PackJetRoam

With the surge in demand after the Covid recovery, Air New Zealand found itself in a tough spot as their Dreamliner are plagued with engines issues which means they are either being put on maintenance much sooner or entirely out of service without an engine. Their orders are also being delayed which means they can’t get new deliveries to replace the current fleet that are offline, so the solution? Lease.

Cathay Pacific leased this particular 777-300W and it was up for renewal, but they decided to not continue the lease and I’m assuming there may be some back end deals being done as both airlines are under the Star Alliance network, so Air New Zealand took over the lease of this aircraft to operate their high capacity routes, specifically Auckland – Houston and Auckland Sydney/Melbourne.

As Air New Zealand isn’t planning to keep this aircraft long term, given that they have phased out their own 777-300W until recently where apparently they have brought back all of their B777 into operation, they have kept the whole interior as it is, which would be the ex-Cathay Pacific seating. I have not personally seen the review of the Economy section, but given that there’s not much room for improvement at the back end, I would expect minimal differences with the Air New Zealand product, however the premium cabins is a much different story, with a lot of travellers raving over this old Cathay Pacific seating over even the brand new Business Class seats that Air New Zealand has rolled out.

I will be flying on both Economy and First (or as they called it the Business Premiere Preferred) for both outbound and inbound sectors.

MEL – AKL

CHECK IN

As I have got a robot window cleaner with a built in battery in it, I have asked the customer service about it and they told me that I should be able to check it in as long as it’s within the regulatory. When I approached the service desk, the agent told me that I’m not allowed to have it checked in. I then told them that I have asked the customer service and they told me that I should be able to, as the battery capacity is very low. They then went and search for the document guideline which took around 15-20 minutes for them to figure out whether I’m allowed to have that checked. As it is too large to have it as a carry on, and also I’m already over my weight limit for the carry on, I am fairly sure that they are not a third party contractor so they should have a good understanding of the requirement and also be more organised for their work station to be able to find information quickly. I didn’t find the agent to be particularly friendly for this specific interaction and further training should be provided regarding the SOP and making sure that they are able to get the information with ease.

FLIGHT

I didn’t have too high of an expectation in terms of the hard product, but to my surprise, the seating was comfortable with great padding, while smart seat design allows efficient use of space such as the device holder and a storage there to place smaller items.

The IFE screen is large but has a lot of glare, perhaps using anti-glare coating or screen protector may help reduce this issue, I find it difficult to see the screen clearly with the window in front of me open as that window is half on my side and half on the seat in front so I didn’t want to close it. The IFE has a good range of shows on offer, some fairly recent releases movies and is definitely sufficient for these shorter hops.

During my seat introduction, I opened up the tray table and spotted that it wasn’t cleaned. The aircraft was on the ground for over an hour which is on the tighter end of turnaround time, and I’m sure the cleaners are just picking up rubbish rather than going to all the individual seats to perform a good clean. This is still not a good impression regardless, especially considering that Air NZ is not the cheapest operator within this sector.

For the meal, I’ve pre-ordered a vegetarian/vegan meal, Air NZ doesn’t separate vegetarian and vegan, so any vegetarian meals are also vegan meals. I got a sort of pasta dish, while the on board announcement did mention a vegetarian option of a “Mac & Cheese”. If this is a Mac & Cheese, it is definitely very odd variant as there’s tomato sauce and such. Speaking of sauce, there’s not enough sauce for my pasta dish so it’s kind of half cheese with pasta and half tomato sauce with pasta. Overall I think this dish has a lot more potential and I wouldn’t miss it at all. Another item that’s on the tray is a fresh salad and a cheesecake, I did enjoy the cheesecake and that is probably the best item on the tray.

Half way through the flight after meal service has concluded, a crew dressed up as santa to walk through the aisle and hand out lollies, there was only 1 fully suited up Santa and for our aisle we got a “Mrs Santa” who is half dressed as Santa and has a kid to assist handing out lollies. It’s a nice little festive addition to the flight and I haven’t had any issue with the crew so overall I would say it’s a good flight.

AKL – MEL

CHECK IN

Today’s flight is supposed to be on the same aircraft, I paid extra to the Business Premiere Preferred given that there’s a former Cathay Pacific First Class product on board. There’s no separation between Business and Business Preferred in terms of service or soft product, all customers will still receive Business Class priviledge, food and service. Due to an unannounced aircraft swap, I ended up on their old B777-300W (not the Cathay Pacific one), which has the flagship Air NZ hard product and is a significant downgrade in terms of space and comfort.

Auckland has a dedicated check in area for Business Premiere, Koru, Elite, Gold and Star Alliance Gold members. This is the first time I’ve flown out of Auckland on Business Class with Air NZ, so it will be my first time experiencing their dedicated check in area. The Business Premiere customers have another separate check in room hidden at the rear which provides a more exclusive and personalised experience.

There are 2 normal standing check in desks from memory, but they were occupied by other people checking in, so the staff brought me to the sitting desk on the side and the process took around 2 minutes. Then after the staff finished tagging my suitcases, there’s a separate baggage drop off area across the room, where there are staff assisting with scanning the bag tags.

