Air NZ or Virgin

To cut a long story short I was originally due to fly LHR to LAX in about 5 weeks booked through virgin holidays. Due to a change in circumstances I needed to change the travel dates but the new dates worked out too expensive with VH so I cancelled and decided to book direct.

When it came to book the flights as my last Virgin PE experience was rather bland and underwhelming I decided to try Air NZ's PE Spaceseat despite reading some very mixed reviews.

Now thanks to a cheeky bonus from work I have decided to upgrade (as the best I've ever flown is PE) which has left me with a bit of a dilemma. Do I upgrade with Air NZ to business premier which from what I can tell is basically the same as Virgins UC just newer and very white or cancel with Air NZ and for £400 less but a very late departure from LAX home go with Virgins (from what I've read slightly ageing) UC.

I am really not sure which way to do this so I was just wondering if anybody has flown Air NZ's business premier and can compare it to virgins UC or is, as some reviews say, Air NZ's PE Spaceseat so good upgrading is just a waste of money?

So really any help or advice that can be given would be very much appreciated.

nice dilemma,

Air NZ's BP is terrific, we flew late Jan 2012 LHR - LAX in Air NZ PE which was fab and then after a few days in LA flew LAX - Auckland in BP.

The crew were great, very very attentive while the plane was the newly configured All Black (737 I think) that had only just entered service and was about a week old. It had that new car smell as you got on board. The IFE was fantastic as was the food and wine, left Virgin UC behind to be honest.

Andrew

[Scrooge]

Seat : roughly the same
IFE : roughly the same
Food: NZ
Crew : Roughly the same, both can be great, but NZ is more consistent
Lounge : VS

Seat : roughly the same
IFE : roughly the same
Food: NZ
Crew : Roughly the same, both can be great, but NZ is more consistent
Lounge : VS

I'd add wine - NZ, and on board bar - well VS of course since NZ doesn't have one, FC points / miles - VS again and in my experience VS crews win every tiime.

Oh and the 'aging' VS UC on the aircraft that fly to LAX is much better than the newer version .

There's a TR of Air NewZealand somewhere here...

Here they are!

forum/index.php?f=6&t=272368&rb_v=viewtopic

forum/index.php?f=21&t=275231&start=0&rb_v=viewtopic

I do love VS but even I am tempted!

NZ is excellent and the amenity kit is nicer than the sack cloth they give you in UC but VS is consistently excellent. It doesn't matter to me if a new or old bed - it is still comfy.

Another thought is that - should there be any mechanical fault prior to take off - VS is likely better placed to find a replacement plane. I know this sounds odd but I have had these sort of issues several times.

Thanks Sealink for posting the link to my TR above, I had been searching earlier for it but was on iPhone and couldn't locate it!

Daniel, I whole heartedly recommend ANZ Premium Economy, I definitely wouldn't pay the extra for Business Premier.

Cheers
James

We earned VA FC miles for our ANZ PE flights but no Tier Points. Not sure if this is still the case.

For the money, ANZ PE on the 777 ANZ/LAX route is brilliant. Food is from Business, IFE is great and the Space Seat is really good.

Have a look at the Economy Skycouch too; we used that one for the night flight. Perfect smaller couples...