My first bit of good luck with the flight came whilst waiting in the departure lounge killing some time at the gate waiting for my flight to board. There I am, minding my own business when all of a sudden I hear “Could Karl Jackson please come to the front desk of gate 31. That’s passenger Karl Jackson please come to the front desk”. Now at this point it’s fair to say I am bricking it a little bit! All sorts of things are going through my head – has something gone wrong with my baggage, has there been a mix up, has something happened to my family on their drive home. Fortunately none of these were the case instead they asked me could I give up my sh*tty aisle seat near the back of the plan for a window seat near the front of economy class (so close to the galley = first to get food) with no-one sitting next to me in order that a family could sit together. Obviously my answer was a resounding “YES!” so I am now sat sprawled out over two seats with acres of legroom watching a movie and writing what is hopefully to be the first of many blog entries of my time in New Zealand.
Once seated in my cushty (or as close as you can get to cushty in economy anyway) seat I was treated to the in flight safety movie. Now in my experience these are usually dull affairs droning out a monotonous safety message we have all heard many times before, however Air New Zealand take a slightly different approach to the safety message, with figures such as Graham Henry and Richie McCaw featuring prominently in the video. I have to say I think it’s the first safety video I have watched since flying to Australia with my family in 1998 and I actually enjoyed it!
The safety video also introduced me to the entertainment system on board. Now this is something I was definitely impressed with what with being a bit of a geek and all! Fancy seeing where the plane is on the route and how long you have left? No problem, with 6 different flight maps available including one which you could pan and zoom on. Fancy watching a movie? Well they had a pretty decent selection but the best part of this was that you could create a playlist of movies you want to watch throughout the flight, meaning you only have to look through once rather than trying to remember what Is on offer every time. Tv? Music? Radio? Youtube? All delivered with the minimum of fuss over an excellent user interface. However my favourite part of the in flight system was to emerge after dinner:
We are all used to the standard call button to attract the attention of a flight attendant however Air New Zealand take a slightly different approach. Using the in flight system you can order snacks, wine, beer, champagne, soft drink and a selection of other goodies right from your chair and have it delivered to you without having to speak to anyone! In my opinion this is a much better way of getting in flight service and it amazes me that no other airline I have flown on recently has implemented anything like this. That being said however I have only flown BA long haul lately so my experience is somewhat limited.
At the minute it is only 5 hours into my flight to LA so I have a lot more flight to come before I reach my final destination of Whakatane, New Zealand (for four days on the beach!) and hopefully Air New Zealand will continue to impress! I’m thinking that the ordering of drinks could come in handy as I cross the international date line and want to celebrate New Years!
On an side note I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful Mother very much for my noise cancelling headphone Christmas present which are working like a dream on the plane!
UPDATE: I am currently posting this from the Air New Zealand lounge at LA International. This section of the airport resembles something of a holding pen and is less than impressive at 4am in the morning, especially when coupled with a screaming baby. It also turns out that customs officials don't really appreciate it when you queue up to the customs desk and haven't realised you need to complete an I-94 if entering the states on a visa. Whoops!
