During my trip to the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Seattle, I was able to catch a few departures from the top floor of the Doubletree. International departures pick up around 1pm, with a handful of flights to Asia and Europe. The last one that I saw, which is the first picture I posted, was a British Airways 747.
The Delta A330 was either to AMS or NRT, don’t recall. Doubletree is a great spot assuming you are in the tower portion of the hotel, facing Sea-Tac.

After arriving from Auckland on Air New Zealand flight #2, I reported directly to
In-N-Out Burger at the base of runway 24R.
A.) Because I wanted one of the best burgers money can buy
B.) I wanted to snap some photos of various aircraft
It was my first visit to this spot and it is most enjoyable; if you love jet noise of course. Here is what I saw in the late afternoon. Special nod to Konstantin who was also there (from Germany), enjoying the sights.

CHECK-IN
Air New Zealand provides a separate check-in area for premium passengers at the Auckland Airport. A friendly gal named Robyn checked me in for the 11hr 40min flight to LAX. Robyn asked if I enjoyed my stay in New Zealand. I replied that I indeed had… all 8 hours of it. Once you check in, there is no need to go back into the main check-in area as there is a dedicated elevator that takes premium class passengers to a dedicated customs and security screening area. I waited less than 1 minute to complete this process. The customs official also asked me how I had enjoyed my stay. Air New Zealand does have a 7 kilogram maximum weight for carryon luggage.

SEATS
Shortly after I arrived in the Air New Zealand Lounge, I was surprised to hear an announcement made by our in flight concierge. He had come into the lounge to greet passengers and answer any possible questions or concerns those passengers on flight #2 may have. This was a first for me.
As mentioned in the previous post, the Spaceseat is very unique looking and noticeably better than other Premium Economy offerings. The seat provides plenty of privacy and features a fixed back shell so nobody reclines into your space. A beanbag foot rest, oversized pillow, fleece blanket and bottle of water were at each Premium Economy seat. Full seat report here.

SERVICE/CREW
The flight attendant who would be dedicated to my area came by and introduced herself. The flight service manager then introduced himself and gave me a customs card. For those keeping track, the Business Class cabin was full, there were 2 open seats in Premium Economy and 15 open seats in Economy Class. I found all of the crew members I interacted with extremely friendly with a refreshing sense of humor and none took themselves too seriously. Yet at the same time they were very professional. Air New Zealand takes a very unique, effective approach in their cabin service. In addition to flight attendants serving passengers, 2 other flight crew members simply roam around the cabin to ensure all passengers have what they need.

FOOD
As soon as were cursing over the Pacific, drinks and an appetizer of seared tuna were served. After several days of eating noodles, I chose to have the burger with beetroot & horopito chutney for dinner. There were 3 other choices: beef fillet with cabernet jus, madras chicken and potato curry and hot smoked salmon with salad greens. How good can a burger be? Would you expect to have one of the best on an airline? This was one of the best I have ever tasted, in the air or on the ground. The roll had a fresh out of the oven texture and the meat was moist, tender and perfectly seasoned. I have never heard of putting chutney on a hamburger but this purple tinted goodness was outstanding and a slight onion bite.

After dinner, I explored the entertainment system which I also felt was above average. Instead of having 1 or 2 episodes of a TV program, a whole season or 2 of a particular show was available. After flipping through some programming, I visited the galley where an FA was ready to serve snacks and drinks.

It seems that everything Air New Zealand did on this flight was a little different and enhanced the experience. From the service before and during the flight, to the wallpaper and music in the bathrooms.
This flight was so enjoyable I was hoping it wouldn’t end. Air New Zealand has re-invented the Premium Economy product.
Many thanks to Aaron N. and the rest of the flight crew for a very memorable experience!
**Disclaimer: This flight was provided to me by Air New Zealand.

premium economy cabin

safety video w/ richard simmons

foot space and bean bag for feet

armrest & storage

plenty of wine choices

flight “schedule”

bathroom

galley

approaching lax

business class after arrival

bar

ZK-OKN

This is the first part of a flight from Auckland to Los Angeles. This 777-300ER (ZK-DKN) featured Air New Zealand’s innovative Space Bed and Sky Couch Seats. I have heard people say that this Delta cabin resembles a spaceship, and maybe it does, however, compared to Air New Zealand’s interior, Delta’s looks very normal.

