Well I hate to say this but if you are travelling from the US to New Zealand or return and will be booking your flight after May 2010, then I would recommend any other air line apart from Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand have cut the allowable checked in baggage for economy in half and reduced the weight limit of business and first class travellers.

If you have a look here you can see the new weight limits.
http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/checked-in-baggage/

Kiwi

I try not to fly with Air New Zealand

yup - they certainly arent the airline of choice at my house either .

They wanted us to exit the terminal and go through customs in nz and recheck in again rather than retask our bags because our conecting flight (air nz) was late by 12 hours.
This was because one of the mangers said it was too much work. After we got stuck into her she took off in a huff and then her underlings went and done it in no time flat.
On that dive trip we had 4 flights with air NZ only one took off on time, 2 seperate planes broke down, one of there hosties gave regular coke to someone who asked for diet coke and did not tell them until they had drunk it and it turns out that person was a bad diabetic which upset her quite badly.
They are rude and incompeted fools if you can fly another air line do so.

Did I mention they arent my airline of choice either - classic example of why .....

Pretty bad when you dont speak up for your local carrier but they really dont deserve business at present . Qantas beats them by a mile in my experience of late .

Yeah thats interesting... and a bit sad for you guys ... I havent heard much negative about ANZ in the past?? havent flown with them much though either cause their are so many Qantas services (frequent flyer etc) available.

One thing I do know is that ANZ plays hardball with the other competitors as far as commission to the travel agents - while Qantas reduces the commission ANZ offers very nice deals. We see it a lot here with clients - travel agents in the USA routing them through Aukland on ANZ (to come to AUST!!) because the commission is way higher..

crazy huh?? but that might be part of the explanation why they cant afford to keep the service and service staff up??? just a thought?

Qantas tends to compete more on service and reputation rather than agent deals and price slashing. or so it seems...

Jetstar arm of Qantas is just a joke though....

is there something like a virgin pacific that flys LA to auckland??

Hi Matt
jet star = death star

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
is there something like a virgin pacific that flys LA to auckland??

Yes but it looks like you have to fly through Australia to do it. Thats the way it looks anyhow... That would make it a long flight. Better off with Qantas. From April-Sept Qantas does pretty good deals on the USA/AUS route, so it should be simmilar to NZ.

isn't quantas rather anti gun?? i've heard quite a few stories about that.

NO - Qantas is NOT anti-gun. They have specific permissions in place (very simple to obtain) that ensures that your guns will be carried in good order. In another thread here I posted tha my client in the buff camp is being royally scred over by UNITED AIRLINES because they grabbed his gun at LAX and wouldnt pass it to Qantas to fly with client to Australia, for THREE DAYS... his bags showed up fine. Qantas has been diligently searching for his gun (found now) when they did not have to and United has just been telling lies...

You tell me who is anti-gun???

With regard the Qantas restricted goods permits - no one (least of all US citizens) like to have to fill out paperwork to travel and use guns but in this instance Qantas has got it right!! By international convention firearms and ammo are restricted goods - Qantas remits to passengers a restricted goods permit that you can present to the checkin desk that smooths any issues (most of the time).... thereby helping prevent this kind of thing from happening. You get this 'permit' with a simple email stating your intentions. It is very reassuring presenting this piece of paper to the check-in in an international airport (potentially in a foreign country) and that piece of paper says - "You must let this guy on the plane with his gun and you must take care of this restricted item"!! Qantas aint perfect but it has got that bit right...

thanks for the info matt - we're coming to NZ next april and its just about time to start looking at airlines. the gal dianne was talking to (travel agent) was all pro NZ air and didn't really want to talk about anything else

Yeah well check my commissions post above!!!

Mate if you want to look at an alternative and maybe fly Qantas (AA partner too) - either call Qantas office in the USA 1800 227 4500 - they have an excellent 24 hour service and will give you a great quote without hassles. Alternatively give Kathi from here (Wild Travel) a call and she will book Qantas for you. I sure wish I had a travel agent like Kathi that I could work with in Australia.... ... our agents here suck...

