Air New Zealand in the new Premium Economy Space Seat! (As recommended by Vegascrazy).
Some tedious background first;
We wanted to get to Vegas and perhaps the surrounding area – two weeks in Vegas is probably too much!! (With us not being particularly affluent). We also didn't really want to fly direct from LGW with VS. We did in 2009 with a group of 8 for a wedding and it wasn't great, (the flight – the trip was amazing). Plus PE prices were not good. Flying to LA looked a better option; two flights per day, on the A346 usually, (we like the PE cabin on these – favourite seats are the two at the back of the cabin – no recline guilt! But prices were over £1000 which I thought was a bit steep.
So, had a look at Air New Zealand after the excellent trip report provided by Vegascrazy a few months ago.
Their online booking system is pretty good; gives loads of options to vary and combine different classes for the Outbound and Inbound legs. We opted for the new PE Spaceseat for the outbound and Economy return but with the Skycouch upgrade. All new and exciting!
Total price was just over £1800 which we were happy with, (the ultimate test of any price I suppose).
The trip itinerary itself:
One night in LA; Crowne Plaza – just because Virgin Holidays did it and it was relatively cheap – I've read plenty since on here that there are better located hotels in terms of getting to the Alamo site but it was too late – I'll remember for next time! (And should've known to ask here first!)
Then we get the car, (Jeep Grand Cherokee hopefully) and drive to Vegas for 6 nights at Mandalay Bay. We like it there - 3rd visit. Great pool area and it kinda smells nice for a smoking casino. Gym looks good too and I'll be training every day – Plymouth Half Marathon a week after getting back so I'm intending to do some miles on various tread mills. (Hopefully offsetting the steaks and Margaritas!).
Following Vegas its 5 nights at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Palm Springs – or just outside. Going to be hot I think! Again, hotel was picked due to it's leisure facilities – they even have a running club but I'm not sure I'll cope with the heat.
Finally, 2 nights in the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Anaheim. Here's a LA top tip; cheap hotels in Anaheim. Way less than Santa Monica or any of the beach areas but you are a distance from these places if you want to go there. We stayed here last year on the final stage of our Honeymoon and liked it, good gym, (you knew that was coming!) and a nice bar. Plus an Outback Steakhouse outside! We love the Outback – relatively cheap and usually good steaks and beer.
So that is the accommodation – all through Virgin Holidays – came to about £1500. Car hire was just over £300 which is the SUV with all the insurance. Got some decent FC miles from using the Black AMEX which is helpful!!
So, back to the actual trip...
Flight was due to leave at 16.15 which is unusual for us – most VA flights we've taken are earlyish. The initial plan was to travel up on Saturday morning but I managed to get Friday off work so we had a look at hotel options and thought we'd head up the day before and have a more leisurely start to the trip – Mrs Monster correctly identified that going up on the same day as the flight was likely to be fraught. So a swift scan of Holiday Extras said we could get the Crowne Plaza at Heathrow for £70 which was pretty good. I knew I'd get 400 FC miles for the stay and it's got a pretty good gym, swimming pool and sauna so we could hit the gym on Friday evening and I could get a run on Saturday morning!
Nice drive up to the Hotel on Friday – only 52mpg this time but I had to get away from an arse who tried to cut met up near Stonehenge – serious telling off from Mrs Monster for my 'salute' via the single digit – not exactly road rage – more road irritation. Still, it was a nice drive along the A303 for the most part, the old Volvo still a nice place to be after 9 years and 100k+ miles.
Hotel check-in was painless – didn’t want an upgrade so passed on the offer. Apparently would've got us access to some lounge but weren’t too worried. Room was great; massive bed, comfy, huge desk and little sofa. Flat screen TV with a few cable channels. Nice.
Hit the gym soon after; it's pretty good – open to Joe Public which is a good sign. Dumbells up to 40kg so you can train reasonably hard. I like training in a new gym – having to figure out how to get the best from a different set of equipment...
Finished off with a swim and sauna. Interesting listening to the regular chaps in the sauna talking about their work and politics. I do notice a difference when getting to the South East – less people of a left wing persuasion!! One guy was so disillusioned with the Tories he voted UKIP!! Genius. I learnt that if you buy a flat in London for “5 mil”, you can sell it for “20 mil” after only spending 2 mil “doing it up”. I'm not sure it's that easy...
Anyway... had to leave the sauna after 15 minutes or so – properly hot by then!
We showered and went to the casual bar area for a couple of drinks and dinner. We went for deli sandwiches – cheap and predictable. All came to about £50 – beer wasn't cheap. Good service though and a nice place to chill-out.
I ran just under 4 miles in the morning – we didn't have to check out until noon so no rush.
The nights parking was £12 so the total cost was £130 including dinner, drinks, the stay and parking. Not too bad?
We had booked Purple Parking Meet and Greet via VS website - £97 for 15 nights – seemed reasonable plus there are FC miles to earn! Went to the wrong place in Terminal 1 – wished it was the old familiar T3! Driving in Heathrow really is a nightmare! We were way too early, waited in the wrong place – spoke to a parking 'enforcer' who said we had to go down a level – went into the short stay car-park by mistake – luckily didn't get charged, left and tried again. Eventually got the right lane and the right level and meet the friendly chap waiting - just on time by then!
Got into the terminal and easily found the ANZ check-in desks. Located in a small island just inside the entrance. Business Elite and PE in one area and Econ in another. We had to wait for a few minutes but we were really early so no probs there. When we were eventually checked in the agent wasn't great – no hello or smiles. This is where VA tend to do better – not always, but often enough to miss it when it doesn't happen.
It was quick anyway. We were offered the window seats but extensive research said that the middle seats were couple friendly so we declined and sticked with the seats we'd opted for.
