The American Airlines direct flight from Auckland to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, took around 13.5 hours. Photo / Supplied
The American Airlines direct flight from Auckland to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, took around 13.5 hours. Photo / Supplied
They say everything about Texas is bigger and better - Kim Knight gets onboard that sentiment with a Business class seat to the Lone Star state and compares it with a Premium Economy flight back to Auckland.
Airline: American Airlines.
Flights: Auckland International Airport to Dallas Fort Worth International Airportreturn.
Visas and requirements: New Zealand passport holders must apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) into the US - an easy online process that cost me $35.90 and was approved within a couple of hours.
Seats: Business (5L) to Dallas Fort Worth; Premium Economy (10H) back to Auckland. In Business, there was so much seat I had to wear a lap AND a shoulder belt for take-off and landing. It was 53cm wide and, at the touch of a button, converted to a lie-flat space or just about any other head-lumbar-foot inclination I wanted. Everywhere I looked there was shelf space and the entirety sat within a hard-shell cocoon of privacy, angled so I couldn’t see other passengers. The television screen was so big and far away, I didn’t need to wear my computer glasses.
In Premium Economy, I got a 48cm wide seat and an adjustable head and foot rest. If you want to sleep, you’re essentially still sitting up, but I had oodles of legroom even when the person in front of me reclined. As a solo traveller, I loved the plastic moulding and wider arm rests that kept me very separate from my neighbour.
Both cabin classes came with identical amenties (toothbrushes, hand creams, etc) differentiated only by packaging. The blankets and pillows in Business were plusher, but Premium Economy’s gave better back support.
Plenty of legroom in American Airlines' Business Class. Photo / Kim Knight
Departure airport experiences: Booked for business class? Oh, the places you will go. Like the express queue for security checks (less than three minutes) and the Qantas Lounge (they codeshare with American Airlines) for pre-flight butter chicken, mushroom soup, DIY cheese toasties, an entire freezer full of Kapiti icecream and toilet doors that go all the way to the floor.
The Dallas Fort Worth departure was slightly more fraught. My premium economy return flight earned a reprieve from excess baggage charges, but I missed the memo about priority queues and mistakenly joined a “general” line for security. I cleared it in 18 minutes, but locals told me they’d never seen a queue like it.
Crew: At the pointy end of the plane, everything was bespoke and personal. Suzy introduced herself by name and made arrangements to wake me for breakfast. On the other side of the curtain, I was definitely just another passenger waving down a steward who forgot to hand out snacks to our row.
Passengers: I will never, ever stop wondering what the children who fly Business class will be like as adults. Meanwhile, over in economy, I witnessed extreme cordiality as one passenger informed the person behind them they were going to test the recline before take off and “y’all should tell me if it goes too far”.
Cheese platter of our Business class dreams on board an American Airlines direct flight from Auckland to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas. Photo / Kim Knight
Food and drink: Note to American Airline newbies - reserve your meals up to 30 days before you fly! In Business, I ate the vegetarian seared portobello mushrooms with cannellini bean casserole by choice. In Premium Economy, I got stodgy broccoli and macaroni cheese because I forgot to prebook. My default dinner in the cheap(er) seat was a symphony of unremarkable carbs; up front there had been salmon eggs on a real crab meat salad, an enormous cheese platter, and a choice of dressings for my butter lettuce and micro greens. That snack I had to chase down was a soggy stromboli sandwich and when I went to fill a cup of water from the complimentary H2O station, the bottle had run dry. In Business, Suzy brought me a mezze platter with hummus, olives, dolmas and feta with tiny triangles of warmed pita and asked if I wanted ice in my diet Sprite.
Entertainment: Both seats had noise-cancelling headphones (Bang & Olufsen in Business). There was free Wi-Fi and plenty of movies, but I couldn’t be faffed. I watched the stellar documentary, Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion (and felt bad about buying cheap souvenir T-shirts). Television box sets are made for long haul but on my flights, just three or four teaser episodes were offered - along with a suggestion to complete the series via the streaming provider. I switched to audio only, could not figure out how to search by artist in a menu dominated by curated compilations with titles such as “amusement park season”, “blizzard bangers” and worse.
Arrival airport experiences: If the Dallas Fort Worth immigration grilling was stern and specific (“yes, but why are you HERE?”) its biosecurity check was an exercise in blind faith. I took the “nothing to declare” route and exited, unchallenged. Dallas Fort Worth is, according to the internet, the third-busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements. I braced for a madhouse, but Terminal D, Gate 23 gave such serious back-loading dock vibes (white hardboard walls, no shops and very few people) I’m still not sure I didn’t accidentally go through a staff-only door.
No such luck in Auckland, where I met sniffer dogs, x-ray machine attendant and was, finally, taken to a small room where my luggage was emptied and searched. This has never happened to me before. The customs officer said the check was entirely random (before commending me on my exceptionally well-organised suitcase). The experience added only 15 minutes to my arrival, but after a 14-hour flight, it felt like a lifetime.
The best bit: That moment when I stretched my legs out and hit . . . absolutely nothing.
The worst bit: Blizzard Bangers? Seriously?
Final verdict: Nothing beats the personalised excess of Business class, but how good to find a level of long-haul luxury that might be more realistically within my financial reach?
