Flight Check
Kristin Macfarlane flies from LA to Auckland on Air New Zealand NZ1
The plane: Boeing 777
Airport experience: This was probably my best experience at LAX. I had come off a flight from Denver, Colorado, before catching my flight home to New Zealand. This meant either jumping on an airport bus to my terminal and going through security again, or walking 20 minutes and avoiding the security process. I had about three hours before departure so I chose the latter.
LAX has plenty of duty-free shops, from high-end stores like Gucci to those where you can buy your last-minute kitschy souvenirs and everything in between. With plenty of bars and restaurants as well, and of course the airport Wi-Fi, spending three hours there was pretty easy.
On time: Boarding was on time but departure was delayed due to some paperwork that wasn’t matching up. I stopped looking at the time and got started on some movie watching. We landed no more than 30 minutes later than scheduled, but since it was an overnight flight, it didn’t bother me one bit.
Class: Economy.
The seat: 52C, the aisle seat of a row of three on the left-hand side of the plane. I prefer an aisle seat on a long-haul so I can give my legs a stretch.
Price: Return Economy Class flights at this time of year can cost about $1500.
Flight time: A little more than 13 hours.
Fellow passengers: A mix. Some people on business, a high number of tourists returning from America, visiting New Zealand and some, including a delegation of elders and Australian athletes, catching connecting flights.
How full: I couldn’t see any spare seats in Economy. Food and drink: Even though the flight departed about 10pm, they still served two meals. Options were good. I had the beef stew, rice and green beans, served with a bun, a couscous salad, a portion of Monterey Jack cheese, crackers and a dessert. For breakfast, passengers could choose from a continental or hot option. I had the cheesy omelette, which was served with yoghurt and fruit.
Entertainment: There was a good assortment of movies, television shows and music available. The podcast options were average.
Service: Apart from the one hostess, who constantly banged into me while she was pacing through the aisles, service was great.
Toilets: Clean and functional.
Luggage: Checked bag up to 23kg, and 7kg carry-on. Final word: Great communication from the pilot and crew, good service and I’d have no problem taking this flight again.