You’ve gotta give Air New Zealand credit for their incredible buzz-worthy safety videos. They just posted their new safety video on YouTube yesterday, and it already has almost a million hits.

You can find the new nature themed safety video, starring Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild, here:

Their safety video prior to that was hobbit themed:

And prior to that it starred Ed O’Neill and Melanie Lynskey:

And prior to that it starred Richard Simmons (though I suggest not watching this one unless you’re looking to torture yourself):

Kudos to Air New Zealand for their creativity!

This year has been radical on the airline alliance front. Many international airlines are losing heaps of money on their longhaul routes, which were primarily where they made all their money previously. The fact is with increasing competition in key markets, a weak economy, and oil prices still where they are, it’s tough to make money on longhaul flights.

Over the past few months we’ve seen Qantas dump their OneWorld partner British Airways in favor of an Emirates joint venture. We’ve seen Qatar Airways announce they would join the OneWorld alliance, despite the shake up this will cause with OneWorld airlines American and Air Berlin, both of which have partnerships with Etihad Airways. And most recently we’ve seen Richard Branson announce that Virgin Atlantic is seriously considering joining an alliance, as it’s what they need to remain competitive. This is surprising since historically Virgin Atlantic is probably the airline most opposed to the big three alliances.

Today Air New Zealand announced that they would be cutting their service between Hong Kong and London as of March 4, 2013, which is part of their round the world flight from Auckland to Los Angeles to London to Hong Kong to Auckland. Air New Zealand’s CEO claims the route couldn’t become profitable in the foreseeable future, and instead they’ll be shifting the capacity to their San Francisco and Los Angeles routes (so this is actually potentially good news for North American flyers).

Air New Zealand Business Premier

But the more surprising/interesting part of this announcement involves a new strategic partnership between Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong.

“At the same time, we wanted to strengthen our presence in Hong Kong which is an important market and vital gateway into Mainland China for Air New Zealand.  In line with this we have received approval from the New Zealand Ministry of Transport to form a strategic agreement with Cathay Pacific effective from 12 December 2012.”

“The agreement will see both carriers continue to operate the same frequency between Auckland and Hong Kong while introducing code share on each other’s flights as well as opening up excellent connections between New Zealand and Mainland China,” says Mr Fyfe.

The implications here are huge. The fact is that airlines couldn’t care less about traditional alliances anymore, and are forming partnerships wherever it’s practical. Air New Zealand belongs to the Star Alliance while Cathay Pacific belongs to OneWorld, which on the surface makes them rivals.

But they realized that both airlines can benefit by partnering — Cathay Pacific will pick up some traffic for their regional flights within Asia, while Air New Zealand will likely get more bookings out of their ability to serve customers beyond Hong Kong. So while on one hand this is good for customers, it also creates confusion. Members can earn points for flights on the airlines through both programs, though only on the routes that are part of this agreement. There’s no doubt this will lead to confusion, as an Air New Zealand frequent flyer member will earn points on a Hong Kong to Auckland flight on Cathay Pacific and then also expect them on a Hong Kong to Frankfurt flight, when in fact there’s no partnership in place for the route.

So is this the end of “the big three” alliances? Probably not. I suspect to some degree this is all cyclical, much like the economy. A little over a decade ago there weren’t any major alliances, and major airlines simply had major partners. United/Lufthansa and Delta/Air France may as well have been one airline — they were more or less married, until they decided they didn’t want a monogamous relationship, and that there may be more exciting options out there. Then we saw these great three alliances emerge, creating a (theoretically) seamless experience for customers. They were on their polygamous honeymoon, until they realized they could do better short term in some areas. And that’s where we are now.

In a way the trend in the industry is very much following what Alaska Airlines does. They don’t belong to an alliance but partner with airlines across alliances. I (endearingly) call them the “slut of the skies,” and it seems to work for them. More power to ‘em. And I think that’s what we’re seeing with other airlines.

Alaska Airlines partners

The problem will be that at a certain point the strategy backfires. When it’s just one big puzzle and all airlines are partnering with each other, everyone is back where they started, and I’m sure they’ll be excited about the alliances again.

Anyway, just my two cents. What do you guys think?

