Trip Report Air New Zealand Skycouch

MEL-AKL-LAX-AKL-MEL

11th April MEL-AKL-LAX
23rd April: LAX-AKL-MEL

I recently took the family to Los Angeles for a family holiday. We flew Air New Zealand, mainly because I wanted to try their new product, the Skycouch, which seemed to be an ideal product for families travelling with young children. OK, OK…I will admit that for many years, I have held grudge against this airline as I hold them responsible for the demise of Ansett airlines in 2001 and the loss of up to 15,000 Ausralian jobs. However, many years have past and the people responsible for those decisions (such as Selwyn Cushing, etc) are no longer there...the airline itself has obviously also transformed itself into a completely different and competitive carrier. So I decided to give them a go…

Check in MEL 11th April.



There were long lines at Check in, especially for economy class passengers.
MEL has become increasingly congested of late…the landside areas including drop off and pick up, check in areas are packed with hardly ANY further room for more check-in desks. Whilst there has been considerable improvement to the airside areas, the landside area desperately needs more space.

We had loads to check in (as anyone who has traveled with young children would know…the amount of infrastructure is really quite mind-boggling). 3 suitcases (for extra shopping), 2 car seats and 2 strollers (7 pieces of luggage altogether). The check-in agent was not particularly friendly and at one point, I actually caught her rolling her eyes at her colleague…maybe at the amount of luggage we had? When I asked her if we had skycouch seats allocated (just checking), she said “ I think so….yeah…whatever THAT is…”
I know NZ uses Qantas for their ground handling at MEL, but even if it was for a competing carrier, she was most unprofessional. Oh well, moving on.



This was our 772 across the tasman.


As mentioned earlier, the new airside areas at MEL look great. Much more pleasant and spacious.

New Café Vue…excellent food with a ‘vue’ of the planes close up. Worth checking in early for.

Boarding was a little chaotic, but eventually, we were welcomed aboard.
I found Air New Zealand’s crew very friendly and professional. Sort of like a more laid back version of Qantas. The crew were especially welcoming towards children with kid’s packs, etc handed out as we boarded. I couldn’t help but noticed how several crew members were VERY ‘mature aged’. I don’t mean 40s or 50s, but well into their 60s and looking more like 70! This observation was also valid for all the other ANZ flights for the rest of the trip. Mind you, age did not affect their performance at all, but ANZ obviously retain their crew well past retirement age…at least, more so than most other carriers I have flown. Good on them, if they are still up to the job.

Love this version of the Airshow with high resolution maps.


Kids settling down to a meal (delicious hamburger-I had a bite) and IFE. Contented kids = relaxed parents = settled cabin.

Nothing much to say about the rest of this short hop across the Tasman.
Landed at AKL on time with a 5 hour transit before NZ 2 to LAX later on that evening.

During the stopover, we were told that Auckland traffic was terrible and so we did not risk taking a cab into the city for a few hours for fear of missing our flight. Instead, we met up wit h a friend of ours at the Villa Maria winery about 5 mins from the airport terminal. Quite strange….it’s a beautiful vineyard located in the middle of an industrial area near the airport. Go figure!
Anyway, the surrounds were perfect for the kids to have a play/run around and we had the best antipasto platter I have ever had in my life….if this was a good representation of New Zealand produce…..I WANT MORE!! Yum.






Before too long, we were back at AKL; getting a bit tired by now. Really hoping the skycouch will at least allow us to sleep a bit better for the 12 hour hop to LAX.
AKL is quite a nice airport airside. They have a few really cool architectural features including this light/sound column the kids seemed to like. Good choice of food and retail outlets, although the duty-free prices were not really cheaper compared to Australia or elsewhere. I find Kiwis to be so friendly and you really do get a sense of this at the airport.




