I'm not sure what to think about Air New Zealand. Our first experience with them was our flight from LA to Auckland. They were beyond nice, great to talk to, understanding and ready to meet our needs. They made a point to allow us the freedom to check two bags at no additional cost. Our carry-on bags were not a problem; carry what we pleased. There was no issue with weight limits, even though we were well under their limits. But all flights after the first one, baggage limits were changed to checking one per person (to avoid large fees) and one carry-on plus one personal item (purse, computer, briefcase). We did learn that "Duty Free" bags were okay to carry on in addition to the normal carry-on. So we carried a couple of those everywhere we went!
After we reached Auckland and checked in for our first Domestic Flight to Queenstown, we were shocked at the absence of airline security, as we know it to be flying inside the USA. This small plane has only two seats across. It was Prop driven; no stewardess service at all. Actually, the lady pilot could have been the Stewardess as far as we could tell. She was pretty young! We walked down a flight of stairs and out onto the Tarmac where portable steps were wheeled up to the doorway just behind the cockpit. As there was no overhead storage, the Co-Pilot came back and took Deb's carry-on up front and set it on the floor behind the cockpit, and strapped it in like a child.
Upon arrival, we grabbed our stuff, exited the plane down the portable steps and walked into the Terminal; no security, no separation of secure and unsecured areas or anything. You just walk in like you were coming inside for outside in any other building. It was very cool!
From here it gets worse. ANZ cancelled our flight from Rotorua to Chistchurch, apparently because not enough seats were sold, and put us on a 90 minute Bus from Rotorua to Queenstown, where we got a ticket to Christchurch. Then because of low clouds and rain, they canceled our flight and put us on another 7 hour Bus to Christchurch. They did stop after a couple of hours and fed us Fish and Chips for dinner.
From Christchurch to Auckland we had to go through Security and also from Auckland to Los Angeles. No biggie. Both were Jets.
The 12 hour overseas flights were killers! The seats seemed to be the closest together of anything we had been on, including the Cessna 206 to Milford Sound! We were crowded in like Sardines in a can, with barely enough room to change your mind! Whenever the passenger in front of you leaned back his seat, the built-in video screen was a mere 12" away! That's a bummer when you wear bifocals!
If you want to make the long journey to Auckland, you might consider inquiring about the space between seats, legroom, etc. of the different airlines and take the best one! That would be a good "Google" project! Or, if you are NOT counting Social Security pennies, you could opt to upgrade to the larger bucket seats in Premier Economy with the little foot rest and only two seats side by side instead of 4 seats side by side!
Or, if you get your wife a second job, you could save up enough cash to reserve the sleeper chairs! That's right! Sleepers! Convertible chairs. First Class all the way! Go ahead! DO IT!!!
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