Sunday 17th June 2005
NX118 & NZ002 SYD-AKL-LAX
Seats 2 A & B and 9 A & B
I have never flown (or known anyone who has flown ANZ), so I was a little sceptical about these flights and unsure what to expect.
We boarded the SYD-AKL flight a little late, the departure time had changed since booking and we didnt check the times, fortunately it wasnt as issue.
Check-in was empty, with only a few Economy passengers left to check. We got our bags checked straight through to LAX and were given lounge invitations. We would only have around half hour in the lounge before boarding but thought we would take a look anyway. The lounge was better than I expected and we had time to grab a quick drink when the boarding call came.
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We walked down to the gate to see a 767 waiting for us. There were separate boarding lanes for J pax which was nice especially as there were not that many of us. As we went through the gate we were handed back the large part of our boarding passes and the gate kept the small end (the one you keep with VS) I found that odd and it messed up my collection a tad as I was keeping all the stubs from our trips.
We boarded the plane to find a small cabin that greatly resembled the business class of BA around 10 years ago. We were sat in 2 A&B. I could swear the seats were old BA seats that were covered over. The recline was fine but nowhere near as flat as most J seats today, and they were very shabby in desperate need of an overhaul (which thankfully is coming)
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The CSD (Cabin Services Director) introduced himself by name (again, in a very BA manner) he was a nice chap but the introduction seemed more rehearsed than genuine. I also noticed that ANZ seem to have many male crew and older ladies rather than the dolly birds on many airlines. Their uniforms (particularly ladies) were very old fashioned and reeked of the 80s. I felt like I was on Pan Am!!
The Captain announced the flight time of 3 hours which I was sure would fly by.
With such a short flight the entertainment system was kicked off with the dinner service starting. No video on demand here but they had a great choice of movies (new and old) I actually chose to watch Grease but they had some good films like Die Hard that I would have enjoyed.
We had a glass of O.J. each and dinner was served. Everything came on one tray from a trolley which was a bit of a disappointment. The meal was warm and the breads were nicely toasted but i found it odd having my starter, main, cheese and pudding all on one tray as it was very Economy style but I guess that as it was such a short flight it perhaps was necessary. I had a Cannelloni which looked terrible (think microwave ready meals for one with burnt edges and uncooked middles) The stewardess kept apologising for its appearance but I wasnt too bothered as its a difficult dish to reheat (I have eaten far less appetising airline meals LOL although I guess this was a J meal)
I had a bite and it was actually very nice, (although ive lived in penniless student times and eaten many microwave ready meals without a grimace) I didnt say a word about the meal and left the starter as it was a cold potato salad something I just dont like. I had a coffee and my tray was taken away for me to watch the rest of Grease.
About half hour later I had the CSD ask me about my meal, apologising and asking what he could do. I really didnt understand and kept saying the meal was fine. He seemed to think I had complained but I assured him I hadnt. He kept asking if I wanted another meal and saying that it would be no trouble but I assured him I was fine. It turned out that the Stewardess had told the CSD my meal was in awful condition and she complained on my behalf as usually I would have received a voucher or air miles, so she was only trying to be helpful but I missed the boat on that one. I was touched that they cared so much about my meal.
Shortly before the end of the film the descent was announced. The IFE stayed on so I tried to get through the last ten minutes of my film with my seat back upright and tray table stowed. Believe it or not, literally one minute from the end of my film (and partners) they stopped the cycle but not to close it down, oh no, they replaced the magnetic tapes with a lovely video entitled Welcome to New Zealand which we all were forced to watch with fluffy lambs and lush mountains - AAARGH!!! The best bit was that they came round to collect the headsets while this film was running utterly pointless!! LOL
I didnt realise some airlines still used little tapes? I just presumed everything runs from servers oh the age I live in!
We arrived in Auckland 15mins ahead of schedule, to which we departed the aircraft (I thanked the crew for their hard work) and we ran to the ANZ lounge in Auckland for another quick pit stop before our flight to LAX which was leaving in just over an hour.
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We had been waiting in the lounge for an internet terminal. Everyone seems to be going Wifi rather than having terminals these days and we waited half an hour. Got to check my mails and have a drink and a few glace cherries (mmm free cherries) when we were called to board. We had a 747 this time and were seated upstairs in 9 A&B. I hoped that we had a different seat than on the 767 but no such luck. I couldnt imagine how I would get through 12 hours in their J seat (then slapped myself appropriately, thinking of the poor buggers in Y)
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We sat around waiting for the plane to fill up, with admittedly quite a mixture of people. The face of business class travel is changing fast, I saw more backpackers and oddballs than your usual suits and blazers, not that im complaining, but it occurred to me that the AKL-LAX flight in J cant be cheap, and there were a right variety of people on board.
The CSD introduced himself, and it was like watching a re-run of the previous flight.
