Best Airline to Fly to New Zealand ?

[SimonV8ster]

Have a choice between Cathy Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Air New Z., Thai Airways.

Flown with Singapore a few years ago and they were good but no experience with the others.

Any recent experience of any ?

[Geoff Stilwell]

Someone else asked this a few weeks ago. Basically...you pays your money and takes your choice. Have a look on www.seatguru.com that may help.

[adamliptrot]

We flew back (via Australia) on Quantas. If they are an option at all they were fantastic for long-haul, really looked after you all through the flight.

[Deliveredenergy]

Depends on a few things I guess. Singapore good in most ways and in all classes. Transfers at Changi pretty straightforward. Air NZ via LA is quickest in terms of hours but you do need US esta and have the displeasure of US immigration to deal with. In economy this way it's newish 777-300 but that means 3-3-3 seating. Via HK it's older 777-200 series, not as good in business or PE but 2-3-2 in economy. Thai decent too, can't comment on Cathay.

[driverrob]

I can only speak for AirNZ business class but, for a 26 hr journey, it was very pleasant and very good value compared to its rivals.

[Quhet]

I went with Emirates to NZ twice, the last time being last month - I flew to Heathrow to Auckland via Dubai and Melbourne. Flights were ok on the new A380s, never going to be much fun though being 24h in the air but it's made bearable by a decent entertainment system and the ability to get wifi in the air. Emirates seemed to be the cheapest and you've got the option of flying from London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

I've done long haul on Air NZ before (Auckland to Vancouver) and I didn't feel that it was as good as Emirates, felt slightly low rent. If you were going to NZ you'd be going the other way around too (not sure how much difference this would make aside from truly fking up your grip on the date/time).

Not sure about the other airlines...

[moles]

Singapore then Air NZ then Emirates would be my order with Qantas and BA after that.

[ETOPS]

Cathay, Singapore, Thai, Malaysian and Emirates are generally regarded as about the best. Air NZ do get favourable reviews now, too, and seem very competitive. BA and QANTAS are a horror show, in my opinion.

Emirates will have lots of departure airport options for you, but I try to avoid connections at Dubai at all costs. Easiest connections will be at HK on Cathay and Changi on Singapore.

If you're going in economy, I'd be tempted to just pick the cheapest from the SE Asian option. If in a premium class, there's more to talk about..

[mazdajason]

I'm in the same boat (well plane) as you OP.

Heading to NZ next Feb/ March and cheapest have currently come back as Cathay Pacific. The last 2 trips home have been BA to London then Qantas all the way to NZ via Singapore and Sydney. Tempted by going USA way for a higher baggage allowance and potentially quicker times but as has been said all the VISA carry on, not sure if it's worth it.

[SimonV8ster]

Whats all the problems with the USA stuff ?

Flown into Dallas and San Fran a couple of times each and had no problems ?

Looking at breaking up the flight and flying to San Fran (10/11 hours non stop), a few days there and then onto New Zealand.

[Gren]

Gone with Singapore a couple of times and never had a problem. Good planes, good services and pretty good food (versus the usual stuff anyway).

[Nickyboy]

Flew to LA on Air NZ last year. Only economy mind but seats were very comfy, 33" seat pitch which is 2 more than Virgin etc. I'm 6ft and my knees were nowhere near the back of the seat in front. You get an option of upgrading nearer the time too, Premium economy looks pretty special.

[Norfolkit]

Another vote for Singapore, food good, service exceptional, flight attendants edible (the female ones anyway). Unless there's a noticeable difference in price book direct with the SA website, you'll be able to reserve your seats straight away then, I've used Expedia and Ebookers to book on SA and not been able to reserve my seats (in theory you should be able to [24 hours before flying] but I couldn't).

Edited by Norfolkit on Tuesday 26th March 13:46

[IROC-Z]

It might be worth taking a look at this website - http://www.airlinequality.com

I'm heading to Perth in May with Singapore and they've got a five star rating. I've not been with them before but comments on here are encouraging.

I'd avoid Emirates purely because their flights to NZ (Christchurch at any rate) stop at Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney and then on to NZ whereas other airlines flights are more direct. I flew to Sydney last year and the flight from London to Sydney had an advertised change over at Dubai which was chaos, an awful sprawling sauna of an airport. There was then a 'technical' stop in Bangkok for 1hr 30 mins, not a problem we thought, however due to Australian regulations you have to disembark and go back through security whereupon you have all your drinks taken off you. Once we got to Sydney it then waits another 1hr 30 before the 3hr flight to Christchurch. I felt so sorry for the poor sods carrying on to NZ.