Soon enough, we headed towards gate 10 where our brand new 777-300 ER was waiting for us. The boarding process was terrible. Firstly, the gate holding area at gate 10 meant had only 50% or less of the required seating for a full flight, so passengers had to spill over onto gate 9 and STILL this resulted in many people just standing around waiting to board. Boarding was delayed by around 45 mins….not a single announcement as to why/when and the chaos was staring to build. The toilets at the this far end of the terminal, were in a filthy state (not in keeping with the rest of the airport). I noticed the same on a LAN flight via AKL last year.
When boarding eventually began, it was completely haphazard. No boarding by rows, confusion as to whether families with children first or whenever and people were getting frustrated. On board, still NO MENTION of why there was a delay or even acknowledgement or there being one. Maybe it’s because of the laid back nature of NZ? Dunno. It helps to be informed, in my opinion.

Anyway, now about the new 777-300ER cabin!
Initial impressions are good. The colours are fresh and new, with contrasting black and whites. There definitely was a new aircraft smell. Walking past business premier…I thought the seats looked very narrow and the herringbone layout lacked privacy….never tried this product though, so can’t really comment anymore than that. Give me SQ’s wide J class seats anyday, or even QF’s skybeds.

Sitting in the economy seat…you immediately notice how cramped it is…..this is because Air New Zealand has added an extra row to make their 777s 10 abreast (3-4-3) (compared to the industry standard of 9 abreast 3-3-3). No wonder they have enough yield to offer the skycouch. Because we had booked 2 rows of the skycouch, we had 6 seats to ourselves, so it was fine. But I really pity those in the centre of the cabin who had to endure such awful and narrow seats for the whole flight. The aisles are also impossible narrow.




Look at how narrow this is…the guy in front just has to slightly lean over across the aisle and he is virtually already touching the other side.

This had flow on effects; the boarding process was painfully slow and the poor flight crew had to struggle through each meal service, saying ‘excuse me’ dozens of times because passengers’ shoulders etc were being knocked by the trolley cart.

Now to the pluses.
I LOVE Air New Zealand’s new IFE system. The touch screen system is so easy to use, intuitive, responsive and very user friendly. I also love that you can order from your seat, with menus etc available.





Supper was served TWO HOURS after take off (sorry, no pics, but the choice was between lamb and fish I think. I chose the fish. Both smelt yummy. The food protions are not huge on ANZ, but the quality is definitely there. Very nice meals. The kids meals were amazing. Plus there +++. It took ages and forever to clear the trays, probably because of the tight cabin space. ANZ will need to work on this.

After supper, the skycouch was deployed. We were given plenty of help….it can be a bit tricky, especially with the seatbelt configurations, etc, but overall, I found it reasonably easy to work out. The couch is a couch…NOT a bed, as your legs will stretch fully across the aisle to touch the opposite seat if extended fully. BUT, for an adult with a young child, it was perfect, as we found. Because my son was tired, I put him to bed first whilst I watched a few more movies until I was ready to sleep later. All in all, I got around 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. My wife, the same. For us, travelling with young kids, this product is a winner.







I think ANZ should be applauded for this new product. It is truly innovative and such a pity, because if only they remove 1 row of seats to restore the 777 back to 9 abreast seating, they would have the best economy class in the sky. As it stands, even thought their soft product is good, if I weren’t booked to have a skycouch, there is no way I would settle for an economy class ticket on the new 777-300ER for a long haul flight.

The rest of the flight was fairly unremarkable. We arrived slightly behind schedule because of the delay into LAX.


Our bird ONO.


I don’t really have time to post a full report for the return leg, so I’ll just include some pictures from the flight:











Oh, and one more thing before I go…I can’t stand the ANZ inflight safety videos…featuring Snoop Dogg. I mean…I know they are trying to be different and innovative, but it’s really not THAT funny and having watched it 4 times, I can tell you….people get sick of it real quick. Hardly anyone was laughing at any of the stupid and childish jokes. It’s just all a bit too try-hard. A bit like how people get sick of the Virgin-esque smart arse attitude that pervades the company’s image.


