Would have been nice to have decaf coffee as an option, and perhaps a scone
The air New Zealand employees who assisted us with wheelchair aid on Auckland made our transfer from flight to the next seamless. Also were amazing in helping with our luggage and customs in Brisbane.
New Zealand crew were attentive. We were not informed that we needed transit document to pass through New Zealand. A checkin employee helped with this for which we were thankful.
The boarding process was less than ideal. While I liked being greeted with “Kia Ora”, the rest of the process was very average for business-class travel — queue, crowding, no clear separation between economy and business premier. The aircraft felt old, even though I believe it was only 6 years’ old. Travelling in Business Premier in Air New Zealand is like sitting in a glass bowl. One can see everyone, and everyone can see others. Very bad structuring of seats. If you have a choice, fly another airlines like Singapore Airlines for business — I had the option, but chose this flight due to it’s departure time. Regrettable decision. I had opted for Vegan food choice. Very poor food as well as service. It is as if the chefs preparing the meal have little idea what nutritious, healthy and filling plant-based food is. And the crew were totally uncoordinated. In the main dinner meal, the first thing I was served was a fruit bowl, and then followed by other items. No mention was made that the fruit bowl (served first) was the dessert! And then after my meal tray was cleared another steward (not the one who served the main meal) comes around asks me that now that I had had the would like the dessert. I said yes, please. He went off and comes back to tell me discreetly that I’ve already had my dessert! He also didn’t know what the dessert was — and I guess it was the fruit platter that was the first item I was served. I was traveling with partner, who had similar experience. For her, they just cleared her table without offering dessert. Extremely poor coordination. The area behind the seats was extremely dirty. I just happened to use the overhead light to try and locate something that had fallen, only to be horrified at the dust, crumbs and all kinds of other particles. The only good thing about the flight was that when it ended, our bags came very very quickly. But that I guess is more to do with airport operations for Air New Zealands at Auckland Airport rather than the flight itself. I would think very hard next time I have to fly Business Premier in New Zealand, especially on Boeing 787-9NZM, which this plane was. Basically if you are selecting seats and find that they are at a diagonal angle, do not book this if you are looking for luxurious travel. Better off with premium economy or a good economy seat. The quality of food and service indeed was way below par.
Gate agent was fantastic in Auckland. They wanted to charge me for my two bags even though I was gold member with United in Tonga. So I had to pay for an upgrade. The meals on both flights had no vegetarian option. The only one item the salad was not tasty at all. Good thing I had brought my own snacks. The bread was white roll which is so not healthy. I think New Zealand air can definitely improve their food offering.
The entire process was excellent! The economy sits are a bit snug so I'll have to be sure to purchase premier or business class next time but, other than that, food, service, attendants were exceptional. Gate agents and ticket agents too!
Short flight so no entertainment, turbulence so no food service - overall flight as expected
Great meal. Best seats ever! They need to teach other airlines how to do that.
Overall excellent but the Captain kept the seat belt sign on for far too long, especially at the beginning and end of the flight. It was 2 hours after take-off before the crew were able to start the service (on an 11 hour night flight, reducing our sleeping time) and the seat belt sign on went on during breakfast (90 mins before landing) and was not turned off again until we landed. This made for an uncomfortable journey of trying to limit fluid intake because it was unclear when the toilets would be available for use.
Food was not good. We asked for Muslim food and it was weird tasteless type of boiled veges.
Food was hood for airline food with good poftion and variety in meals. Frequency of beverage service was very low and amount of soda with meals was inadequate.
bad… no veg food was provided eventhough i pre ordered special meal
Cathay has a great reputation, though it's baseline economy seating is nothing to write home about (and SE Asia flight passengers sometime lack 'routine stateside' etiquette). On the other hand, food was great, flight attendants were nice, and price was very good~
Not enough food for everyone. . Always run out of food when we ask
The crews were smiling all the time with soft tunes when they spoke; the food was excellent. Thank you!
Cathay flight was fine, Amsterdam airport was a nightmare, spent way too much time walking to our next connection, no travelators.
They charged me $900 to board my flight I already paid for just because I missed my previous flight. I do not recommend this airline by any means.
Not good. Small seats. Not enough food that customers wanted. No special requests were given that i could see. Slow response from flight attendants
For a transpacific flight, flying economy is awful! The seats are cramped and its meant for petite folks! Good luck if you have long legs. BOARDING - AWFUL, we got to Hong Kong - the gate was listed, but upon arrival, there was a MESS of boarding procedures, they basically DIY'ed how to board but making three lines and putting three ground crew to check for passports in the terminal area. THEN to make it worse, after going through that cattle process, all of a sudden you see people standing and looking confused, apparently we were told to get in line to board, but the AV notification wasnt even working. So people started cramming in line - worse than cattle. One saving point, the flight crew forgot to serve me dinner and after waiting for it, I fell asleep since this was a midnight flight. After letting a crew know that I was forgotten, all of my meals were served first !!! Yay for being in the economy seats! Nothing much to write home about once more!
From BOS to HK, the crew had pushed me to choose the pasta for meal multiple times. It was a bad experience. Without this, everything was good.
Delay in off-boarding due to customs at SFO... pilot announcement should have come earlier so passengers don't clog aisles.
Better good than most, if not all European airlines. If you’re stuck in an economy seat anyways, China Eastern is a good choice because of shorter flight time, being able to overfly Russia
The temperature of the plane cabin is too hot. Sweat and uncomfortable. Also my food tray was broken down drinks fall off
Reasonable. What they offer during the flight is not great, but the crew is polite and try to compensate it.
Price is the main attraction. Staff is OK but difficult to communicate with them due to general lack of English. Food is truly abysmal, the main courses (4) were barely edible. The choices for breakfast served at 5:30 am prior to landing at Gatwick airport were Spaghetti Bolognese or seafood fried rice. Choices offered for all 4 mains were either something rice or noodles. Shanghai airport layover is much too long in a very poorly serviced airport. We were unable to use WiFi; private lounges required cash only payment with no ATM or cash exchange open.
I was surprised and appreciate that they actually served a hot meal on such a short, early morning flight. The check in and boarding was hassle free and most of all my Alliance Status / Code Share was recognized and the revelant courtesy was extended; other than some needed attention to detail concerning the cleanliness of the cabin, and some unnecessary aggressive wording their safety briefing, it was an overall pleasant flight, and I would certainly fly with them again.
Flight was delayed for more than 3 hours, food was mediocre, seat didn’t recline
Lost Baggage - very frustrated…learned that bag was never put on plane.
I think it’s time that somebody set a standard for the temperature in the cabins. I would rather it be colder than anybody that wants to have a blanket have a blanket to keep it so warm at times is unbearable and quite uncomfortable. That’s the only thing I would add.
For the price we paid, I couldn’t complain. Was good value for money. Service was excellent but food was mediocre. Crew were excellent and spoke English. You will never go hungry. The food was ample but was mediocre. Entertainment limited and wifi doesn’t all allow you to access some social media. The best part was comfortable seats and bed (business class) with a screen to close out the rest of the cabin.
