My wife and I were visiting Both New Zealand and Australia earlier this year (Feb 2024) and I was having a hard time deciding between flying Qantas Business Class on a 737-800 to BNE, flying Business on LAN (connecting with QF in SYD) or Premium Economy on Air New Zealand. I would have opted for the connection, but my wife doesn't share my enjoyment of visiting as many airports as possible. The deciding factor came down to price, plus NZ's Premium Economy seats are actually more spacious than the Business Class seats on Qantas' B738's and lastly the lounge experience is usually better when flying from/through an airline's hub.
We were able to check in at Air New Zealand's Premium Check-in area. There was an entrance that took you to a secluded area but with no desks to speak of. Just several kiosks, which was fine, but I wanted to see if we could change seat assignments, and I was unable to so at the kiosk. There were agents around to assist, but was told we couldn't change seats there, so we just checked our bags (2 bags free in PE) and left. It wasn't a big deal, but I left feeling this was not a very premium check in area.
Premium Economy does not grant access to The Air New Zealand International Lounge. However, both my wife and I have Star Alliance Gold status which does gain entrance into the Lounge (regardless of class flying). The slightly chaotic feeling from check in continued as we entered the Lounge. The departure time of the flight to BNE was also a deciding factor in choosing NZ, as it left mid-morning. But this also meant that we departed at a popular time (I suspect evening is as well). The Lounge was extremely busy for the first 30 minutes or so and it took us several minutes to find a place to sit. After it started thinning out, I started to relax and could appreciate how nice the Lounge was (the NZ Lounge in Melbourne is very similar) with lots of food options and a great Barista Bar.
Boarding was easy and orderly. We were able to board in group 1 (due to status and not PE ticket - I assume PE would be after BC & Elite members) and were one of the first to board. This was great as I really don't like being seen taking photos and certainly do not want other people in these photos. We received a pleasant greeting as we boarded. Air New Zealand's Premium Economy section is a fairly large cabin (certainly largest PE cabin that I've seen) covering rows 23 to 30 in a 2x4x2 configuration. With six rows on the 2 sides (row 23 to 28 - we sat in 28JK) and 8 rows in the middle (row 23 to 30). The last row in the middle section has only 2 seats and was left unoccupied. I thought the flight was full, so I am not sure if they are always left free or maybe the flight wasn't completely full after all. Both Business Class and Premium Economy cabins are quite striking as the seats are a whitish gray leather that along with the walls being a pale color makes for a distinctive look. I have seen photos of the PE seats on their new B787's and they are not the same color as these seats. I would imagine this light color would show more wear and tear, but the seats on this aircraft were clean.
Upon arriving at your seat there was a very nice pillow, a not so nice headphone and a menu on the seat. No amenity kit (I believe they are available on longer routes), nor pre-departure drink was offered, but a very nice hot towel was distributed on the ground after boarding had been completed. The overheads on the B777's will easily fit a carry-on Rollerboard and had more than enough room for the cabin. The seats are very similar to a US Domestic First Class seat or a Business Class seat on Qantas' B737's other than the seat pitch, which is a very generous 41 - 42 (104 - 106cm) inches of leg room with the bulkhead having even more room. I believe Qantas business class seats have 37 to 38" of pitch which is what most US Airlines have as well. The eight seats across are only 2 less than Economy so the width is not as generous, but still a comfortable 19 inches. Plus, these seats have a small leg rest and foot holder that comes up from under your seat (release button on side of chair). There is not a lot of lift in the leg rests, more just a place to place your feet and support your legs. The seats have moveable headrests as well. There is a power port (plug only) on the bottom of the center armrest and a USB port on bottom of TV monitor. The armrests do not raise except maybe between the two middle seats in the center section. There is not a tremendous amount of recline on these seats but enough that the person behind would have to adjust their monitor if fully reclined, however, not enough to make them uncomfortable. The bulkhead seats have their TV screen under the armrests with the tray tables in them, thus not effecting the seat width.
The menu said Lunch would be served on departures after 9:30 from New Zealand. Our departure time was 9:35, however when the flight attendants came by Breakfast was being served. Slightly disappointing as we just had just been in the lounge where we had breakfast. Also, there were only two choices for Breakfast while there was three for Lunch/Dinner plus non-breakfast meals traditionally have more to them (appetizer & dessert) than Breakfast. But both options looked appetizing. My wife got the Waffle with Chocolate Sauce, and I opted for the Frittata. Both came with a bowl of Fruit, Yogurt, croissant and a bowl of Muesli was offered for the yogurt, or Cereal with milk. The Waffle was surprisingly good while the Frittata was ok. Outside the Frittata everything else was great. Especially the Bacon and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. Very impressed. My wife had a glass of Sparkling Wine that she was equally pleased with. Breakfast was what I would have expected in Business Class on a 3-hour flight.
The IFE (Inflight Entertainment) was gate to gate and had a large selection of movies & TV programs. There were several movies and TV shows from New Zealand, Australia and Asia plus plenty of new and classic Hollywood movies and sitcoms. Much to my delight the content was uncensored. I estimated the monitors to be around 12 - 13" but read they are 11 inches (decent picture). The screen was touchscreen but with the 42' pitch it is a little hard reaching the monitor so the handset on the side (next to headphone jack) came in handy to adjust volume, preview programs or change to the flight map or games. I usually prefer touch screen but found the remote easier. After thinking the headphones were not very good, I decided to give them a try and ended up using them. They were ok and actually, canceled some background noise out (I also saw on way out they were same as what Business Class received).
I didn't try to connect to the Wi-Fi until the flight was two thirds over. When I finally did connect, I realized I hadn't put my seat number or any information to get online. At the time I thought maybe it was because the flight was almost over, or it was only available near land, and we were approaching Australia. But, I later discovered Air New Zealand's Wi-Fi is free for all passengers. It is available on most of their B777's as well as most other international aircraft. You can see from the screenshot below what aircraft have Wi-Fi. It wasn't the fastest connection, but hard to complain when it is free.
Maybe the most impressive aspect of NZ's Premium Economy Cabin is that it is cordoned off by curtains (between Business and Economy) so it gives it a much more intimate feel. In addition, there are two Lavatory's within this area dedicated for Premium Economy. There wasn't any fancy lotions or potions in the Lav's, but there was a picture of a chandelier :) Three flight attendants serviced the Premium Economy cabin and all very pleasant and helpful. I only remember hearing the announcements in English but there could have been some in Māori as well (the fact I didn't make a note of it tells me probably English only) There were no further hot towels after breakfast, but the flight attendants did come around with a basket of hard candies before landing. Luggage retrieval was within 20 minutes of deplaning.
I have only flown on a few Premium Economy flights and have observed a few more but by far, Air New Zealand has the most impressive PE I have seen. The difference between Economy and Premium Economy is massive. Would be the same difference between Economy & First in the US or Business in Australia. That being said, while I am very happy that we took this flight to BNE I am not sure I'd opt for PE over Business on a 12-hour flight (but I am spoiled)
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