So, in summary:

Good points:
Excellent, warm and friendly crew. (still nowhere near as efficient as SQ, but pretty good overall and more consistent than Qantas)
Excellent IFE and new touch screen systems
Excellent Meals/food (small portions), but good quality food.

Bad Points:
Ridiculously cramped economy class seats and aisles on the 777-300ER. This is NOT a spacious product by any means
Ground staff inconsistent and boarding procedures consistently chaotic, poor communication re delays, etc
Rude check in at MEL, but externally contracted.


Thanks for reading everyone and sorry for the rushed report….just not enough time.

Cheers,

Qantasclub.

Great trip report.

MEL is definately crowded at certain times of the day. Landside is in an urgent need of expansion again soon.

The fact that the 77W is 10 abreast is a big no no for me travelling with them now. Its just too cramped. The product in the past seemed better IMHO, with a more spacious cabin. I like the new seats though.

Hey fantastic report! I've been waiting for a trip report on NZ's new 77W. Great pics as well 

Quoting Qantasclub (Thread starter): We had loads to check in (as anyone who has traveled with young children would know…the amount of infrastructure is really quite mind-boggling). 3 suitcases (for extra shopping), 2 car seats and 2 strollers (7 pieces of luggage

I'll bet they saw you comming   

Quoting Qantasclub (Thread starter): The check-in agent was not particularly friendly and at one point, I actually caught her rolling her eyes at her colleague…maybe at the amount of luggage we had? When I asked her if we had skycouch seats allocated (just checking), she said “ I think so….yeah…whatever THAT is…” I know NZ uses Qantas for their ground handling at MEL, but even if it was for a competing carrier, she was most unprofessional. Oh well, moving on.

That is rude and unprofesional, I'm sure if NZ heard about this they wouldn't be happy with their customers being treated in this way.

Quoting Qantasclub (Thread starter): I don’t mean 40s or 50s, but well into their 60s and looking more like 70! This observation was also valid for all the other ANZ flights for the rest of the trip. Mind you, age did not affect their performance at all, but ANZ obviously retain their crew well past retirement age…at least, more so than most other carriers I have flown. Good on them, if they are still up to the job.

I completely agree with you. As long as they are doing there job professionally and well (unlike the QF check-in agent), then why get rid of them?

Quoting Qantasclub (Thread starter): Sitting in the economy seat…you immediately notice how cramped it is…..this is because Air New Zealand has added an extra row to make their 777s 10 abreast (3-4-3) (compared to the industry standard of 9 abreast 3-3-3).

This is a shame, and seems to spoil what could otherwise be a very good economy product. Unfortunately this is the way that most of the industry appears to be heading.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. One question though; did it cost more to book the sky couch? I mean was it in a separate section like a premium economy sort of thing, or was it mixed in with the rest of the economy cabin? (from the photos it looks that way.)

Hey!

Great report, seems like a great alternate if you have young children so you can all spread out a little more. I am really shocked though with what NZ have done to their catering! Just take a look at these pictures from a report 2 years ago;

Quality & Style: HKG-LHR On Air New Zealand 744



This is a huge decline and looks very cheap now compared to what was seemingly a classy product beforehand. I have read somewhere though that NZ have adapted the meal service specifically for this aircraft along with new slimmer carts for delivery.

Thanks
ThomasCook

Great trip report


I have been looking forward to reading a good trip report about the ANZ 77W as I am going on ANZ1 & 2 on LHR-LAX sector in May with a skycouch and my wife and two children. Just one question was the selction of films better then ANZ have listed on the film guide on their website?


Thanks for sharing


Pjack

PS I will do my own trip report oncw my trip is over.

Congrats for creating the first Skycouch report! You never know, In 10 years time it could be standard on all airlines. I'm glad that you generally enjoyed your flights but you do make some good negative points. The 77W Y cabin is well, pretty bad and I'm not looking forward to when they'll add these to the 77E because that's what I usually fly on. Hopefully the NZ management can address these issues

Also as ThomasCook pointed out, the food doesn't looks terrible compared to what NZ usually provide. Hopefully this is an exception rather than the rule.