Take off
We had a drink of orange juice and the meal service started. One thing that really annoyed me about this flight is that rather than asking you what you want for dinner it was just given to you. I didnt want a starter as I had eaten well on the SYD-AKL flight but it was just put down in front of me. I then upset the apple cart immensely.
I had ordered a veggie meal (going back months) but I didnt want a full meal after the SYD-AKL flight. They were offering light bites on board (one was a feta cheese salad) and I asked the Stewardess if I could have that instead as I couldnt manage a full dinner, she said it was no problem. Ten minutes later the CSD approached me and practically had a go at me, he said that I had ordered one meal and therefore I had to eat it and I couldnt have another as there were not enough to go round. The Stewardess told him that I had ordered a light bite (not a main meal) and that there were plenty to go round, adding that many pax had refused the main meal anyway as the flight was an overnighter. I felt really awkward being in this situation, the stewardess apologised and assured me that it was not an issue and that they had lots of light bites onboard going spare (plus they can always use a spare Veggie Meal)
Meals were taken directly from the trolley again, I hope they get rid of this when they have the suites.
My feta salad arrived having been baked! The cheese was melted! It was actually quite nice but not at all what I imagined very strange. I had nice coffee and settled into the IFE (both passing on ice cream and cheese). Fortunately they had different films from the previous flight so we both watched Thelma and Louise.
The cabin started to get quiet as people tried to get some sleep. My other half didnt make it to the end of the film! I had already consigned myself to the fact that I wouldnt sleep in this seat due to the limited recline so decided just to try and rest. I brushed my teeth, reclined the seat as far as possible and popped on my iPod. I think because I want expecting to sleep I was much more relaxed and I actually got about 4 hours, a sheer miracle for me.
I realised I had got used to sleep suits as there were none on this flight. Its great with VS to not have to sleep in your clothes and I really missed that on this flight. I had jeans on which just were not comfy for sleep, and I wished I had kept a VS one.
I was woken up for breakfast with a light tap from the stewardess, despite not being asked to be woken. I gladly accepted an O.J while I was still coming round, and she started lifting up my tray table for me. At that point I had a fruit salad given to me. I said to the Stewardess that I didnt actually want any fruit salad as I wasnt hungry or awake enough to eat yet (plus fruit never tastes fresh to me on an airplane) the CSD looked at me and said Its your Vegetarian meal madam and walked off - to which I had no answer especially as everyone else on board had fruit salad for breakfast too! They took that away and asked me if I was ready for my omelette I didnt ask for one, or know that it was coming. I said to the Stewardess that I really didnt want an omelette. She was great and asked me if I fancied anything at all, perhaps some Muesli (which my partner was having) so I said yes I would have a small bowl. Again, the CSD started complaining to the Stewardess that I had a vegetarian omelette and so shouldnt be having muesli (all the other passengers also had omelettes mine just apparently didnt have a sausage with it and apparently we were all entitled to muesli) I didnt say anything but afterwards I felt really angry with the CSD, am I not a J passenger? Shouldnt he be trying to assist me in having a pleasant experience rather than an awful one? Maybe its just me, I just felt that he shouldnt have talked to a business class passenger (or any passenger) like that. I could have paid over 3k for that flight to be told I couldnt have a bowl of muesli?
At this point I was desperate to get of the plane. We had just under an hour to go until we got to LAX, I had asked for landing cards but got them as were descending so couldnt fill them out properly. Im glad I didnt get back into the IFE as it was switched off early for you guessed it the Leaving New Zealand video!! Yay!!! I almost cried with laughter! It was quite helpful in that it assisted passengers with knowing where to go and what forms to fill in only the headsets were taken away. The CSD said he would put the captions on but never did so I invented a fun game of improvising voices over the video instead which was much more delightful. The video was filmed in what must be the late 80s (judging by shoulder pads) and had great comical value. Their inflight safety video is of a similar calibre.
We landed at LAX to the usual scrutiny of US Customs. They separated the other half and myself, saying that we could not go through together unless we were married. Does anyone know why this is? This is the second time I have had this (out of countless U.S. trips) but I have never been told why. We got quite a few questions from customs (given that in the past month we had taken 8 international flights I wasnt surprised). I was asked when I last came to the states (which always eludes me after a long flight) but I guessed right with Orlando I was asked the purpose of that visit oh was I tempted to say to meet Mickey Mouse but thought better of it and responded with vacation. Partner and I were duly stamped in and on our way to the luggage belts just behind us!
Amazingly, the luggage was there! With such a short connection between the flights I wasnt convinced it would make it, but happily it did.
We went straight through the green channel, out of the terminal and in to the first taxi we spied.
Final thoughts ANZ really need to modernise, after years of seemingly copying BA they are now copying Virgin and I hope they do the suites justice. Many areas need updating, the crew uniforms, some service areas, small things that make a big difference to the customer. I wasnt overly impressed with ANZ but also I wasnt terribly disappointed. The experience was pretty middle road, the suites will change that of course and when they get those I will fly with them again, but only as I will have the bed/seat that I love.
