Air New Zealand Premium Economy
 

Hi,

I'm considering flying the new Premium Economy class on Air New Zealand between Melbourne and San Francisco. I would be interested to hear from people who had flown it and what their thoughts were? Is it value for money?

Many thanks

It's a brand new class of service and seating setup for Air NZ, and I can't find any trip reports on it yet on the NZ board at flyertalk.com - but go lurk there and you'll eventually see some feedback on their PE product. Reaction to the new business class product (similar to Virgin's Upper Class from all appearances) has been quite positive.

I just flew rt SFO to Aukland and was lucky enough to get exit row (first row in Premium economy, right behind biz class). The leg room is well worth it (to me); service wise there's little difference from most coach cabins. I was in the upper deck both times, so a small cabin, not as much passenger "density" so to speak, which is a bit easier going than the huge coach cabins. I would pay for it again.

From the photos and seatmaps, the seats seem to be pretty narrow. Same 9-across on the 777 as coach. Upperdeck on the 744 with 5-across may be better.

I rode over in the front/exit row in the aisle seat, with the two-across; and back on the other side, with the three across. They don't seem that wide, as rkk noted; they do, at least in exit row, have good leg room 9but no "under the seat in front of you" storage. Both trips were in the upper deck of the 747-400.

I am also looking at the PE on ANZ.

There is a definite advantage on the 747, less on the 777.

The 2 across exit seat on the upper deck of the 747 is the best, as no one is in front, and no one to climb over.

http://tinyurl.com/yjkhal

I wonder whether the other PE seats are worth it. ((*))

I started out in a regular PE seat on the way back before a tall guy who, miraculously, didn't want to stay in the exit row (!) swopped with me.

It was better than economy on the US carriers I've flown in the past. Leg room decent, and underseat and side storage as well as overhead. But, there is that pesky middle seat on the 3-acoss side. So, I *would not* pay extra for PE if I had a middle seat. I'd go for an exit row seat or possibly bulkhead in regular economy.

The problem is that getting an exit row or bulkhead in regular is never assured.

I wonder whether even an aisle or window seat in the 3-in-a-row is worth it. ((*))

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061214/20061214005738.html?.v=1

They're improving meals and services for PE starting 12/20.

It is worth it if you like a little extra legroom, after all a standard econ seat on an AirNZ 747 is 34" on their 777's it is 32". PE is 40"

The PE seat pitch is equivalent to that on AA's or United's domestic first class though the PE seats on Air NZ are narrower.

Personally I can live with a narrower seat if I get good seat pitch to stetch out the legs a little.

I will take leg room over just about anything especially on a 12 hour flight.

Regarding the 3 across, that was the initial arrangement in the non-exit row seat I swopped out of; I had the aisle. It was pretty close quarters, though the leg room looked decent. I would pay for it for the aisle seat but not the middle or window.

In my return flight mentioned above I had the aisle exit row seat in the three-across side, which was just fine.

The trip over was terrific--two-across aisle seat exit row, with no one by the window!

And on my aforementioned return trip, biz class had a crying baby for most of the trip. I counted my blessings I had not paid several thousand for biz and ended up with that situation (though I was sympathetic to the parents who had to deal with the unhappy little one for 12 hours).

For the 747, the ANZ site says:

Pacific Premium Economy
38-40" (96/101cm)
Pacific Economy
34" (86 cm)

So the difference may be as little as 4 in.

For the 777, the difference is 7 in (39 vs 32).

In any case, since the difference in fares is not that much, It seems worth it to me. ((*))