Thanks for writing this report up  

Regards,
aflyingkiwi

Thanks for the comments,

Quoting IndianicWorld (Reply 1): One question though; did it cost more to book the sky couch? I mean was it in a separate section like a premium economy sort of thing, or was it mixed in with the rest of the economy cabin? (from the photos it looks that way.)

I think it depends how many people are travelling. For example, we paid for a half of one full ticket to get our skycouch per 2 passengers. ie: between the 4 of us 92 adults and 2 children), we paid for a fare for roughly 5 passengers. If you were travelling by yourself (just the 1 passenger) and wanted a skycouch, you would pay more than double the fare. The ANZ website calculates it all for you and lets you know how much extra you are paying for the skycouch.

Quoting ThomasCook (Reply 3): This is a huge decline and looks very cheap now compared to what was seemingly a classy product beforehand. I have read somewhere though that NZ have adapted the meal service specifically for this aircraft along with new slimmer carts for delivery.

The carts did seem a bit slimmer than usual, but this did not make things any easier..the crew obviously moved alot slower up and down the aisle. The food pics in my report looked worse than they were due to the mood lighting.....it didn't seem to taste that bad, to be honest.

Quoting pjack (Reply 4): Just one question was the selction of films better then ANZ have listed on the film guide on their website?

The list seemed to be a little longer than what was listed on the website.

Quoting aflyingkiwi (Reply 5): The 77W Y cabin is well, pretty bad and I'm not looking forward to when they'll add these to the 77E because that's what I usually fly on. Hopefully the NZ management can address these issues

Honestly, the only way they can rectify the situation is to reconfigure to 3-3-3, but this may affect the financial viability of the skycouch.

Quoting Qantasclub (Reply 6): The food pics in my report looked worse than they were due to the mood lighting.....it didn't seem to taste that bad, to be honest.

What I am more disappointed to see is the use of tin plates rather than the nicer china ones

Quoting Qantasclub (Reply 6): I think it depends how many people are travelling. For example, we paid for a half of one full ticket to get our skycouch per 2 passengers. ie: between the 4 of us 92 adults and 2 children), we paid for a fare for roughly 5 passengers. If you were travelling by yourself (just the 1 passenger) and wanted a skycouch, you would pay more than double the fare. The ANZ website calculates it all for you and lets you know how much extra you are paying for the skycouch.

Thats strange.. you quoted me but I didn''t even write it. What happened there? All good  

The Skycouch sounds like a great idea, just not sure how viable an option it is for most. SEems a very niche product TBH.

Really enjoyed your report and pics. Thanks very much for posting this. Seems like the seating config might be something that steer people away from NZ. I have regularly flown with NZ ex LHR in Y and have always been very impressed with the amount of personal space, food and general service levels. Shame the 773s have been configured in this way.

Quote: I can’t stand the ANZ inflight safety videos…featuring Snoop Dogg. I mean…I know they are trying to be different and innovative, but it’s really not THAT funny and having watched it 4 times, I can tell you….people get sick of it real quick. Hardly anyone was laughing at any of the stupid and childish jokes. It’s just all a bit too try-hard.

I had to laugh at the irony in your observation above. You need look no further than in your own backyard for an example of a try hard cringe-worthy safety demonstration. Having recently flown with QF on 4 domestic sectors in Australia, I was mortified at the latest QF incarnation of the safety video featuring John Travolta and his "team" of flight attendants. LOL

Thanks again! Cheers P/jet

777s 10 abreast automatic NO fly in Y So this includes EK and NZ

Hi

Nice trip report, Good thing you got the skycouch! I have yet been in a 3-4-3 777, only passed trough it and am not hurried to try this configuration out!

Greetings
Marc

I just flew NZ from LHR-LAX. We were sitted in the Skycouch. We didn't set up the bed. The food was really bad for even Economy. We flew LH over to Europe, and their service is better then NZ. I thought the NZ seats and IE system was good though.

