Comfortable flight to New Zealand

Joking_Joe

So I am thinking of going to NZ for 3 weeks in November but don't relish the idea of being couped up on the plane (being 6ft2), I have done plenty of flying before and prefer the window seat/emergency exit if its available (don't think you can reserve exit row seats?).....in your collective experiences which airline do you find to have the best economy class leg-room and inflight service. The budget doesn't really run to business class travel.

Also to break the flight up I thought about stopping off somewhere on the way out and back, just a 24hr stop over, airport > hotel > decent food, stretch legs > hotel airport and on again.
Any recommendations?

knightstyle

Look here http://www.seatguru.com/charts/longhaul_economy.php
BUT be aware that some airlines share flights and also you may get a non-airline plane with different cabin layout.
This happened to us with Singapore Airlines so seat numbers were not where they are normally. We had a big row and eventually they moved other people to give us the seats we needed, my DW is disabled so we need seats facing a bulkhead for her to get up and down.

Blue264

Joking_Joe wrote: »

So I am thinking of going to NZ for 3 weeks in November but don't relish the idea of being couped up on the plane (being 6ft2), I have done plenty of flying before and prefer the window seat/emergency exit if its available (don't think you can reserve exit row seats?).....in your collective experiences which airline do you find to have the best economy class leg-room and inflight service. The budget doesn't really run to business class travel.

My all time favourite airline is Air New Zealand.Their friendly, laid back service is in a class of it's own and the food is excellent. They also have a partnership with Singapore Airlines, so if you don't want to fly via LAX, that would be an option and break your trip in Singapore.

If you're not flying alone, it might be worth you looking at their Skycouch option...

http://www.airnewzealand.co.uk/economy-skycouch

Had this same discussion on another forum this week, and loads of people came out as fans of Air NZ. I flew to Fiji with them, and it remains the best experience I've had on a flight, way surpassing the likes of BA, Emirates, etc...

PeacefulWaters

Post your dates and route on Flyertalk and see what they can come up with in business class.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1709344-premium-fare-deals-j-f-174.html

They recently found £1,100 return fares to Auckland starting from Pisa or Frankfurt flying on Qatar. A £50 Easyjet hop to Pisa and an overnight stop would add significantly to the comfort of your journey. You'd also bank a shed load of air miles.

zagfles

If you just want a rest stop the transit hotel in Singapore is brilliant - it's airside so you don't need to go through the hassle of collecting your bags, going through passport control & customs. You can book it by the hour so a daytime booking is no problem. There's loads to do at the airport too, swimming pool, gym, even a bird park, and they do free city tours if you have enough time.

When we went to NZ we booked it for 9 hours or so, we arrived in SIN at about 9am local time which was about 2am UK time, didn't sleep on the flight so ready for bed, good daytime sleep then up for the flight onto AKL at about 9pm. Weird everyone being served dinner with wine when we just wanted breakfast with coffee

Didn't need to sleep on either flight. Brilliant way to get over jetlag as well - couple of early nights in NZ and we were into the timezone.

I think on Singapore you can book extra legroom seats for a small charge - normal seat selection was free but there was a charge for the extra legroom ones. We didn't bother - I'm 5'11'' and had easily enough legroom. Don't know if you're used to travelling long haul economy but it's nothing like Ryanair or Easyjet.

Singapore sometimes give you free airport vouchers - which you can use for the transit hotel - this almost paid for the hotel room!

richardw

American Airlines will fly via LAX and United via SFO, both airlines have rows of extra legroom seats in addition to the fire exit seats.

Both airlines will operate new Dreamliner aircraft which have slightly narrower seats which are not good if you are wide shouldered.

United will code share with AirNZ, so you could do LHR-SFO-AKL-LAX-LHR.

Singapore air may also ticket with Air NZ or UA for a possible RTW.

Cathay Pacific will be flying new A350 aircraft from LGW-HKG.

Extra legroom is a bonus, but if you are wider across the shoulders Premium Economy is good.

ERICS_MUM

Personally I would 'invest' in business class or at least a premium economy cabin if available. I've done so ever since a nightmare flight back from Sydney on BA which was so crammed and cramped that I felt seriously claustrophobic and dont know how I managed to stay calm !

ariba10

When we went we used NZ air (went via L A)

Could not fault them and would use them again.

Tammykitty

I have went to Australia and New Zealand many times via Ethihad, Malaysia Airline and Emirates.


My favourite of the was Malaysia air.


On recent flights on emirates I have booked an aisle seat in a middle row, and have on most occasions been lucky enough to have a free seat beside me - really makes a difference.


On the last flight home from Oz, I had a row of 4 seats to myself for 1 flight and moved into an empty row of 3 for the second flight - it was great


Always sit near the back of the plane is my advice - more chance of being able to avail of free seats

Joking_Joe

a huge thank you to everyone who has replied, plenty for me to digest there!
Yes, i am wide shouldered so this will need considering as well

zagfles

Joking_Joe wrote: »

a huge thank you to everyone who has replied, plenty for me to digest there!
Yes, i am wide shouldered so this will need considering as well

I wouldn't worry too much about it - I am too but it's never been a problem on any long haul economy flight.