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Thread: Flights from UK to New Zealand any preferences?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    United Kingdom
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    Default Flights from UK to New Zealand any preferences?

    Hi

    I have never been on a long haul flight before so hoping to pick a good airline/route!

    Does anyone have any recommendations? Has anyone tried the Air NZ sky couch and is it worth the extra money? I am petrified of flying so this looked more comfortable but is expensive!

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Auckland
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    3,697

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    Emirates, Singapore Airlines & Air NZ would be my choice. Cathay Pacific provide value for money service if you look at inexpensive side.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    Christchurch
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    We flew Air NZ on the skycouch. We had one skycouch and a seat other side of aisle too, as were 2 adults and two young children, plus I was 27 weeks pregnant!! Great for kids to spread out on and we could just about lie down too. Only prob we found is that other people had been allocated skycouch seats that had no intention of using them for that - or didn't know they did that! So a couple of people tried reclining their seats onto us, which nearly squashed my 20 month old! Luckily they apologised, but I would watch out for that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Essex, UK
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    2,235

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    Quote Originally Posted by JennyV View Post
    Only prob we found is that other people had been allocated skycouch seats that had no intention of using them for that - or didn't know they did that! So a couple of people tried reclining their seats onto us, which nearly squashed my 20 month old! Luckily they apologised, but I would watch out for that.
    Sorry to hijack this. But I never know what the etiquette around reclining seats (normal seats in economy) is. Anyone know?

    I think it is polite to put the seat back up when meals are served, but normally, would you put your seat back up if the person behind you complains? I ended up once in the rather unfortunate position of having someone behind me who constantly complained about me having the seat down, then kicked it repeatedly and talked to the cabin crew (this was an adult!). As a compromise, I put it up a little bit, but because the person in front of me was fully reclined, I had about 2cm of space...

    So, thoughts? Am I allowed to put my seat back (other than at mealtimes)? I'm flying again next week, but hopefully won't have that issue again.

    Daniela

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Auckland
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    Quote Originally Posted by dharder View Post
    Sorry to hijack this. But I never know what the etiquette around reclining seats (normal seats in economy) is. Anyone know?

    I think it is polite to put the seat back up when meals are served, but normally, would you put your seat back up if the person behind you complains? I ended up once in the rather unfortunate position of having someone behind me who constantly complained about me having the seat down, then kicked it repeatedly and talked to the cabin crew (this was an adult!). As a compromise, I put it up a little bit, but because the person in front of me was fully reclined, I had about 2cm of space...

    So, thoughts? Am I allowed to put my seat back (other than at mealtimes)? I'm flying again next week, but hopefully won't have that issue again.

    Daniela
    I understand the same way, aren't we allowed to recline except during take off, landing & when food is served!!

    I have come across fellow passengers that don't even make space to walk out (when I'm lucky with window seat) and I just ended up giving free lap dance couple of times

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Auckland, NZ
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    119

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    We've flown Air NZ the last few times (the last of which was with our 6month old DD) and found them pretty good, though were also happy with Cathay Pacific some years back. The LA transit can be a bit of a pain though if flying straight through, although my mom actually liked it when visiting as meant she didn't need to worry about finding her gate. They only started the SkyCouch after our last flights, but my sister thought it was good and worth the extra money when traveling with her OH and 2.5 year old son, so we might consider it next time too depending on the cost.

    As for seat back etiquette, I always find it quite strange when people get upset about other passangers reclining their seat back (obviously excluding meal times until the trays have been cleared) and start kicking them and complaining. I know the leg room is limited (both OH and myself are quite tall), but it's the same for everyone and you just have to put up with it if you can't afford to upgrade to business class. What generally annoys me is people yanking your seat back, when getting up, and we once had to put up with it pretty much at least every hour (combined with the guy's extremely smelly socks) all the way from London to Auckland.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    UK to Christchurch
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    497

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    Have flown with a few airlines over the years, though we settled with Singapore Airlines as our choice , until last year when Air NZ were the cheapest and now would chose them as a preference (now have airpoints and silver status for our next flight so added incentive to use them next time )

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Free lap dance - !

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    UK -> Blenheim, NZ Aug 12
    Posts
    184

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    We have used Cathay Pacific (which was fine for a return journey) in 2009.

    Of course- if you are emigrating there then Singapore would be best due to the 40kg baggage allowance (I did try with a large number of other airlines and they will not match that).

    Personally- I went for cheap on our investigation flight. Our children were 1, 6 and 8 and, although it was difficult sleeping, we recovered after a day. I would invest in some noise cancelling headphones- for me getting rid of the drone of the aircraft is more important than lieing down. Even when watching films- it was far better with noise cancellation. You don't need to spend a huge amount: JVC do a good pair for about £80.

    Ta,

    Eliot

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Wellington, New Zealand
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    We went out with Korean in 2010 and they were very good. OH has also used Malaysian as have other friends and have nothing but good things to say.
    Similarly I heard good reports about Emirates and they also (I think) do extra luggage allowance for immigrating.

    It may just be my Yorkshire stingyness coming through but I would suggest you have a look at the prices for the dates you're thinking of and then seeing from the cheapest airlines what people think. The price varies and doesn't appear to bear much relation to quality, at least not in the Asian airlines. We went Korean because they were the cheapest at the time, they are now more expensive and last time I looked Malaysian were cheapest (they had been much much more expensive last time).

    The only company I have always been told to avoid is Guruda.

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