The Premium Economy Spaceseats look quite futuristic and combined with the mood lighting and overabundance of white/cream hues, they were unlike anything I had ever seen. When I first took my seat (24D), I thought: “where the hell are my legs going to go for 12 hours?”
Then I realized there is space under the seat in front of you to stretch your legs. No, not as much space a Business Class seat, but that is not what this is. Air New Zealand also provided a fluffy beanbag to rest your feet on.

The black divider between the two seats is actually two separate pieces that lift up several inches to become an armrest. The top also flips open and there is a storage area inside. If the seat next to you is vacant, as mine was, one can easily lay down flat on your side for a snooze. If the seat next to you is occupied, not to fear. The whole seat is in a large shell and you will be able to rest your head to the side (see photos)
Air New Zealand will be removing a row of Premium Economy Seats, giving passengers in this cabin an additional 6″ of pitch.

The seat has 2 levers, one to recline the seat and one to tilt the entire seat backward. I included a few pictures of the Sky Couch and Business Class seats below. In the next post I will share the actual flight experience where it will become evident that Air New Zealand has re-invented the Premium Economy Class concept.
**Disclaimer: This flight was provided to me by Air New Zealand

23 a&b

23 d&e

24 d&e

32 d&e

premium economy cabin

looking down into seat area

across the aisle 23 a&b

meal tray

seat guide

economy cabin

sky couch-all 3 seats feature extension

seats 34 a&b

business class

If I am not mistaken, only routes flown by certain types of Singapore Airlines aircraft are eligible for upgrades using United Mileage Plus Miles. Of course, the newest of new business class seats, like the ones on the A380 and 777 are not eligible, but that is OK, I have experienced them previously. The A330′s and 747′s are eligible for upgrades (assuming there is space and you buy the correct fare class).

In my opinion, using miles to upgrade is the best utilization of frequent flyer miles. One of the best bangs I ever got for my buck (miles) was upgrading LAX-BKK flight on Thai with United miles. A very long flight and a relatively inexpensive “full fare” economy class ticket.

Today’s flight was on a Singapore Airlines A330-300 (9V-STKE) and so I used United Miles to upgrade to Business Class for the 5hr and 40min flight from Seoul to Singapore. Once I found my seat, 11K, I was offered various global newspapers, magazines, orange juice, tomato juice and water. There was no champagne offered, but the flight attendant gladly obliged when I requested it and I was happy to see I was not the only one partaking. Just before pushback, hot towels were distributed.
Once airborne, slipper/socks, eye shades and (oddly) the same pre-poured drinks were again offered.

Seats
They are short. They look short and they are. Meaning, when I was seated, the seat back only came up to my shoulder blades. When I reclined the seat to “lounge” position, the seat provided very little support without a pillow. Even with a pillow, there is not really anywhere for the pillow to rest. The seats are angled lie flat, but were very comfortable when fully reclined.
These A330 seats have a lot of outlets, including power, S-Video, 2 USB ports and audio/video jacks.

Food
Never had a bad meal on Singapore. Not even a disappointing meal. I was shown a menu with 4 main course choices: eel, Cantonese dumplings, a vegetarian dish and a beef dish. A salmon appetizer was offered as an appetizer. Singapore serves better salmon than I can buy on the ground. I think the menus may have been in the seat pocket, but I didn’t grab one. The Cantonese dumplings were outstanding, chock-full of fresh shrimp. After the delicious sesame ice cream a cheese plate was offered. After all of this, chocolate was offered, but I had already tapped out.

An hour after lunch, water was offered and hot towel service shortly before landing. Flying Singapore Airlines is always a treat. The service, food and comfort, of any of their Business Class cabins, are tip-top of the heap. But how is their economy product?

Here are some pictures from the ride back to Zurich from Tel Aviv. No, its not the newest airplane and no there were no flat bed seats, but man… it was a real comfortable ride. Like I said, there is enough recline on these Swiss A330-200 seats to sleep on your side… and sleep you will after a hefty breakfast like the one I had. Choices were quesadilla with scrambled eggs, cheese & spinach, grilled smoked chicken and roasted vegetables OR blueberry pancakes with orange butter. In addition to a starter of smoked salmon and cream cheese roulade, beef pastrami and cheese.

This was a 5am departure from Tel-Aviv and the Ben Gurion airport was jam packed in those early hours. The flight was roughly 3.5 hours and was provided to me, in part, by Swiss International Airlines.  Coming soon on this route… flat bed seats…

taxi

rolling

breakfast starter

veggies, chicken, eggs

final approach into ZRH

After an early arrival in Zurich from JFK, we had about 2 hours to kill until our flight to Tel Aviv.  Those 2 hours were 2am to 4am on the time zone I was on, so things were becoming a tad foggy.  We landed at terminal E and were also departing from E, so all we had to do was pass through a quick security check and make our way up to the Panorama Lounge.  The Panorama Lounge is not dedicated to 1 airline, but plenty comfortable & spacious.  I did see a sign that said “hot food” is served at 10:30am, although I was not there to see it.