(Tip of the hat to Mike)

While sales on revenue fares are pretty normal, sales on award tickets are a bit more unusual. They’re not unheard of, though they typically only apply for travel on the airline with which you have your miles. For example, in the off season it’s not unusual to see a promotion offering discounted award tickets for select flights with low loads. After all, the marginal cost of carrying a passenger when the seat would otherwise go out empty is very low, and ultimately the airlines would like the liability of mileage off their books.

Then there’s ANA, which is offering 30% off award tickets on Air New Zealand for a select time period, a promotion that totally blows my mind.

The promotion is valid for tickets booked between September 10 and December 7, 2012, for actual travel between November 1 and December 11, 2012.

The irony is that Air New Zealand has to be one of the stingiest airlines when it comes to releasing award space. But more than that I really wonder what would cause a promotion like this. Airlines have to pay each other for award tickets booked on partner airlines, so it makes you wonder whether this promotion was prompted by ANA or Air New Zealand. What incentive would ANA have to take in fewer miles for Air New Zealand award tickets while they’re still paying Air New Zealand the same? Or what incentive would Air New Zealand have to offer ANA members a discount to redeem on them, especially given that November and December aren’t exactly the low season in Australia/New Zealand?

While I don’t think there are many practical uses of this given how stingy Air New Zealand is with award space, I just find it interesting.

The execution of the promotion is also pretty funny. When you find the award space you want they don’t show the discounted price unless you tick the circle saying you want to take part in the campaign.

So, airline alliance experts, who has an explanation for these airline shenanigans?

(Tip of the hat to Del)

There are a few noteworthy route additions/cancellations/adjustments which I figured I’d briefly mention:

Air New Zealand announces new service to Bali

Air New Zealand has announced that they’ll begin twice weekly service between Auckland and Bali as of June 20. Bali is one of my favorite places in the world, so I’m really excited to see another Star Alliance option to Bali. The flight hasn’t been loaded into the GDS yet, so I have no clue how award availability is looking. This is pretty significant, though, since you’ll now be able to travel on an award ticket from the US to Bali with a stopover in New Zealand, another one of my favorite places.

The only downside is that the 8.5 hour flight from Auckland to Bali is operated by a 767-300 aircraft, which features their regional business class product. Still, if it allows me to travel from the US to Bali via New Zealand, I’m totally in!

American cuts New York to Tokyo Narita, adds service to Tokyo Haneda

American, American, American. What the heck are you thinking? First you cut your Chicago to Delhi route, and now you replace your New York to Tokyo Narita flight with a new New York to Tokyo Haneda flight as of this summer. Yes, this is the same flight they cut last year because it wasn’t doing well. Haven’t we learned our lesson that transpacific flights into Haneda are nothing more than hype? Yes, the airport is a bit closer to the city, though the awful arrival and departure times mean transportation into and out of the city can be a nightmare, and we all know how expensive Tokyo is. Beyond that, connections are virtually non-existent with the flight times. I give it a few months at most before they cut it again. What are they thinking? Oh well, it’ll probably at least be worth a double miles promotion for the route.

Thai cuts nonstop service to the US

As of May 1, Thai will cut their nonstop Los Angeles to Bangkok flight and instead replace it with a flight that stops in Seoul/Incheon in both directions. The flight will be operated by a 777-200 in place of the A340-500 currently operating the route. This is awful for just about all passengers. For one, the 777 doesn’t have a premium economy product, while the A340-500 did. Furthermore, economy on the A340-500 had an unheard of 36″ of pitch, while it’s not quite as generous as the 777. What I can’t for the life of me understand is that Thai doesn’t at least operate the service with an aircraft featuring a first class product. I mean, surely a flight to the US would get more paid premium traffic than their routes to Rome, Madrid, etc., right?

Trip Report Index

About 90 minutes before my Air New Zealand departure to Los Angeles I made it to the Star Alliance lounge, where I was directed to the Air New Zealand representative. She took my passport and boarding pass and said she’d bring it to me in the lounge later, as she needed to reprint it on Air New Zealand cardstock.

Star Alliance lounge Heathrow

While the lounge was crowded the wifi was fast, which makes it more useful to me than British Midland’s otherwise nicer lounge.

The lounge itself is fairly bland with seating designed to maximize capacity as opposed to comfort.

Star Alliance lounge Heathrow seating

Star Alliance lounge Heathrow seating

Star Alliance lounge Heathrow seating

Star Alliance lounge Heathrow seating

The snack selection was pretty good with several hot options.

