When I got to the International terminal, it took a while to find the Air NZ check-in desks - I seemed to be passing desks for just about every other airline, and then I found the Air NZ Business Class check in area. This is more like a BA FIRST check-in area, segregated from the rest of the terminal (behind glass doors), and looked more like a hotel lobby.
There was a short queue ahead of me, and the three check-in agents were soon joined by a fourth. Some Germans queue-jumped on me though! Anyway, when I got to the check-in counter, I was honest about what had happened in Wellington, and the check-in woman there nodded sympathetically, smiled, and then proceeded to start picking at my now battered passport too! Is this standard Air NZ procedure? I said something like 'What are you trying to do to my passport, make it even worse?' - at this point she decided that it needed to be checked and 'explained' by a Duty Manager, and I was asked to wait in one of the 'hotel lobby' chairs.
She did (rather gamely) help unload my bags from her scales, and they were heavy too. I said that she didn't have to, but she insisted, and was quite apologetic about the whole thing. I said that I understood that she was just doing her job and following the company procedures, and it was okay - if I had to delay my flight and go to the British High Consulate to get my passport replaced, that's what I'd have to do, I can think of much worse places to be stuck than Auckland.
Thankfully, the Duty Manager didn't keep me waiting very long at all - easily identified by the squawking hand-held radio, phone glued to her ear, and sensible shoes for the several miles a day that she no-doubt walks, she approached me and shook hands. I joked about her being my 'executioner', which seemed to break the ice quite nicely, she said
'Hopefully not, we should be able to help you somehow.' I think this is where having the Star Gold status helps a lot.
She had a good look at the passport, especially the picture page, which seemed to bear the brunt of the rubbing and picking, and then counted the US entry stamps from the past 6 years, including the last one from about 5 weeks ago.
Obviously thinking a process through in her mind, and given that I had entered the US on the same document only a few weeks hence, she decided that it was unlikely that the US would pick fault, and I would be accepted for travel.
I can understand why they are concerned, because for every person embarked to the US that gets refused entry, the carrying airline is fined, and held responsible to transport them back to their country of origin on the next available flight. It's also a big old chunk out of your life, if like me you have stuff to do - losing over a day on an aeroplane isn't much fun.
She jumped me to the front of the line, to the next available check-in person, explained the situation, and was checked in for the flight, where I got allocated seat 4A. I could have sworn that I originally had 2A, but maybe I'm confused with the WLG-AKL sector, or the SFO-LHR sector to come. This check-in agent was really nice, and asked if I'd had a nice visit, and whether I would come back. My answer was 'Yes'. Of course I'll go back, what a really nice country - though I don't know if I could stand the changeable (often rainy and windy) climate in Wellington!
So, checked-in, and relieved of 25 NZD departure tax (you get a barcoded sticker on the back of your boarding pass), I was through the dedicated departure immigration lane for Business/Gold passengers (which is situated in the exit from the check-in area) and up an escalator into a dedicated lane in the security area for another no-mess, no-fuss search.
I noticed a number of people had been stopped and having their bags examined - there were a lot of 'cubicles' for doing this, presumably so that passers by can't see your belongings spread out over a table.
Auckland Airport seems to have been taking lessons from BAA, as after security, there's a compulsory 'snake' through shopping before you get to the lounge or gate areas, but I eventually found the Air NZ Business Class lounge, and grabbed a seat.
There was a fairly decent buffet laid on, with salads, bread, a warm spinach quiche, moroccan chicken, pasta, etc.
Still not quite as good as the Domestic Koru Lounge at AKL - I guess first impressions really last! A decent seleciton of Domestic and International (though probably brewed in NZ!) beers were offered from large glass chiller cabinets, along with a number of New Zealand wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer), and some Pinot Noir out on the bar along with the reasonable spirit selection (no Tanqueray No. Ten though!).
One of the buffet staff was very sweet to an elderly gentleman with a cane, helping him get things from the selection and bringing them to his seat - I thought it was a nice gesture, as unlike a VS Clubhouse, it's all a bit fend for yourself.
The decor in the lounge was a bit plain and sterile to be honest, but relieved by nice art around the walls, and more so when some friends who were on the same flight turned up to help me drink the NZ wine lake.
After a while, the flight was called and we headed down to gate 7 - some way down, near the end of the pier, picking our way past yet more shops, but it seemed like a decent and well maintained airport, and we probably could have found somewhere okay to wait if we hadn't had the lounge to sit in.