The service on the fligt was seamless and the food plentiful and flavorful. Obviously the seats on the Airbus A332 are not lie flat, but do have great pitch (leg space between seats)  The seat recline was so generous  I was able to sleep on my side for the majority of the flight.  Seat 14G is NOT the last row of Business Class at SeatGuru indicates.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  I will post some hotel information next and I have plenty of pictures of  the ride back to NYC with an overnight in Zurich and tour of the Zurich airport.  Danke!

Disclosure: This trip was provided to me, in part, by Swiss International Airlines.

pike & perch

Clearly I have not had as much time as I would like to travel. Such is life, right? In the next few days I will catch up on some domestic airlines with the below itinerary. Stay tuned and follow Planereality on Twitter for additional updates.
Please vote (on the right) on what airline you would like to see showcased next on Planereality.com

I created this map at Great Circle Mapper.

Well, it’s not the observation deck at NRT, but Lufthansa’s Tower Lounge has some spectacular views.

the next 2 are actually take from on the plane

I arrived at Narita on Lufthansa’s A380 early in the morning.  The first thing I wanted to do was grab a big bowl of spicy noodles with fresh vegetables and minced something or other.  There are um-teen places to make this happen in the Terminal 1 “mall”.  I couldn’t tell you where I ate, but I bet I could find it again.  It was so good I wanted to try something else, but first I wanted hit the open air observation deck.  I got these pics and went back for some more noodles. Enjoy!

A few weeks back I took a look at Virgin Atlantic’s UK website and found that Upper Class (Virgin’s Business Class) fares to Havana, Cuba and Kingston, Jamaica were on sale from London Gatwick.  Not exactly Virgin’s most desirable destinations, but like I’ve said, I’m not much for sightseeing.  Also working in my favor, the sale fares were available in both directions: Kingston to Gatwick and vice-versa.  I don’t even know (or care) if Americans are allowed in Cuba, so I chose the Gatwick route.

Virgin’s website would not allow me to book online so I called their reservations desk. After a 20 minute wait on hold, I was connected to a very pleasant and helpful agent who not only booked my flight, but said she would make a note in my reservation to have someone show me around the Clubhouse in Gatwick in order for me to “get the most for my money”

Check in at Kingston was comical. Three hours before the flight, a large queue formed at the check in counters and gate agents showed up shortly thereafter. The only agent that was missing was was the one that was supposed to be working the Upper Class desk.  As I waited and stared into space, economy passengers began being checked in by the oblivious agents. After a 5 or 10 minute wait a gal hustled up to the upper class desk and apologized for being late.  I accepted her apology and suggested the other desk agents should have noticed me.  After she checked me in, she asked if I was aware that the configuration was different.

I asked: “Different than what?”
After staring at he computer and not answering me I said: “What type of plane is it?”
She said something to the effect of oh jeez, don’t ask me those tough questions.
Then she said: “737 maybe?” (Virgin has no 737′s nor would a 737 make it to LGW)

I told her not to worry, I would figure it out. I proceeded to make my way through security to the lounge.  I was surprised by her lack of knowledge because she appeared to be an actual Virgin employee as opposed to just one of the hired hands that most airlines use when they have 1 flight per day from an airport.

Boarding was more frustrating and less entertaining than check-in. Like the past experiences I have had in Jamaica, nothing is planned on this island, things just happen. It’s UNorganized chaos. Passengers need to show their boarding pass in order to take the escalator to the gates located on the lower level. The challenge was that security was not sure in what order passengers should be allowed to the lower level in order to make the long walk to the gate.  This made for much confusion.

In the boarding hall, there was a secondary security inspection, but the security personnel did not speak, they just stared at me. I asked them several times what they wanted to inspect and/or what they wanted me to do.

When I finally made it to the boarding area, there was a long line where someone was checking boarding passes. I asked if there was a business class boarding line and was told that there was but the signage had been removed because they did not “see” and business class passengers.  Travel aggravation at it’s best! More to come from the flight…

norman manley international airport (KIN)

random

the other flight to london gatwick

our 747 pulling up to the gate; BA and Virgin alternate between a gate and a stand