I found all the staff there were friendly and professional, the process was efficient and quick. This is what I would expect as a Business Class passenger, but this is definitely not a consistent level of speed or service across all of their flights especially if you’re not flying outside of Auckland, as I have experienced prior flying from Australia where Business Class passengers leaving the queue to use the Economy self check in instead, as it was a lot quicker. Once you have checked in, a dedicated elevator will bring you straight up to the fast track lane of the security area.

LOUNGE

Air NZ is currently planning a revamp on their main lounge in conjunction with the expansion of Auckland Airport and the merge of Domestic and International within the same terminal. While that is quite a few years away from completion, Air NZ has recently refresh their loyalty program which will also see their lounge adding more separation between Business Class passengers, Elite members and invitation only members (possibly politicians and such).

As they start planning work their main lounge, they have opened a separate lounge area for passengers during this transition period, as there’s not a lot of information regarding the 2 lounges that are operating, the staff member told me that the main lounge (Koru Lounge) is that one that people will be using as all the amenities such as toilet and shower will be there, while the Lookout Lounge has no amenities and will be used as an overflow lounge. This could change in the future when they make major renovation work and require the closing of the main lounge.

There were a good variety of food options in the morning, anything from cold to hot. They also have someone there cooking a toast with mushroom. Barista made coffee is also available in the lounge, which I believe is fairly consistent across their lounges. There’s a good view out to the runway and tarmac as well. The lounge got really busy as the morning went on, given that there were quite a number of flights departing in the morning.

FLIGHT

As I step foot into the aircraft, I was initially slightly confused seeing the old standard Business Premiere hard product. I thought they had swapped the aircraft to a B787 given that I didn’t realise they had brought their own B777 back into service, also the window shade would have been a giveaway but my seat was facing away from it so it wasn’t something that I paid attention to initially.

After settling down on my seat, the flight attendant came up to me offering pre-departure drinks, there were juices and champagne, I was like it’s a bit early for champagne I think, the flight was 9am, she said she could make a mimosa as well, but I declined and went for a glass of Apple Juice instead.

Air NZ had retired all of their B777W during Covid, but it seems like they have decided to take some (possibly all) back online due to the ongoing engine issues with their B787 Dreamliner and also production delay at Boeing which sees fewer new aircraft delivered than the initial projection.

I think everyone knows at this point that this herringbone seating is one of the worst Business Class product out there in the market, hence I deliberately chose the Cathay Pacific configuration when booking the flight. For some reason they did an aircraft swap and my seat went from 1K to 1A, initially I thought maybe they had to put a crew or someone there and move me to 1A, which is fine with me, but no one mentioned to me that I was actually downgraded from Business Premiere Preferred to Business Premiere. The hard product itself is also a downgrade, during the flight I was trying to get some sleep but the seat is not able to go fully flat without having the whole thing set up so I only had a short light nap and it wasn’t the most comfortable seat to be (in comparison to other Business Class products).

In terms of the food, the flight attendant told me that I can order from the menu instead of my special order vegan/vegetarian meal, but after comparing what’s on the menu and what is on my special order, I decided to stick to my special meal instead. I was first served an entree with vegan yogurt and cereal, followed by the mains which is some baked beans, plant based sausages, tomato, corn and some other stuff that was mixed in with that. This main dish was slightly saltier than I would have liked but overall both dishes were good.

On the side they have given a muffin and a bowl of fruit as well. I also took a croissant from their bread basket and a glass of mango smoothie. Overall it’s a substantial meal in itself, given that I have also eaten in the lounge, I couldn’t finish the meals on board. I am very happy with the food that was served on this flight and would definitely not hesitate to redo it again.

There are some minor cleanliness issues here and there that needs to be addressed, while most of these are in the nooks and crannies, there are some more surface areas that could do with more detailed cleaning as well. It doesn’t help that these aircraft been flying for a long time as well.

The crew on board were very friendly and professional as well, when I tried to go to sleep it was a little chilly so I pressed the call bell button which the crew came within seconds and I requested for a blanket, and she took one from the overhead locker and brought it to my seat, before handing it to me she unwrapped it as well. During the flight when they need to ask me something particularly, they would address me by name which is the standard level of service I would expect. Overall I find the crew to be highly skilled and professional, but of course I can only speak for the Business Class crew and things may be different at the rear, as I have also experienced rudeness from crew when I have taken flights in Premium Economy. So in terms of the crew serving the Business Class cabin, they were performing very well.

COMPENSATION

As they have changed the aircraft without a Premium Business Preferred Seat, I was technically downgraded as I have paid an additional NZD$195 for the upgrade. I have filed a refund and compensation claim with Air NZ, with an additional $195 as compensation for the downgrade. So a total claim of $390 is being pursued to Air NZ.

2 weeks after my claim, I got a response from them stating that they will not consider my compensation claim as I was still on a “Business Premiere” seat and that their evaluation of the refund claim will take up to an additional 6 weeks, which I think is unacceptable. Air NZ should have reached out to me right after the flight and offer the refund given that they have not provided me the product I have paid for, and yet they are trying to hold on to my money. As a company, this practice is unethical and damaging to the brand.

I will be updating here when I get further updates regarding the refund claim.

---