From what I read on the Air NZ web site yesterday that they will continue allowing 70lbs for sporting equipment if one notifies them in advance. Hunting equipment is sporting equipment.

The last time I went to NZ, I flew Air NZ. It was a great flight. No real problems at all. Are there more problems with them now?

Can you just pay for excess baggage charges? Hell, I would rather do that that have to stop in Australia.

You know they are having problems when the KIWS start complaining about them. Its not surprising really - all the airlines are having to compete with the budget airlines. New zealand is being hammered by Jestar and Virgin plus all the others... lets hope ANZ doesnt drop the ball permanently..

This competition is hammering all the airlines, but its beyond me they always let their serves drop? Certainly not the way forward in a serves providing industry I would have thought.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
You tell me who is anti-gun???

Tiger airways is totally anti gun and regardless of how cheap the airfares are from them, IMHO shooters and hunters should avoid them.

Qantas by far the best and gun VERY friendly as well plus they
make everything easy when carrying guns and ammo.

.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
thanks for the info matt - we're coming to NZ next april and its just about time to start looking at airlines. the gal dianne was talking to (travel agent) was all pro NZ air and didn't really want to talk about anything else

Butch, Qantas flies direct to Auckland, I think the only day they don't do from LA to Auckland is Monday.....if you send me a pm I can find out from a NZ shooter who recently travelled on Qantas......Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Pard Cummings:
From what I read on the Air NZ web site yesterday that they will continue allowing 70lbs for sporting equipment if one notifies them in advance. Hunting equipment is sporting equipment.

Can you post a link to this bit of information as everything I read states that these are the allowed checked baggage for Air New Zealand, any items over this will be charged for at the applicable rate although at the moment sporting goods will be chaged at 50% of the applicable rate

> International travel (tickets issued from 26 May 10)

Economy 1 piece, max weight 23kg (50 lbs)
Premium Economy* 2 pieces, max weight 23kg (50 lbs) per piece

Business* 3 pieces, max weight 23kg (50 lbs) per piece

Gold Elite / Gold / Star Gold and Koru Club Members 1 additional piece per person, max 23kg (max 3 pieces)

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
The last time I went to NZ, I flew Air NZ. It was a great flight. No real problems at all. Are there more problems with them now?

Can you just pay for excess baggage charges? Hell, I would rather do that that have to stop in Australia.

Qantas do direct flights from LA to Aucland/Auckland to LA, so this is a good alternative.

I have never had any problems with Air New Zealand, except on a domestic flight, when I checked in my bags were under weight, but when I took them down to oversize the scales there said they were overweight.....guess which weight applied. So i had to take some things out of both items and took them as carry on.
This is the only problem I have ever had with Air NZ.

I don't see why they should reduce the weight limit by 1/2 for economy and still charge the same when every other airline still has the previous allowed weight limit.
Perhaps if they lose enough customers they will change the allowed weight limit.
I have four flights planned that will use alternative airlines next year.....Kiwi

I'm going to have to disagree with many people here—I've had nothing but great experiences with Air New Zealand. They are much better than any of the US airlines I've flown (all of them, basically), and most of my international friends over here prefer Air New Zealand as well. I don't know anyone who chooses Qantas over Air NZ if costs are similar.

I've flown between the US and NZ 15 times over the last five years using Air NZ, and I will continue to use them in the future.

quote:

I'm going to have to disagree with many people here—I've had nothing but great experiences with Air New Zealand. They are much better than any of the US airlines I've flown (all of them, basically), and most of my international friends over here prefer Air New Zealand as well. I don't know anyone who chooses Qantas over Air NZ if costs are similar.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by 500N:

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
You tell me who is anti-gun???

Tiger airways is totally anti gun and regardless of how cheap the airfares are from them, IMHO shooters and hunters should avoid them.

Qantas by far the best and gun VERY friendly as well plus they
make everything easy when carrying guns and ammo.

.

Its not so much Tiger themselves but their home port of Singapore is anti-gun, so it is easier for Tiger not to carry them.. Are they even still flying to AU any more??

Jetstar wont carry guns out of Asis either...