Air NZ adding more Economy Class inclusions across the Tasman + new flexi fares

[AFF Editor]

Air New Zealand is making a bunch of changes to its trans-Tasman airfares from 11 June 2024:

• Seat+Bag fares will no longer be sold (you'll still be able to add a bag to a Seat fare for $30 extra)
• Seat fares will include movies, a complimentary snack and tea, coffee, juice or water
• The airline is adding new "flexi" fares which can be changed or canceled for a refund without fees

Details here:

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/air-new-zealand-overhauls-trans-tasman-inclusions/

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[serfty]

"The Works" is what was the final nail in the coffin and made me abandon NZ a decade ago (I was "Elite" with Airpoints).

My biggest bugbear was having no opportunity to purchase seat, F&B and entertainment without paying for a bag.

I do not generally check bags so don't want to pay for one.

With hope I checked the article ... nup ... still unchanged in this respect, so no ...

 

[Mattg]

"The Works" is what was the final nail in the coffin and made me abandon NZ a decade ago (I was "Elite" with Airpoints).

My biggest bugbear was having no opportunity to purchase seat, F&B and entertainment without paying for a bag.

I do not generally check bags so don't want to pay for one.

Still unchanged, so no ...

And now you won't even have the option to purchase food on board if you've bought a "seat" fare.

 

[fly2earth]

Refusing to justify paying extra $45 for meals and "normal" in flight entertainment feel like I am taking VA 2.0 when I see everyone around me being served a meal and their choice of bevarage while the only amenity being served being served non-tea non-water options. Also the free screen entertainment is very limited makes the in flight experience very "boring" unless you like to watch a random episode of friends from season 7 episode 19 The One With You Being Clueless Because You Didn't Start From The Very First Episode. The seats are more cramped. Compared to the competition which provides meals and actual drinks on board free of charge. Even the competition that consistently costs costs a little less than AIRNZ always provide a decent meal and have excellent in flight entertainment and their seats are actually not cramped (3 4 3 row layout). However this difference would not be noticed if I had paid the $45 like everyone around me. However can overlook this if I had lounge acess and download all my episodes from Netflix beforehand (nowadays it's probably 10 episodes of Bluey that I have yet to watch just stumbled across this gem the past few days). I do give them credit for being a clean and safe airline with new planes so the hard product is good (and the soft product if you had actually paid your $45 dues to enjoy "normal" airline carrier service)

@DC3 I have added more content lol

Also anyone paying close to $400 to fly to NZ from non-capital cities as the example fare search in the article must be very desperate (eg. OOL<=>AKL) because the only real reason why someone would consider doing that is because they are visiting BNE but the OOL fares are $100-200 cheaper thanks to Jetstar
@DC3

 

[encryptededdy]

I feel it's sorta strange if passengers flying "Seat" will now get a snack but still can't get a can of Coke for free.

 

[Berlin]

I'm glad it's pointed out here that Air NZ was one of the absolute worst offenders when it came to refunding passengers during the pandemic.

I was living in Auckland during this time and while Qantas was a pain in the backside (endless calls with inapt call center agents) if you wanted a proper refund, at least you got it after several months and multiple follow ups. Compare this to Air NZ- no chance at all!

 

[quick_dry]

Compared to the competition which provides meals and actual drinks on board free of charge.

QF's onboard food and drink don't come close to making up for their abominably cramped seating in comparison to the legroom offered by NZ. NZ is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to the seat comfort.

I only use them as a last resort, I'm out of SYD, but even having the F lounge for pre-flight doesn't make up for the seats.

 

[fly2earth]

Well theres also latam, emirates, CI, and the likes

 

[quick_dry]

Well theres also latam, emirates, CI, and the likes

True, my knees were just so traumatised from Tuesday's flight over I've got tunnel vision

I'd say any of them are better than QF with the current seats.
LATAM is problematic with recovery, I've had a few times where delays have caused the staff to run over hours and the flight was cancelled - when it works it works (and great if you did the LATAM status match - but it's a bunfight to get them to move you onto a later flight with QF that day).
CI are/were great on the SYD-AKL run.
Emirates 380 layout feels more comfortable than QF, not just the seat pitch, but the screen part of the seatback is less "in your face" when the person in front reclines.

 

[encryptededdy]

NZ is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to the seat comfort.

Yeah, the thing is I don't even think NZ has more seat pitch on their A320s than QF 737s (on most seats - AirNZ loves having 4 or 5 different seat pitches on one aircraft. Most are 30" though, same as QF), it's just they're using a lot newer slimline seats. I don't think Qantas has refreshed the seating on any of the 737s ever, and they're not exactly new aircraft.

