Which airline do you recommend/why -- Virgin Australia VS Air New Zealand

[chees]

It is $100 more per person to fly Air NZ, but there is one fewer stop on the way home and we would get an extra morning/early afternoon in Auckland before departing. Any suggestions/recommendations one way or the other?

 

Thank you,

Tina

[Globaliser]

Which aircraft would these flights be on? And in which cabin? Air New Zealand's new 777-300s have some service issues.

[NHBob]

If frequent flier miles are a consideration, be aware that Air NZ is Star Alliance, Virgin Australia is Delta Skymiles.

 

My granddaughter flew to NZ with Air NZ earlier this year on a 777 and said it was probably the best long flight she's had; when she got home she remarked at how much better their service was than on UA from Sydney to SFO.

 

I haven't flown Virgin Australia, just Virgin Atlantic. I'll take a 777 anytime over an A330 or A340. Also, Virgin Atlantic has the least liberal carry-on allowance I've experienced - only 6kg (13lb), and they did weigh my carry-on at check-in and made me transfer some stuff to a checked bag. Luckily I had space.

[FlyerTalker]

You beat me to the thought, Bob.

 

Original post:

 

Another consideration is the FF miles you would earn. AKL-LAX is appx 13,000 FF miles. SYD-LAX is appx 15,000. When you're dealing with long routings, those miles add up. If you fly on NZ, you can earn to Star airlines. On V, you could accrue to Delta and other partners.

 

More food for thought.

[chees]

On Air NZ. And we are going cheapest coach fare. :-)

 

Thank you,

Tina

[Globaliser]

Outbound 747 and return 777

As I say, you want to find out if the 777 is a 777-200 or a 777-300.

[NHBob]

NZ is currently using 777-300ER on one of their two LAX-AKL services, 747 on the other. The 777s are NZ's newest aircraft and include the new premium economy section. This seating looks very enticing, but is priced at almost double ordinary economy.

 

I haven't heard any recent service issues with -300 other than Singapore sliding one of a runway in Munich a week or so ago, but I could have missed them.

 

My biggest problem with NZ's 777s is their 10-abreast, 3-4-3, economy seating, whereas many other majors still use 9-abreast, either 3-3-3 or 2-5-2.

 

Bob

[Globaliser]

NZ is currently using 777-300ER on one of their two LAX-AKL services, 747 on the other. The 777s are NZ's newest aircraft and include the new premium economy section. This seating looks very enticing, but is priced at almost double ordinary economy.

This cabin is one of the big problems on the 777-300s. The seating looks good in PR shots, but it's proved to be anything but in practice.

 

It's been so bad that NZ has had to undertake an emergency reconfiguration of this cabin to remove an entire row of seats to spread out the remaining rows in a more generous (and now over-generous) layout. This has almost certainly wrecked the economics of the cabin.

 

I haven't yet heard any reliable reports of whether this has ameliorated the other commonly reported problem in this cabin of motion sickness apparently induced by sitting at an offset from the main axis of the aircraft.

My biggest problem with NZ's 777s is their 10-abreast, 3-4-3, economy seating ...

This is another big problem: the cramped conditions in this cabin, and the constant collisions between service trolleys and the seat rows because of the very narrow aisles.

 

Some of the other difficulties won't be of such direct concern to the average passenger; but it's fair to say that the aircraft is really causing a bit of a headache to the company.

[NHBob]

Thanks Globalizer. I had missed reports of the cabin layout problems and I haven't flown NZ's 777, either model, just UA and AA which both use 3-3-3 Economy seating.

 

Interesting that NZ has retained the conventional 3-3-3 seating in both economy and premium economy on the -200, at least for now. Wonder how long it will be before they go to 10 abreast.

 

I'll be flying to Buenos Aires with AA in March on a -200. AA has some -300s on order and it will be interesting to see if they maintain configuration similar to -200, or go to 10 abreast economy as NZ and several other carriers have.

[NHBob]

...just UA and AA which both use 3-3-3 Economy seating.

 

 

Correction: they both use 2-5-2. I like this layout as long as I can get an aisle of one of the pairs of 2.

 

Bob

[Globaliser]

I think UA is in the process of reconfiguring from 2-5-2 to 3-3-3.

 

IIRC, DL made the same change some years ago.

[NHBob]

I think UA is in the process of reconfiguring from 2-5-2 to 3-3-3....

 

Hadn't heard that but I suppose it makes some sense, as CO 777s are configured 3-3-3.

 

Just checked UA website - they have no less than five different 777 cabin configurations, 3 @ 2-5-2 and 2 @ 3-3-3.

 

A bit more complex and interesting will be to see how UA and CO rationalize major fleet differences, such as engines. I think CO has consistently used GE power, but if I recall correctly, UA's 777s use RR Trent engines as I believe 787s also will (that's strictly my recollection, as I haven't checked it).

 

Bob

[Globaliser]

A bit more complex and interesting will be to see how UA and CO rationalize major fleet differences, such as engines. I think CO has consistently used GE power, but if I recall correctly, UA's 777s use RR Trent engines as I believe 787s also will (that's strictly my recollection, as I haven't checked it).

Yes, there will certainly be some things to iron out there - UA's donks are actually PWs, but you're right about them being different from CO's GEs.

 

CO has specified GEs for its 787s, but I can't readily find information on what UA has specified (even though some of its aircraft are at a pretty advanced stage of assembly).

[FlyerTalker]

Yes, there will certainly be some things to iron out there - UA's donks are actually PWs, but you're right about them being different from CO's GEs.

 

CO has specified GEs for its 787s, but I can't readily find information on what UA has specified (even though some of its aircraft are at a pretty advanced stage of assembly).

I'll always remember the line from Donald Nyrop, president of Northwest:

 

"If I want aircraft engines, I'll buy them from P&W; if I want a light bulb, I'll buy from GE"