Flying to Australia/New Zealand

[skalexander]

I really want to do something different next year, and considering going to Australia or New Zealand, probably New Zealand.

Hubby has always said he’d never fly that far except in business but frankly the difference between economy and business is another holiday, and frankly more than I’m prepared to spend (I’m in charge )

I’ve convinced him that if we go economy we can hopefully find an airline where we can prebook a row of 2 seats rather than rows of 3 or 4, and he seems placated by this.

The trouble is, most airlines don’t seem to offer this or it’s only an option for half. E.g. Singapore Airljnes fly the A380 London to Singapore so we can sit upstairs in a 2, but then it’s the 787 onto Auckland and rows of 3.

Can anyone think of an airline which would allow us, with pre booking, to sit as a 2 all the way there? At the moment I’m entertaining booking Virgin PE to LA (we’ve got £40k miles or so each, so could do M+M) and then Air NZ onwards, as they have a few rows of 2 on that route. I’d be grateful for any options with economy all the way though!

Thanks!

[Mexy02]

My son and girlfriend are flying ethiad man -syd via Abu in June and have prebooked 2 seats on the 4 flights . Cost £212 I think for them .

( ps that’s a row of 2 on every flight if I wasnt clear )

[scooby99]

No experience but is Air New Zealand & their economy Skycouch an option for you?
For couples or parents where the economy seats turn into a sofa/bed/play area which turns into a flat surface for stretching out on after take off.
Looks like you also get a guarantee to get the entire row to yourself if booking the Skycouch.

[paw]

We went to New Zealand via LA on Air NewZealand Sky Couch. You get 3 seats window to aisle and the foot rest comes right up to make a platform. I loved it as at 5’ it was as good as a full bed, although I lay next to the seats in front as when they reclined it took a bit of the space. DH at 6’+ sat sideways, leaning against the window and still had a good sleep. We got the normal blanket/pillow pack plus some real pillows and a quilt, so plenty of padding for him. The extra space when we sat up was also good. I sat by the window then and put my feet up.

[katiec68]

Just a word of warning about air new Zealand.
If you book through a 3rd party you have no access to seat selection until check in.

My parents couldn't allocate theirs until check in. Was a nightmare for them

Xx

[paw]

We booked through Travel Councellors and prebooked our seats, can’t remember if they booked them or I phoned and talked to a very nice person - either our NZ holiday or our Australia one. As they were the Sky Couch Seats there aren’t that many on the plane but I like to know where I sit as I’m a nervous traveller. We also prebooked for internal flights and flights to the Cook Islands which formed part of the same holiday.

[mickeyspal]

Do you have any virgin miles? We are off to NZ at the end of this year and have used our virgin miles to upgrade to premium economy. We only get it as far as Hong Kong, then we are on air NZ . They have seats in 2 's as that's what we've booked but they do a couch although it's more money.

[Guest]

If he wanted to go business, I am not quite sure how having a row of two is placating him? It doesn't give any more room does it?

I would look to see if premium economy is an option, it really is a long journey, I would hate to do it in economy. Never heard of this Air NZ skycouch, off to check it out.

[skalexander]

Originally Posted by scooby99

No experience but is Air New Zealand & their economy Skycouch an option for you?
For couples or parents where the economy seats turn into a sofa/bed/play area which turns into a flat surface for stretching out on after take off.
Looks like you also get a guarantee to get the entire row to yourself if booking the Skycouch.

See more...

I hadn't heard of Skycouch but having looked it up it looks great. It's an extra £1350 to use it the whole way, but we could potentially do regular economy half way and Skycouch the rest of the way. Also debating whether to do stopovers to break things up, thinking LA and Singapore, but not sure whether its best to go east or west on the way out.

Originally Posted by paw

We went to New Zealand via LA on Air NewZealand Sky Couch. You get 3 seats window to aisle and the foot rest comes right up to make a platform. I loved it as at 5’ it was as good as a full bed, although I lay next to the seats in front as when they reclined it took a bit of the space. DH at 6’+ sat sideways, leaning against the window and still had a good sleep. We got the normal blanket/pillow pack plus some real pillows and a quilt, so plenty of padding for him. The extra space when we sat up was also good. I sat by the window then and put my feet up.

See more...

Thank you, that's a really helpful review.

Originally Posted by katiec68

Just a word of warning about air new Zealand.
If you book through a 3rd party you have no access to seat selection until check in.

My parents couldn't allocate theirs until check in. Was a nightmare for them

Xx

See more...

Thank you for that, that's worth knowing as I often book flights with third parties.

Originally Posted by Claudette

If he wanted to go business, I am not quite sure how having a row of two is placating him? It doesn't give any more room does it?

See more...

His objection to economy is being in a row of 3 or 4 with a stranger next to us. Its the same objection he has wherever we travel. I won't pay PE prices to Aus/NA as they're comparable to business prices if you go via Scandinavia, so he knows his options are economy or business. If its just the 2 of us and we can spread out, get up and move around etc. without worrying about inconveniencing a stranger then he is much happier (as happy as you can be in a tin can for many hours).

[Daisychick]

It might be worth keeping in mind that although the 787 is in general rows of 3, on the one we just went on, right at the back was a row of 2 on each side.

When you are investigating airlines, if you look on seat guru you can see the layout of each plane per airline. So there might be some rows that are 2 and if you are willing to pay to book them in advance you might get a row of 2 all the way there.