Boarded on time, smooth flight and "gentle" landing in Palmerston North. Ahead of time due to a tailwind
Time to upgrade those planes so you can provide first class.
My experience with Underpricer was not great. The representative assigned to me did not tell me beforehand that selecting seats, which i could not do through ANZ, WOULD ADD SIGNIFICANT cost to my ticket (all flight segments were reg economy seats. The seat selections for the ticket, MCI-AKL, AKL-PER, PER-MCI, cost $284 USD. I WAS NOT TOLD AHEAD OF SELECTING SEATS chosen by the rep OF THE COSTS and never received an itemized invoice of the seat selections.). The costs of seat selection, an option solicited as a service, with no mention of costs, should have been disclosed to me prior to seat selection and certaily should have been itemized. For all I know, the $284 was not referred from the airline but made up and taken directly by Underpricer. Next, when i checked in, united couldnt find my ticket. This is probably why i didnt get a seat selection on that flight and couldnt check in online, despite Underpricer prompts to do so a week before departure, or at the kiosk at the airport. I had to wait for special help at the counter, then was told that because the flight segment, MCI-IAH, operated by United Airlines via the ANZ. ticket, had changed schedule slightly since I BOOKED MY FLIGHT, the MCI-IAH segment had been decoupled from the rest of the ticket because the IAH layover was now 12.5 hrs AND DID NOT QUALIFY AS A THROUGH FLIGHT TO AKL.. This meant my checked bag could not be checked through to AKL and id have to pick it up at IAH, THEN WAIT MOST OF the long layover WITH the large checked bag until ANZ counter in IAH OPENED for checkING just prior to the flight. Apparently, although underpricer had notified me of schedule changes, they did not update the ANZ TICKET, leading to this problem. Finallly, although I RECHECKED TH BAG IN At IAH 3.5-4 hours before the scheduled departure and the IAH-AKL segment was a direct flight, ANZ LOST MY bag and it took 4 days to find it and get it to me. Not fun.
The flight was smooth and on time. Entertainment options were lacking and there was no food, other than some very boring snacks.
A better selection of entertainment would have been nice. I found nothing that appealed to me as a middle-aged traveler. The flight attendants were gracious, helpful, and attentive. It also would have been nice to have more bathrooms as the flight was full and the plane was big.
Both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our return home from Tokyo to Auckland and onwards to Palmerston North. We would recommend using the Premier Business class for long-haul travel, any day. Well worth the extra cost. Cabin staff were exceptional, Thank you
The Air New Zealand product is terrible, it's as expensive as a Jetstar ticket with add ons but with surely staff and old aircraft.
Great service. Food could be improved but overall a very good airline
This flight was the second leg of a trip that began in Auckland, New Zealand. I was unable to find a way to select seats in advance. The boarding passes we were given in Auckland did not have seat assignments for the second flight. There was no way to check on it until personnel showed up at the gate in Los Angeles, immediately before boarding time. The flight was overbooked by one, and since I was traveling with my sister, we needed two seats. We waited in considerable anxiety for everyone else to board and when one person did not show up, we had to take whatever was left. At least we finally got on the flight although we were the very last to board. We were not able to sit together, of course.
The Premium Economy seats were very comfortable and the food was quite tasty. I did not use the entertainment system, but I was able to charge my phone and tablet with the seatback connection.