Snack selection

Snack selection

Pre-flight snack

Within about 10 minutes of being in the lounge the Air New Zealand representative presented me with my boarding pass and advised me to be at the gate 30 minutes before departure.

About 45 minutes before departure I headed to my gate, which was about a 15 minute walk away.

Corridor to departure gate

Departure gate

Air New Zealand’s 777-300ER looked brand spanking new, probably because it is. At the gate next to us was a TAM 777-300ER, looking equally sexy.

TAM 777

Air New Zealand 777

About 30 minutes before departure boarding started with families and BusinessPremier.

Before getting too much into the actual flight report, I should mention that there’s something special about Air New Zealand. On the surface most would assume they’ll be your typical “conservative” international airline, but they’re really not. They’re actually incredibly quirky, from their outrageous safety video to their edgy 777-300ER commercials. That’s part of the reason I love flying Air New Zealand, even if it means business class on them vs. first class on another airline.

Air New Zealand 1
London (LHR) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Thursday, May 26
Depart: 4:15PM
Arrive: 7:45PM
Duration: 11hr30min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2K (BusinessPremier)

Anyway, once onboard I was directed to my seat by one of the flight attendants at the door. Air New Zealand’s new 777s feature a slightly modified BusinessPremier product. Most notably the color of the seats changed to a cream white color. Interesting choice, but I think it worked (for now).

I was booked in seat 2K, where a bottle of water, amenity kit, headphones, menu, and wine list were already waiting for me.

BusinessPremier cabin

BusinessPremier cabin

My seat, 2K

My seat, 2K

View from my seat

Fold out tray

Headphones and wine list

Amenity kit (or box?)

Amenity kit contents

Seat controls

While herringbone style seats are no longer cutting edge, they still get the job done, especially as a solo traveler.

The BusinessPremier cabin quickly began to fill up, at which points the flight attendants started their service.

Air New Zealand has London based crews which exclusively operate their sectors between London and Los Angeles and London and Hong Kong. In the case of this flight the crew working BusinessPremier was exclusively male, all under 35 (which is a rarity on both counts among most airlines).

They were very professional and gave each passenger a personalized welcome aboard, asking whether passengers wanted a rundown of the seat’s features and also offering pre-departure beverages.

I went with some champagne which was served in interesting glassware along with mixed nuts.

Pre-departure beverage

Departure time came and went though due to the weather we were about 30 minutes late departing. There was lightning in the area so the ground crew was a bit delayed in loading bags, though eventually we got clearance to push back. The captain announced our flight time of 11 hours.

Bad weather

As soon as pushback started the safety video began playing, which features Richard Simmons. Air New Zealand has long had quirky safety videos which I usually love, though this one is so beyond obnoxious that it makes me cringe. Take a look for yourself:

There was a young boy (maybe eight or nine years old) seated across from me, and as the safety video finished up he yelled “mommy, what was THAT?” I kind of had the same question.

Once underway our taxi to runway 27R was quick and after a long takeoff roll we were airborne into a rather nasty storm.

Taxiing to runway

View after takeoff

About five minutes after takeoff a bright light filled the cabin along with a loud thud, though oddly looking around I seemed to be the only one phased by it. Everyone else acted as if nothing happened.

About 10 minutes later as the captain turned off the seatbelt sign and made an announcement he informed us that we had been struck by lightning though suspected there was no damage and was working to resolve the situation in hopes of not having to divert.

At that point service began and I started browsing Air New Zealand’s extensive entertainment system. They had something like 20 episodes of “Two and a Half Men,” most of which I hadn’t seen before, so I started off by watching that.

Two and a Half Men

Cabin shortly after takeoff

The dinner service began with hot towels followed quickly by a beverage service.

Hot towel

Menus

I ordered a Diet Coke, which was served with a small plate containing an olive, slice of cheese, pickle, and tomato.

