{"id":5322,"date":"2014-05-11T07:02:37","date_gmt":"2014-05-11T14:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/?p=5322"},"modified":"2014-05-11T07:02:37","modified_gmt":"2014-05-11T14:02:37","slug":"impressions-first-air-new-zealand-flight-skycouch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/2014\/05\/impressions-first-air-new-zealand-flight-skycouch\/","title":{"rendered":"Impressions of My First Air New Zealand Flight (+ Skycouch!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_7073\"<\/a>i switched from Oslo-Newark-Los Angeles to Oslo-London-Los Angeles primarily to try Air New Zealand (the last segment, which continues on to Auckland), my 21st Star Alliance carrier<\/a>. i was placed in a “Frequent Flyer” premium seat (red circle) i suppose due to being Star Alliance Gold. in the days leading up to the flight while checking the seat map, i thought about switching to one of the seats up front that has infinite legroom (gray circle), but ultimately didn’t because it would have cost $50.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I had all of 39 ABC to myself!<\/p><\/div>\n

BUT! being a cheapskate paid off! some rows of the Frequent Flyer block are Skycouch<\/a> seats, which means that there are legrests that come all the way up to form a large bed-like surface. i wasn’t really sure how it is supposed to work if you have non-friends in the row (i assume you just use the legrests individually, either partially or fully up, just not all three to make a full bed), or, even worse, if they completely locked out the legrest functionality if you didn’t outright pay for Skycouch.\u00a0as it turns out, though, i had all three seats to myself (oh the anxiety waiting for the doors to close) and the legrests were completely movable.<\/p>\n

the plane<\/h3>\n

but first, let me step back a little. the interior of these 777-300s are quite lovely, very modern with a black and white palette and purple mood lighting. the IFE was pretty good as well, with on-demand snack ordering and on-screen menus. they even play music in the lavatories!\u00a0kia ora<\/em><\/a>\u00a0indeed!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7020\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_7024\"<\/a> \"IMG_7035\"<\/a><\/p>\n

i also liked this chart which showed what things were available when during the flight:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7037\"<\/a><\/p>\n

speaking of the inflight entertainment, i really appreciate how they aren’t afraid to put risque stuff up there. i mean, i should have known when we got the swimsuit edition safety video (though to be honest i only recognized\u00a0Christy Brinkley) and they even had very minimally edited (as in, i saw allll the thrusting) episodes of Looking<\/em><\/a> available. they do warn you before these R-rated shows that they may not be appropriate for children and to use discretion.<\/p>\n