Quoting ThomasCook (Reply 3): I am really shocked though with what NZ have done to their catering!

Food looks BAD!..... Thought just as bad as most other airlines in Y

Its a pity that Air NZ's economy product has gone down hill so much. They used to have one of the most spacious economy class cabins in the sky, and their onboard catering as others mentioned used to be one of the best. One of my first transpacific flights was on Air NZ on a near brand new 747-400 in economy! The seats had 34 inch pitch were quite wide, and the food was served in ceramic dishes. That aluminium tray is just a monstrosity. The skycouch will only appeal to parents with children or some people who would buy two economy tickets just to use the bed. (it looks too short to really use as a bed though!).

Nice trip report - thank you for sharing it with us. I've been curious how the skycouch actually is in real life. The advertisements of course look good, so I appreciated hearing your thoughts. If you are traveling with children, I imagine it would be quite the lifesaver!

Quoting Qantasclub (Thread starter): gate 10 where our brand new 777-300 ER was waiting for us. The boarding process was terrible. Firstly, the gate holding area at gate 10 meant had only 50% or less of the required seating for a full flight, so passengers had to spill over onto gate 9 and STILL this resulted in many people just standing around waiting to board. Boarding was delayed by around 45 mins….not a single announcement as to why/when and the chaos was staring to build. The toilets at the this far end of the terminal, were in a filthy state (not in keeping with the rest of the airport). I noticed the same on a LAN flight via AKL last year. When boarding eventually began, it was completely haphazard. No boarding by rows, confusion as to whether families with children first or whenever and people were getting frustrated. On board, still NO MENTION of why there was a delay or even acknowledgement or there being one. Maybe it’s because of the laid back nature of NZ? Dunno. It helps to be informed, in my opinion.

My recent trip to the USA in September was delayed for 2 hours. In the Koru Lounge announcements were being made and once at the gate lounge, more announcements were being made advising why (B744 went u/s and we were waiting for an inbound B744 from NAN to take us to SFO).

Those economy meals have certainly gone downhill and now they simply look cheap and nasty especially with those tins.

Nice TR.
NZ is normally very on to it when it comes to announcements so not sure what happened on your flight.
I to don't like the look of 3-4-3 in Y on a 777. Skycouch looks good though.

Quoting pjack (Reply 4): I have been looking forward to reading a good trip report about the ANZ 77W as I am going on ANZ1 & 2 on LHR-LAX sector in May with a skycouch and my wife and two children. Just one question was the selction of films better then ANZ have listed on the film guide on their website?

I counted 54 movies on the website... That does seem a little on the low side... I thought they had said in the past they had in the region of 100-200 movies... maybe they don't list movies that are repeated from previous months...

Quoting Qantasclub (Reply 6): we paid for a fare for roughly 5 passengers

Essentially you got 6 seats for the price of 5? Wow, I wonder how that affect NZ's yields, or are skycouch bookings only available for higher-ranked booking classes?

Quoting 777MAS (Reply 18): Essentially you got 6 seats for the price of 5? Wow, I wonder how that affect NZ's yields, or are skycouch bookings only available for higher-ranked booking classes?

The airline only has to provide fuel to carry four passengers, and catering for four passengers, etc.

They set it at this level because they believe it is profitable.

This past October I flew Business Premiere LHR-AUK. Great flight and service. This report treads me away from economy on NZ.

Great Report!

Really excellent report, thank you! I also was particularly interested in the cramped economy seating - and especially the narrow aisles. I have not seen the like before! I would have thought it was also a safety problem - I can't imagine trying to get through those aisles to an exit in an emergency. Truly cattle class.

Quoting koruman (Reply 19): The airline only has to provide fuel to carry four passengers, and catering for four passengers, etc.

I always wondered about the affect on profit... but what about the empty seats? ANZ has to provide fuel to carry around the weight of the seat.. and the space it takes up.