Flying from Auckland to Apia with Air New Zealand

An Air New Zealand Airbus A320. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Kelly Dennett flies from Auckland to Apia with Air New Zealand

The plane: An Airbus A320. Air New Zealand's Pacific fleet workhorse.

Class: Economy — I was travelling on the Seat+Bag package.

My seat: 8A. It was great being near the front of the plane, making for an easy beeline to disembark oince we'd landed in Samoa.

The seat details: Nothing exciting, but they were clean and — lucky me — I got the window seat, so enjoyed the views. The recline was barely noticeable but the seat pitch was up to 84cm.

Passengers: Mostly families returning home from holidays.

How full: The flight was only about half to three-quarters full — perhaps because of the time of the morning (we departed at 9am).

Entertainment: For our fare choice, movies weren't available but television series were, and they were good options, including my personal favourites Doctor Foster, Top of the Lake, and Friends. I dabbled in Clarke Gayford's Fish of the Day and surprisingly watched the entire series of the Herald on Sunday columnist's exploits. Alas, there was no in-flight magazine to read but the music selection was fantastic. Modern and a huge variety.

Food: Not applicable to us with our Seat+Bag fares, unfortunately, but it smelled amazing. I did wish we had sprung for breakfast, given our flight left at 9am, the airport options weren't fantastic and the flight was four hours. Options were available for purchase — chips, chocolate and sandwiches.

The service: I was disappointed we didn't get tea and coffee until nearly two hours into the flight, by which time I was near delirious without my caffeine fix. Otherwise, there were just the typical sweets at the end, and the occasional water run.

The toilets: I've yet to encounter a toilet I didn't like on an Air New Zealand flight. I particularly like the fact they put Antipodes products in there for passengers' use — a nice touch.