LHR-LAX ANZ Business Premier (longish))

My first time on this route with ANZ, in their refitted (with UCS [:p]) seats on the 744s. Summary is that the experience was very good, the seat has all you would expect from UCS, the crew on my flight were omniprescient, charming and helpful, the food pretty damn good, the wines excellent, AVOD very good too. So, some more detail:

Checked in at t'other end of T3 in the low-ceilinged bit, actually a pretty slow queue rather tightly squeezed in. ANZ don't have the space of Virgin to make check in a pleasant experience. Realised when at the desk the reason for the slowness, API had to be keyed in for each passenger on check in ... Virgin's on Web site system (even if it still calls me a laydee) is much better.

Offered a ticket to the United Red Carpet lounge but quickly established that any *A lounge would accept us, so following previous V-Flyer chat headed for the SAS London lounge. It's OK, basic stuff provided but is more pleasant than the United lounge which is dismal and dim. However, this was the biggest single difference between ANZ and Virgin, the club house and I really really missed it [:#]. Since we were flying at 4.15 pm we'd arrived a little earlier and intended to lunch - so headed out to Caviar House and had a very nice salmon tartare and sushi ... then with proximity to Chanel a detour to buy some new sunglasses. Back to the lounge to catch up on email.

Since we weren't in the recommended lounge we didn't get a call to board and made our way to gate 7. Very easy to get to, and I've never been to this bit of T3, much nicer than the old bits. But we were early and there was no priority boarding (I think they actually wait to get all the econ passengers into the gate lounge before calling business, so can't really fault it, and in any case we were ushered through on showing pointy bit tickets).

Really liked the fact that two boarding ramps (what's the right word) had been attached to the plane, so boarded through 7A straight into the middle of business premier. Well, first impressions ... it's recognizably UCS (I have posted a few poor pics) but not quite as nicely kitted out - for example I like the chromed handles on the window blinds on Virgin, not on ANZ, nor does ANZ have mood lighting and that actually made a difference to the comfort of the cabin environment. But the seat was as comfortable, spacious and easy to use as ever. ANZ don't have cool air vents and I was initially worried but since they didn't blast up the heat like Virgin it was comfortable throughout the flight. Really nice toiletries in the washrooms too with special men's facial moisturizer.

In flight amenity pack just like the one on Virgin though in a plastic bad, however the eye shades of vastly superior quality.

We were offered champagne (Veuve Clicquot), v nice and a couple washed down before the cabin filled up and pre-flight arrangements commenced. ANZ appeared to be very well organized, getting people on, baggage loaded, everyone sat before departing, and we pushed back mere minutes after the scheduled time. I really appreciate this level of performance, and from what I hear ANZ are very good at meeting schedules.

After a very easy take off roll, and a strangely north eastern route away from London before turning north west for a notherly route over Greenland, about ten mins passed before seat belts lights went off (and they stayed off for all but a few minutes throughout the flight) and AVOD was switched on. One announcement I liked was that we were told that AVOD would be switched off 40 mins before landing, so please make your film selections with that knowledge - a good comment. Flight time was posted at 10 hrs 28 mins and pretty much matched that with no delays landing at LAX.

Now, to food and wine - like a dunce I left my menu card and wine list with comments on the plane (sorry, I'll get more info on the return). The menu was (from memory)

starter - smoked trout and salad (I gave a B+)
entree choices - NZ lamb, or halibut, plus one option plus a light veggie option (I had lamb and was a little disappointed, the no. 1 had halibut and said it was the best in flight meal ever)
cheeses - a couple of non-explained NZ cheeses, OK but as always on a plane served too cold
pudding - two choices one of which was choccie mousse (very yummy)

Now I really am disappointed not to report on the wines, ANZ are very proud of their choices - all from within NZ apart from the champagne. They give you a very useful booklet explaining each wine, its comprehensive and has room for tasting notes, a great idea. I made lots of notes, tried as many as I could including a lovely Sauvignon with the starter, a pinot noir with the lamb, a merlot with my cheese then a great botrytitised pudding wine. They were all excellent and I can't remember any (hic [:p]).

After lunch I managed three hours of email catch up and felt very happy with a clean in and out box!

Afternoon tea came about 1 1/2 hrs before landing, a nice sandwich selection with which I had green tea, and watched The Devil Wears Prada (ace film, Meryl Streep [oo][oo][oo]).

Landing on time, first off to be first in line at security (wow! and VS23 had arrived not long before us but all clear), my bags no. 3 and 4 off the belt, about five minutes after clearing immigration, and straight out into the welcoming comfort of a Peninsula Hotel limo, all within 30 minutes of touch down. That was superb!

Overall, I'd give ANZ thumbs up over Virgin for food, wine and in flight service, but give Virgin thumbs up over ANZ for club house and in flight comfort (the mood lighting does work!). Given that this flight was 2k cheaper than the VS equivalent, I think I can live with the differences - it also gets 2 TPs each way plus miles, and I'm looking forward to the return.

One further thing, I asked one of the flight crew to show me the other classes, economy looked very comfortable in comparison to VS, lots more space, however their premium economy is five abreast in the bubble and despite having the same leg room as Virgin the seats were narrow. I don't think I'd choose it, but when I went up everyone looked very content!