Down an escalator to find a boarding scrum, and no priority boarding - apparently odd, as Air NZ generally have a priority boarding lane on their longhaul flights - but eventually, we were down the jetway and welcomed aboard Boeing 777 ZK-OKB for our flight to San Francisco. While I got settled into my seat, pre-departure drinks were offered, and when the glass was collected, my post-departure drink choice was asked for, a glass of Pinot Noir - I could see that the Sauvignon was Wither Hills, which is a bit too 'cheek sucky' for me!
Eyeshades and socks (in little ziplock bags) were already set out on your seat when you got there, and a bottle of water was in the elasticated bottle holder. Other amenity items - toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs and Living Nature lip balm were offered from a basket. 'Extras' such as combs and shaving kits could be requested from the crew, so it's fairly similar to SQ in this respect.
While the door was shut almost on time for a 1900 departure, we didn't push back until about 1930. The suite of the person sat opposite was misbehaving - the table kept opening and being of the 'new style' also kept 'ejecting' as well. I think this was happening to the person behind from the slamming. I can't help feeling that the 'misfires' in the design of the suite are still being ironed out, over 2 years later.
Wheels up was at about 1935 from runway 05R, leaving the lights of the city of Auckland behind on the left hand side, and with an 11h40 flight time, that would put us on the ground dead on time in SFO, at 11h15 on Saturday 25th 'Mk2'.
These flights are the ones which spend the longest over water - from about 3 minutes after takeoff to about 10 minutes before landing are conducted over water. Seatbelt sign was switched off fairly quickly, and the cabin service started.
Firstly, there was a very short information video (looked like an advert for Business Premier and Pacific Premium Economy to me), and then the AVOD IFE was started up. I decided to look at Airshow and watch the land recede behind us - the Airshow is the same one as on the NZ 744 fleet, to the extent that the little animated plane is a 744 too, maybe they are trying to convince us we're on a better plane?
The service was started, and drinks started coming out of the galley - this is where I noticed that the entire Business Premier cabin, including galley, was being worked by two flight attendants (for 26 people), with some help from the FSM and the 'dedicated' FA for Premium Economy.
Anyway, nice glass of Pinot Noir and the prawn-cracker-like veggie crisps were a good accompaniment to me catching up on more emails. The EmPower on this aircraft is the 110V androgynous socket that takes almost everything but UK-style 3-pin plugs, and it's not obvious that the 'pilot light' is lit to show that the system is energised, but when you plug in, there's electricity there, so don't be sold a dummy by this - the socket probably is working!
Got part way through emails when the FSM came around and introduced himself, and asked if there was anything we needed (apart from another FA in the Business cabin!), when it was time to set the table for dinner.
There was one choice of appetiser, seared tuna on a papaya and witloof (that's chicory to you and me) salad, and this arrived as part of the place setup. The tuna wasn't bad, but the salad really hadn't survived the whole 'be made several hours earlier and carted around on a truck' thing too well. The chicory was starting to brown around the edges and the papaya was going rather soft. Didn't stop it tasting okay though, so I'll give it a 6.
Of the four choices of main course (beef fillet, red snapper, chicken confit, or a lighter veggie tart), I went for the beef, which came with a crust, mushrooms, sauteed potato and courgette. The beef was okay, if a little overseasoned (because of the crust), and slightly tough due to overcooking. The dinner choices were all heated up and offered from a tray, rather than individual orders taken - I'm sure this is because two people were trying to do everything. I'll give that a 5.
Desert was boysenberry and vanilla ice cream, or a chocolate torte - offered with a drinkable dessert wine - though I didn't clearly see what label, and then the Premium Economy attendant came through offering cheese (a NZ camembert and a blue cheese) and port - be rude not to really! Dessert and cheese both get a 9.
Dinner was accompanied by 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang' on the IFE, and I laughed out loud more than once! The IFE selections are very similar to that on V:Port (Little Britain, Simpsons, Dharma and Greg, Catherine Tate, Scrubs, etc.), some documentaries (the episode of 'Faking It' where the insurance guy fakes being a stunt man). The picture quality on the 777 didn't seem as good as on the Air NZ 744 or on V:Port. I could see some aliasing due to the data being heavily compressed - probably to fit more material on the system.
Overall, I think that the service could have been so much better if someone was dedicated to covering the galley, with one attendant then for each aisle.