We flew to Auckland with Malaysia in 2011. They were pretty good, cabin crew generally friendly and attentive, especially the guy on the outbound flight who kept me topped up with Heinekens. The down side was the 4 hour wait at Kuala Lumpur both ways.

[havoc]

We flew SIA back in 2007 and were pretty impressed overall (A340s/777s rather than the new A380s). Only notable downside was the seat I was in on the first return leg (a) had a collapsed seat cushion; and (b) had a broken fold-out TV. Flight was (apparently) full. A quick check showed a few spare spaces in Business Class, but they weren't prepared to do that - I had to make do with a couple of folded blankets under my arse and being bored/uncomfortable for 10 hours on an overnight flight!

Complaint in Singapore got me nowhere except for a wasted 30-40mins. Rather soured things, esp. as I was absolutely shattered by the time we got to Singapore - had been awake for almost all of the preceding 25/26 hours and had a 'daylight' flight still to go...


Overall I rate Emirates higher, and ANZ are supposed to be pretty good also. Had good experiences with Thai also, but would avoid Malaysian - food is ropey and service not as good as Emirates/Thai/SIA.

[ChasW]

Only ever flown Air NZ Business Premier and could not fault them. Prefer LA route to Hong Kong

[Cheib]

ChasW said:

Only ever flown Air NZ Business Premier and could not fault them. Prefer LA route to Hong Kong

I think it's deffo worth thinking about whether you want to go East or West. Personally I like the Asia way because the flight leaves here at 10pm or so...you can get on have dinner and watch a movie and then have time for a proper sleep.....going via LA you are basically in the air for 11 or 12 hours and you leave London at lunchtime or thereabouts. Obviously you end up in the same place and there you still have the second leg to deal with but personally I'd rather get the sleep in on the first leg.

Unless it was much cheaper or the airline was significantly better I'd try to void three legs too.

[AKT]

I live in NZ and personally would recommend Air NZ through LA (business premier if you can afford to).

Qantas/Emirates etc all go through Oz and (often) have poor connections to NZ. Singapore/CP don’t suffer this problem but Air NZ customer service is fantastic.

BP is the top tier on AirNZ (no First) has comfortable beds, around 1-2hrs in LA and a transit lounge which has just been upgraded. AFAIK it’s the quickest way to get here. The down side is LHR but it has improved in recent years.

HK isn’t as nice as LAX (I can’t believe I am writing that as LAX used to be a hole)

IF you have an onward connection it’s usually cheaper to book on the .co.nz site. The rest of your tickets will be significantly cheaper on .co.uk.

Let me know if you want any info on NZ.

Andy

[acer12]

AKT said:

I live in NZ and personally would recommend Air NZ through LA (business premier if you can afford to).

Qantas/Emirates etc all go through Oz and (often) have poor connections to NZ. Singapore/CP don’t suffer this problem but Air NZ customer service is fantastic.

BP is the top tier on AirNZ (no First) has comfortable beds, around 1-2hrs in LA and a transit lounge which has just been upgraded. AFAIK it’s the quickest way to get here. The down side is LHR but it has improved in recent years.

HK isn’t as nice as LAX (I can’t believe I am writing that as LAX used to be a hole)

IF you have an onward connection it’s usually cheaper to book on the .co.nz site. The rest of your tickets will be significantly cheaper on .co.uk.

Let me know if you want any info on NZ.

Andy

Another advantage with NZ would be that you dont have to worry about missing your connection and getting stranded at a foreign airport for lots of hours, as far as i know LA is more of a fueling stop, therefore you get back on the same plane after the 2hrs or so which means that if your inbound flight into LA is delayed then its not really a problem

[driverrob]

acer12 said:

Another advantage with NZ would be that you dont have to worry about missing your connection and getting stranded at a foreign airport for lots of hours, as far as i know LA is more of a fueling stop, therefore you get back on the same plane after the 2hrs or so which means that if your inbound flight into LA is delayed then its not really a problem

Same in HK. Also means luggage is checked right through.