I’ve had many good flights with Air NZ – great airline. What makes their service even more remarkable is the fact that their 747s are manned by just 14 flight attendants. Most airlines have between 18 and 20 on a 747. This is surely a testament to the quality and dedication of their staff. How they provide that level of superior service with so few staff both amazes and concerns me a little.

Great blog – keep it up.

Note: Theirs always your “call button” to use should you need help with your seat or extra water lol.

BTW, I’m sure Waiheke was worth the pain, it was the most enjoyable part of my trip to Auckland a few years ago.

It absolutely was worth the pain. I wasn’t complaining at all, just showing why I opted to stay in biz class. I went to a really great winery – Mudbrick. Would love to go back again.

David SFeastbay wrote:

First with that kind of baggage drop off it looks like it would be easy for someone to pick up someones bag as it moves down the belt and steal it.

I thought that at first, but it really isn’t. The glass area prevent people from leaning over and taking a bag. In the open area where you’re supposed to drop your bag, there is an agent manning the area to watch everything and help people load.

ShaneLAX wrote:

For this reason, AKL is not a good hub.

Good point, for sure. I would not want to have a tight connection there, though I wouldn’t mind sticking around for a couple days before leaving for another city in the south.

I had the unfortunate experience of having a tight International-to-domestic connection at AKL on Jetstar (blame both Delta and Jetstar, but mostly Jetstar as to why this was tight; see my full trip report here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/978772-lax-syd-delta-other-down-under-flights-various-airlines.html ).

The major problem at AKL is that the domestic terminal is a 10 minute walk from the international one. For this reason, AKL is not a good hub. It honestly is easier for an American to fly to Sydney or even Brisbane first and then go on to Wellington or Christchurch. While ANZ making the domestic check-in process quicker is certainly excellent, I’m still reluctant to take ANZ when traveling beyond Aukland.

Second with sore feet and a sunburn you should have taken the premium economy seat. I’m sure a lot of people return from a vacation with sore feet, sunburn, or just feeling blah from all they did on vacation. A product report would have been more interesting in premium economy.
But with that said, I would have still kept the Business seat even if I didn’t have sore feet and sunburn…….lol