I went and had a chat with one of the flight attendants, and she volunteered the same opinion about the service. I reassured her that the service was still very good, but agreed that it was better when the PE attendant came up to help with their galley. We got chatting about stuff, and it turns out that she'd flown many times with my friend who recently retired from Air NZ.
I was drinking a fair amount of water, so she offered me a whole large bottle to take back to the seat when I decided that I'd go and convert to bed and have a snooze!
The suite converted to bed quite easily - one thing I noticed was how Air NZ carefully place the seatbelts along the side of the seat, rather than crossed over in the middle when converting to bed mode. It looked kind of odd, like the seatbelt tab may obstruct the seat folding flat, but it seemed to work.
When I mentioned that Virgin didn't seem to do it that way, I was told this is to avoid damage to the leather covering - apparently, impressions of the seatbelt buckle build up over time and crack the leather.
The bedding is the same as Virgin's, even down to the pathetically small pillow, and comes tightly packaged in shrink wrap - at least Virgin have unpacked the bedding for you.
So, I slept for a while, but quite fitfully - the cabin seemed very stuffy - not over warm, just a bit airless. I woke up more than once feeling uncomfortable, and the bed on the suite really needs to be softer - especially the harder leather covered area in the back 'corner' when it's converted to bed. I find it very difficult to sleep soundly in the suite because of the hardness.
I eventually woke up again at about 4.30am NZ time, which was 7.30am Californian time, had a coffee, switched back to 'seat' and watched some more TV. At around 8.30am Californian time, the lights came up, and we got the 'simulated dawn' from the mood lighting - a purply colour wash across the roof which faded to blue, and a yellow/orange wash off the side lights. You could see in the light clusters that this is achieved using different coloured LEDs mixed together in different proportions. Quite a clever system, and it appeared to be more capable than the more simple red/purple/white system on Virgin's planes.
Breakfast was then served, using the same breakfast card system as Virgin - you can tick 'leave me alone' or your breakfast selections. The choice included cereals, bakery items, fresh fruit, juices and hot drinks. There were also two hot breakfast items - an omelette with sausage or blueberry pancakes with bacon - these were offered from a tray, rather than individual orders being taken.
Breakfast was pretty decent, and as a whole, I'll give it an 8. As breakfast was being served, an advance warning was given that the IFE would be shut down 60 minutes before landing (seemed like an awful long time), so that you could fast forward to the end of something, if you wanted.
Soon we were starting to descend, but still over the ocean, eventually crossing the coastline just south of Half Moon Bay. Across the hills near Woodside, and with the clock tower at Stamford University visible on the left hand side, we set up for an approach to 28L at SFO. Dropped the gear as we came over the San Mateo Bridge, and even with a bit of a lumpy approach due to gusty and variable winds, we made a smooth touchdown a couple of minutes early at 11.12am.
Two jetways were used for unloading, and I think I was about the 6th person off the plane, and one of the first to make it to immigration, where there were no queues at all. Straight up to an immigration booth, where the US Immigration person didn't even comment on my passport and completed the admission process within about 40 seconds.
My bags were among the first 20 off the plane, and I was picking up my rental car by 11.45.
Not a bad experience, the food was probably better than Virgin Upper Class, and on a par with United's Business Class.
I think I preferred the meals on the Trans-Tasman sector from BNE to AKL.
The service could have definitely benefitted from crew on the aircraft being deployed differently, and some tweaks to the service flows. The service on the 744 seemed much better, as there seemed to be someone dedicated to galley operation on that aircraft. Priority baggage seemed to work properly, and the whole arrival experience into the US was totally painless.
As for the whole rigmarole over the passport, I can understand where Air NZ were coming from, but I'm pretty unforgiving about the way it was handled, and the fact that some simple wear and tear was exacerbated into damage by their 'examination' of my passport.
They will be getting a letter regarding what happened, and I do intend to attempt to recover out of pocket expenses from them with respect to getting a new passport urgently issued on my return to the UK. I had planned to order a new passport when I wouldn't be travelling for a couple of weeks, then I could just do a regular postal application, but now it looks like I'll have to get a new one asap, and with lots of travel in the next month, I'll have to do a visit in person to the Passport Office and get it fast-tracked. It turns out there's no point trying to claim it against my travel insurance, as the amount is inside the excess.
So, apart from documentation hassles, I'd probably recommend the Air New Zealand experience.
Cheers,
Mike
