Airport experience: LAX is a good representation of the American way of doing things — huge, glamorous and somewhat excessive. Designer shops line the mall-like concourses and there are multitudes of places to eat. Be prepared, however, to pay premium prices. Duty-free store DFS had a good selection, and I discovered a cool Spanish-style band playing live on one of the mezzanines, which added a cheery vibe.
Price: Air New Zealand offers direct flights from Auckland to Los Angeles three to four times a day. Prices start from $549 one way.
Flight time: 12 hours.
On time? About 20 minutes late to leave, and a slower trip than expected, apparently due to strong headwinds. Unfortunately this meant missing my connection to Wellington, and due to Auckland Airport's recent fuel crisis I had to wait around seven hours for the next available seat. Luckily, I did get out the same day; some didn't.
Seat: 53G, an aisle seat, and I was fortunate enough to have a spare seat next to me, which made the long-haul flight a bit easier to cope with. The seating spaces are quite small as you expect with Economy, but they are well designed to make the most use of the space, and recline quite well. Blankets and pillows were provided, which was helpful as it got quite chilly.
Entertainment: Air NZ's entertainment system is pretty comprehensive, with lots of movies, TV shows, games and interactive features. I watched a movie or two, but generally tried to take advantage of that spare seat to have a sleep.
Food and drink: A dinner was served shortly after takeoff, which felt a little strange as the LA time zone we had just left meant it was about 10.30pm. However, the idea of getting back to NZ time as soon as we boarded meant it would have been a more suitable hour for dinner. The lasagne dish was tasty and came with a salad and chocolate mousse for dessert. We could have lived without the stale bread roll.
Service: On overnight flights they tend to keep more to themselves, but overall the service was good. Air NZ pride themselves on their Kiwi hospitality, so they kept a good eye on us. One staff member was a bit abrupt, but nothing major.
Fellow passengers: A mix of Kiwis returning home from holiday, quite a lot of Australians who were taking a connecting flight on from Auckland, and American tourists heading for both places.
Toilets: Well-stocked and mostly clean, but showing a few signs of a large plane full of long-haul passengers. I'd suggest that if you've taken your shoes off, you put them on to go.
Would I fly this again? Yes, it was a good experience, well-presented and the food was generally good. Compared with some more budget carriers I've used in recent times, it felt like a real step up.