Sadly, Qantas seems to have no interest in changing anything until their A321s arrive. I guess we'll see how much pitch those have and what seat model they choose.

 

[johndoe]

QF's onboard food and drink don't come close to making up for their abominably cramped seating in comparison to the legroom offered by NZ. NZ is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to the seat comfort.

I only use them as a last resort, I'm out of SYD, but even having the F lounge for pre-flight doesn't make up for the seats.

out of interest? is this comment true for the non space plus seats on Air NZ? Ill be honest, Qantas looks pretty cramped but I haven't not sat in Row 4 or J on the 737 for years and always had preferred seating for Air NZ. Always looking for better options. QF was pretty poor with IFE requiring the app and only a single course for dinner (no ice cream, cheese, dessert, and not even a lindt ball in J) on Saturday and at least Air NZ have the option of wide body's with comparable seating and i dare say better food in PE vs QF J.

 

[encryptededdy]

out of interest? is this comment true for the non space plus seats on Air NZ?

In terms of pure measurements - no, at least on narrow-bodies. NZ is 29.1 or 29.9" pitch on the A321neo behind row 10, vs. 30" on the Qantas 737. However NZ has modern slimline seats so probably has usable more legroom. The A320 is also wider than the 737 so presumably the seats are a little wider too.

 

[johndoe]

In terms of pure measurements - no, at least on narrow-bodies. NZ is 29.1 or 29.9" pitch on the A321neo behind row 10, vs. 30" on the Qantas 737. However NZ has modern slimline seats so probably has usable more legroom. The A320 is also wider than the 737 so presumably the seats are a little wider too.

thanks! Having just had 2 kids in 2 years, I'm going to be losing some perks and travelling down the back soon, so good to have this knowledge!

 

[bernardblack]

Tangentially to this, is there any way (other than engaging an agent) to get fare buckets with nonzero earning on partners (Airpoints are less than worthless) to price? NZ are now following a bunch of terrible airlines (I'm looking at you, EI) in selling more expensive bundles but on the same worthless fare bucket.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Tangentially to this, is there any way (other than engaging an agent) to get fare buckets with nonzero earning on partners (Airpoints are less than worthless) to price? NZ are now following a bunch of terrible airlines (I'm looking at you, EI) in selling more expensive bundles but on the same worthless fare bucket.

Many years ago I used to phone Air NZ to book fare buckets that earned to other ffp's.
Always had the on-line fares at hand to compare and the fare bucket letters that earned.
At the time was earning to US Airways, that was merged-took over with AA. So a bunch of AA ff miles from flying Air NZ.

 

[BNEFlyer]

True, my knees were just so traumatised from Tuesday's flight over I've got tunnel vision

I'd say any of them are better than QF with the current seats.
LATAM is problematic with recovery, I've had a few times where delays have caused the staff to run over hours and the flight was cancelled - when it works it works (and great if you did the LATAM status match - but it's a bunfight to get them to move you onto a later flight with QF that day).
CI are/were great on the SYD-AKL run.
Emirates 380 layout feels more comfortable than QF, not just the seat pitch, but the screen part of the seatback is less "in your face" when the person in front reclines.

BNE still has CI to AKL.

 

[gaz0303]

Is there any inflight benefit to being an elite in the alliance when flying on NZ? Looking at current seat selection options, looks like being nice at check-in is the best way to go.

 

[Mattg]

Is there any inflight benefit to being an elite in the alliance when flying on NZ? Looking at current seat selection options, looks like being nice at check-in is the best way to go.

Yes - you should be able to get a frequent flyer seat allocation in advance by calling NZ and explaining you have Star Alliance Gold. Doesn’t work on their website.

 

[fly2earth]

Yes - you should be able to get a frequent flyer seat allocation in advance by calling NZ and explaining you have Star Alliance Gold. Doesn’t work on their website.

Lame. I paid $450 one way ticket and the only benefit I got to utilise was the Air NZ lounge. And the priority luggage.

 

[bernardblack]

After seeing this I called up (3x pax travelling in Sep, I have Star Gold through AC) and the agent was agreeable and did it for me.

For the transTasman MEL-AKL we're on the exCX 77W with the F cabin (my wife is booked separately in J and I may take the upsell to get her in an F seat), so he moved us from 63 on the side to 41 in the middle bank. He said it's extra-legroom but I looked at the seat maps online and it's not clear that it is? In any event there's definitely an upcharge so I guess I should hold onto them and see if something better at the same price point becomes available.

For the domestic AKL-CHC he got us moved from row 16 to row 3, which seems like an improvement even if there's no extra legroom.