Diet Coke

After that the meal service began. The dinner menu read as follows:

Dinner

To begin
Smoked chicken salad with mango, papaya, cucumber, almonds and old fashioned mayonnaise Geoff Scott

From the bakery
Potato rosemary bread, garlic bread, black olive sourdough bread

Mains
Seared eye fillet of beef with peal barley, bacon and cream, caramelized onion jus and green beans Geoff Scott

Pan seared halibut with nam phrik num dressing, herb potato mash and asparagus Peter Gordon

Truffled potato tortellini with wild mushroom stew, cherry tomatoes and basil Rex Morgan

Angus Pure beef burger with salad greens, red onions, cheese and bacon offered with beetroot and horseradish chutney

Vegetarian soup of peak and sweet potato with crème fraiche and croutons Peter Gordon

Prawn and asparagus salad with baby potatoes, pea shoots and tomato mayonnaise Peter Gordon

To finish
Ice cream sundae of vanilla bean ice cream, red wine and cinnamon stewed plum compote, orange and pistachio biscotti Geoff Scott

Dessert trio of lemon crème and gingernut mouse, Opera cake and peach melba

Cheese selection of Cornish English brie, Cropwell Bishop Stilton blue and Butlers Secret cheddar with quince pasta, fig relish and cracker selection

Hot drinks
Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea or hot chocolate

The service was done by cart, starting with the salad course, which was accompanied by the bread basket (I went with garlic bread).

Smoked chicken salad with mango, papaya, cucumber, almonds and old fashioned mayonnaise

I love the variety of main courses Air New Zealand offers in business class, which is more than the selection of any other airline I know of. I went with the fillet of beef, which was beautifully presented, both in terms of the plating and the actual presentation.

Seared eye fillet of beef with peal barley, bacon and cream, caramelized onion jus and green beans Geoff Scott

Dessert was offered after the main course, and I went with the ice cream sundae, which was tasty.

Ice cream sundae of vanilla bean ice cream, red wine and cinnamon stewed plum compote, orange and pistachio biscotti

I finished off the meal with coffee, which was served with wrapped chocolate.

Coffee

Overall the meal was great. No, it wasn’t a nine course gastronomic experience, but the food was tasty, well presented, and well executed.

Airshow during dinner

One of the cool things about Air New Zealand’s new entertainment system is that it has a timeline which displays the progress of the flight in terms of in-flight service, which is pretty cool.

Timeline

After the meal service I headed to the lavatory to change into basketball shorts as I wanted to sleep, and was surprised to see that they had music in the lav. That’s pretty interesting.

I made my bed using the duvet located behind my seat, and then covered myself with the blanket. Herringbone seats do feel slightly claustrophobic in the sleeping position, though I still managed to get a solid six hours of sleep.

Mood lighting

Flat bed

When I woke up we were about three hours of out of Los Angeles, and I decided to watch a few more sitcoms.

Location upon waking up

Entertainment selection

About two hours out afternoon tea was served. The menu for that read as follows:

Light Refreshment

Smoothie
Peach, apricot and banana fruit smoothie

Fruit
Fresh fruit salad with passionfruit syrup

Sandwiches
Ham, cheddar and tomato sandwich
Ceasar chicken, rocket and sun kissed tomato sandwich
Roast beef with horseradish and beetroot relish sandwich
Smoked salmon with egg mayonnaise sandwich

Scones
Freshly baked scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream

Hot Drinks
Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea or hot chocolate

Service started with hot towels, followed quickly by a smoothie, which was refreshing.

Smoothie

That was followed by a fruit plate and a variety of sandwiches.

Fruit and sandwiches

Once that was cleared scones were served, accompanied by jam and clotted cream, which were already on the tray. I had a cup of tea with the scone.

Scone

There was also a box of pralines on the tray for dessert.

About 30 minutes before landing the captain came on the PA to advise us of our position. Shortly after that we began our descent into Los Angeles just as the sun was setting.

While Los Angeles doesn’t have as exciting of a skyline as New York or Hong Kong, there’s something I love about the approach into LAX when landing into the west.

Approach into Los Angeles

We touched down on runway 25R and began our taxi to the North end of the airport. That took forever, and to top it all off we were parking at a gate which required us to be towed in given how tight the space was.

Two Qantas A380s

Beat us by a few minutes…

That’s usually not a big deal, though in this case there was an Air France and Virgin Atlantic flight that arrived at virtually the same time, meaning every extra minute would translate to about ten times as long in the immigration line.

And surely enough immigration was a mess. As a matter of fact the line was so long that the queue started outside of the immigration hall.

I had to wait in line for nearly an hour. The only good news is that the frustrating experience prompted me to finally join Global Entry, after seeing those empty kiosks as I stood impatiently waiting.