We were soon through security – 15 mins I reckon. Had an issue with some people behind us who stood really close and were inclined to breath and cough on us!! So I took my merry time moving forward – just like driving – the closer to my bumper you are – the slower I go!
So, Terminal 1!
Not bad overall – ate in Giraffe which we both like – I went for salmon and eggs, my other, (better), half went for a sushi salad – both good and only £20 with drinks!
Wandered around for a bit; nice shops I thought. Went to Omega and chatted to the guy about how my Seamaster Planet Ocean is the 'old' model – whatever – I'm still James Bond mate – (if only in my mind...)
Gate was called at 14:45, exactly on time. Nice long walk to gate 32. We saw our plane arriving on the way – 777-300 in All-Black livery – looked amazing. Nice for the Kiwi passengers. Imagine a VA 744 in GB Olympic colours!! surprised SRB hasn't jumped on that marketing idea...
Waited for a while in a pleasant departure area. Sat near some big Kiwi chaps – KoGa bags, massive lats, 6'4” – rugby anyone? Turned out they were a couple of Newcastle rugby players with a coach off home for a while after a detour in Vegas.
Boarding was civilised – PE and Business Premier on first – two jetways operating which is helpful when available. Saves us walking through Business you would have thought but no; its like the A343 where some UC seats are to the right of the door.
However...
The PE cabin looked almost as good as Business Premier, (BP from now on). Really!
We wandered to our seat in row 27 Wow! This is how to do Premium Economy!!
I'll start with the negatives;
No 'welcome drink': OK this doesn't seem like a big deal on VA especially when you're used to flying PE regularly. You may even think that fizzy white isn't champagne and it should be, but oddly we missed it. But not the drink; its the engagement that makes it special. The contact from the Cabin Crew. The fact that you are getting it and you know the Econ pax haven't even boarded makes it a treat.
Cabin Crew: don't get me wrong- they're nice but they ain't VA! I've read so many TR here that talk about the CC making the difference and it's true – but you don't always notice it until you're on a different airline. If anyone from VA reads this take note; you have the best cabin crew in the main – be proud, keep at it, enjoy it. I hope you are well rewarded. Engage with your customers, chat and chew the fat with them. Talk about the good flights, the bad flights, where you like going and where you don't . Take the mickey and chastise (tongue in cheek). It makes a massive difference I think.
Other than those issues this is a great product:
The seat themselves are excellent. Not a massive amount of recline but you get a lot of 'space'. It feels really private but in the middle pair it feels like you are sitting together. The beanbag foot rest is good and versatile – you can move it to suit. The quality of the leather feels good – soft and nicely textured. Loads of connectivity, although iPods need something different to connect. Not sure what but worth checking out before if planning to use one. I'm typing this part on the MacBook Air, (£657 – Mall at Millennia, May 2011) using the US adaptor it came with. (Listening to The Prodigy Live at Milton Keynes via the excellent IFE system as I type this...). As far as I could tell any standard power socket fits – I've got a US 2 pin for my MacBook but it also took UK 3 pin.
Food has been good – I had lamb shank, Mrs M had the salmon which was excellent. I had a glass and and half of Chardonnay, really nice and cool glasses. Port to finish. (To be fair I'm half cut and typing is proving to be something of a test. God knows how people drank and drove in the '70s when it was allowed...
(BTW, The Prodigy are pretty aggressive chaps... not ideal for a long haul flight methinks...)
The cabin had a fair number of empty seats so I nabbed a spare bean bag for the wife to use – shorter legs! Worth noting that the pillow you get is really good – big and soft. Really useful for getting comfy.
This part of the report is bing typed some weeks after the trip – hopefully the recollection will be up to par...
I must've slept for a couple of hours; apparently I was snoring – I blame the wine! I wandered to the kitchen area and had a chat with the CC; they were all working pretty hard. It looked like a nice big area to work in – considering we're on a plane! I mentioned that we usually flew with VA. She replied that she thought they were really expensive. Interesting perception I thought.
Also I thought that the 777 seemed quieter. Maybe it was because were were near the front, I don't know. Be interested to hear other peoples views of noisy/quiet planes.
I helped myself to snacks – crisps and things mainly, just to pass the time.
We had Tea a couple of hours before landing – scones with clotted cream, jam and butter. Wraps as well. Really very good. I think the scones were warm. Appealed to us – being from Devon!
We got to LAX on time I think. We're were off the plane sharpish. Just behind the BP people. Immigration was pretty good for a change – the lady we had actually joked with us! (She'll probably be sacked or sent to MIA to learn how to do it properly!!)
Our bags were off quickly due to the priority tagging – couldn't find one bag though. Waited ages. I wandered around to the 'unusual size' part to find our very small, standard shaped bag sitting on the floor. Odd and completely undid the benefit of priority tagging the other bags but it had been a good flight so I wasn't as grumpy as I could've been...
Other points to note:
This flight, one way, earned just over 8000 FC miles. So a return would be over 16k. You earn the 150% rate for PE regardless of the fare bucket. So it's way better than VA if the price is the same and Tier Points aren't an issue for you, (we earned 1 for the one way flight). Obviously Ag and Au would have to consider their respective bonuses. But for Reds like us it's an excellent choice.
I saw prices for LHR-LAX returns in March at under £900 – this is a great price for a superb product.
I'd urge people to give it a try if circumstances suit.
It's not fair to VS to compare the products; one is much newer and it isn't feasible to upgrade fleets every year. But this product really is good – well worth trying.
The next report is from the Skycouch!!! Forget what you've read about what it might be like – we've done it!!
I'll do that one as soon as I can...
Thanks for reading!
It really sounds like ANZ have the PE quality wrapped up....well except for the welcome drink 
