twice and been very happy with the extra leg room. They wouldn't fly any other way.

[notentirelynormal]

We're flying Premium Economy from LAX to Auckland and then AKL to SYD

in three weeks....

 

Can anyone tell me what the deal is at LAX in terms of getting into the Air New Zealand lounge EARLY. (We have an 8-hour layover from Phoenix.) I'm a bit worried as I"ve heard that they don't let you get a boarding pass until near the departure time....:confused:

 

THANKS,

Mary-Lou

 

Is this true? Premium Economy gets to use the ANZ lounge? That would be very good news if its true. Also, if it is correct, would we be able to take one guest in with us? We have 10 people in PE and 10 in economy.

[Rickey 88]

Is this true? Premium Economy gets to use the ANZ lounge? That would be very good news if its true. Also, if it is correct, would we be able to take one guest in with us? We have 10 people in PE and 10 in economy.

 

You may find yourselves disappointed. The International Lounges are meant for Business and First Class ticket holders and for Gold customers of any Star Alliance airline.

 

Check directly with Air New Zealand to be sure.....

[notentirelynormal]

That's what I figured, so I'm not disappointed in that respect. We'll just have to drink in the open and sleep in the seats in front of everyone. Just kidding on the drinking in public part.

[cands]

Hi,

Here's a review of our experience of Premium Economy on Air NZ.

 

Its post number 89:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=463109&page=5&highlight=premium+economy

[gmcc]

Thanks for the all the info. We have done European flights but being on the East coast never with this kind of long flying time just to get to the "long flight". Not sure how we will feel after 20 hours as we board flight in LAX but suspect we will not be peppy! Expect we will wing it and try to get in a good stretch of sleep (if possible in a coach seat) in the hours before we land. We had tried to book premium coach but it was sold out on both leg over and back. Appreciate the responses.

[SelectSys]

... Not sure how we will feel after 20 hours as we board flight in LAX but suspect we will not be peppy! ...

 

That is one long flight to get to LAX! You might break the trip up into segments and spend the night in LA by the airport. It's easy to get a good hotel deal by the airport. I would also recommend getting up later than normal to get your clock adjusted.

 

The good news is that the absolute difference in time to New Zealand right now from the east coast is only 6 hours at this time of year! For example, 8pm Sunday in SC is 2pm Monday in New Zealand. This should help with the jet lag if you can sleep well on planes.

[boards]

We flew Qantas last Nov/Dec. from Detroit to LA and then LA to Auckland, NZ.

The nice thing that worked out for us was we left LA about 9 pm and arrived in Auckland (7 am) like it was the next morning, except the date was 2 days later. It felt like all you did was sleep a regular night and got up the next morning. Yes we were tired from all the travelling but it worked out fine. The hard part was we didn't we into hotel room until after 1 pm. We had to work hard at not going to bed too early. WE would do it again and hope too. Also we took the seats at the back of the plane where there were two seats window and aisle and it worked out great. You didn't have to bother anyone and it felt like you had a little more room.

[Aussie Gal]

We flew Qantas last Nov/Dec. from Detroit to LA and then LA to Auckland, NZ.

Also we took the seats at the back of the plane where there were two seats window and aisle and it worked out great. You didn't have to bother anyone and it felt like you had a little more room.

 

When we fly economy we always ask for and get the two seats at the back of the plane either on the left or right hand side.

We never have to bother anyone else and there is quite a bit of room between the seat and the window for storing odds and ends.

I believe they are the most popular seats on all the planes that fly long distances so one has to book them very early.

 

It is noisier and bumpier but having those two seats together is worth all of that. Of course all planes are configured differently but I am referring to the 747's and 777's which normally have the 3,4,3 configuration. :)

 

Jennie

[boards]

Thank you, it was because of your information that we asked for the seats at the rear of the plane and enjoyed very much. I had some extra room at the side for my camera's, book, the stuff they gave us on the plane. It was great. We hope get the same arrangement on our NWA flight next May, we are hoping the plane has the same seating design.

[Aussie Gal]

boards,

 

If you want to know how your plane is configured here is a good website:

 

http://www.seatguru.com/

 

I always use this when booking seats.

 

Jennie

[HaloV]

We are flying into SFO a day early to make sure we make our flight for Auckland. We live about 60 miles from LAX, but the TA said it would be $2000.00 more to leave from LAX. So, we opted to fly to SF from LAX a day early, and see some sights. It will not cost near $2000.00. I just found out our flight schedule. We leave SFO, then have a 3 hr. layover back at LAX. How dumb is that for us!! We are going to SF, to come back to LA. Oh well, we are looking at it, as a pre vacation. I wonder if anyone else is having to do this?? HaloV

[SheilaNC]

HaloV,

That is the strangest difference in airfare I have ever encountered. I did a similar flight in March - flew to Auckland out of SFO and back through LAX. The difference between leaving from the two `cities was negligible. Have you checked the flights with airlines yourself?? Weird!

[Globaliser]

As there's a non-stop service from SFO to AKL (which I think there is during the current northern winter), this is not an unusual pattern to see.

 

For example, if I want to fly from London to Sydney, it's often much cheaper for me to start in Frankfurt and connect in London to the direct London-Sydney flight, than to book only the London-Sydney flight. Ironically, that is actually because Frankfurt-London-Sydney has to be priced cheaper than the direct Frankfurt-Sydney flight.

 

That's what happens when the price of airline tickets is governed by a commodity market.

[DrFUN]

Just wanted to add that I didn't mean to mix anyone up about Premium Economy and the Lounge. We get in because we're GOLD on a partner.... I was just asking about the Lounge access in general, as I'd heard ANZ at LAX might not let you get a boarding pass until rather close to the flight, which wouldn't give us time to relax during our 8-hour layover from Phoenix to LAX enroute to Sydney via Auckland. :confused:

 

Thanks for any info!

 

Best,

Mary-Lou

[Pellegrino]

We are flying in March for our cruise. We were able to book first class with some ff miles. For those of you who have used the LAX airport for this flight and were able to access the "Lounge" what is the protocol? We are not connecting the day we fly to Aust. so we will be re-entering the airport. Will we be allowed in earlier for check in and then be able to wait in the lounge? If so, how early? I am trying to decide if I should book two days at the hotel so we don't have to sit on luggage for 8 hours before our flight. Thanks for your help. Ellen