Introduction
Welcome to a new series of flights taking us down to beautiful New Zealand. Taking advantage of a fare sale, we were able to book nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Auckland for only $770 round-trip–a great deal on a route that regularly sells for more than $1500. We were later able to take advantage of upgrade offers in the American Airlines app to upgrade to Premium Economy for about $600 each way–again a very good deal considering that Premium Economy on this route is often priced well north of $3500 round-trip.
Routing
Flights in this series
Flight routing
- 1AA83 - Premium Eco - Los Angeles ✈ Auckland - Boeing 787-8
- 2
- 3NZ613 - Economy - Queenstown ✈ Auckland - Airbus A320
- 4AA82 - Premium Eco - Auckland ✈ Los Angeles - Boeing 787-8


Check-in & Lounge
We arrived at American Airlines' Terminal 4 around 3 hours before departure time. Thanks to our oneworld Emerald status, we were able to use the small and private Flagship First check-in area.
Staff were very friendly and we were the only ones using the facility at that time, which made the service feel personal and exclusive.

An agent offered to escort us through security–which is apparently protocol at the Flagship First check-in–however, I declined the offer as I wanted to head straight to Tom Bradley International Terminal, rather than go through security at T4 and then walk to TBIT using the connector walkway.

No need for an escort to the front of the queue here! As usual, there was absolutely no line at TSA pre-check in TBIT.

It took all of 15 seconds to get through–I don't think we ever stopped walking except to place cabin baggage on the belt.

Another valuable perk of oneworld Emerald status is access to separate First class lounges, rather than standard Business class lounges.
As usual when we have flights departing from TBIT, we headed to the lovely Qantas First lounge.

The decor and aesthetic is very similar to Qantas First lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, though without the natural light and beautiful tarmac and city views of the SYD lounge, unfortunately.


There's a large restaurant section towards the rear of the lounge. It wasn't terribly busy at this hour and we were seated promptly.


Here's a look at the menu, with some very nice options.


There's also a children's menu, which I always appreciate.

Started things off with a nice cold glass of Taittinger champagne.

My son was apparently very hungry as he asked for both the Kids' chicken tenders and Cheeseburger!
Surprisingly…he actually managed to finish most of it.

For the adults, we started out with the squid appetiser to share–it's a classic dish that's been on the menu for years in Qantas First lounges on both sides of the Pacific.
Salt & pepper squid green chilli dipping sauce and aioli

For the first course, I selected the Tuna sashimi. It was absolutely delicious and restaurant quality. I'm always impressed with the upscale food and beverage options in Qantas First lounges, making it a true First class experience.
Tuna sashimi with green apple aguachile, avocado, jimaca, and tostadas

For the main, I stayed with the Asian-fusion vibes with the Korean pork belly. Again, very tasty and the perfect level of spice.
Korean Bossam slow roast pork belly with kimchi, rice and ginger shallot sauce

And dessert:
Sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and brandied prune mascarpone

With such a late departure just before midnight, the lounge was mostly empty by the time we left to head to the gate.



Boarding
Luckily the boarding gate was in the main TBIT terminal–not the satellite gates–so it was quick getting there from the Qantas First lounge.


There weren't many flights operating this late so the concourse was mostly empty.

Boarding had just begun as we arrived at the gate so we were able to board right away with Groups 1 and 2.
The Premium Economy cabin on the AA 787-8 is immediately to the right when entering through the main boarding door.

There are 28 seats laid out in a spacious 2-3-2 configuration over 4 rows.



As usual, we selected seats in the last row of the cabin.

At each seat was a large comfort kit containing a blanket, a neck pillow, noise-cancelling headphones, a small amenity kit, and a bottle of water.


Here's a look at the contents of the amenity kit.


American Airlines' long-haul Premium Economy seat is the same model as their Domestic First class seat, the Collins MiQ seat.
There's plenty of legroom. With a 38 inch seat pitch, 19" seat width, and double armrests, it's essentially the same dimensions and space as Domestic First/short-haul Business class.

Seats in the bulkhead row have full integrated leg-rests, while seats in all other rows have an adjustable footrest.

The in-flight entertainment remote and recline button are on the side of the center console.

Under the central armrest you'll find a conveniently placed 110v universal power and small storage space that can hold tablets or small laptops. I like that MiQ seats have the charging point under the armrest like this as it avoids having a mess of cables causing a potential tripping hazard for other passengers.

The central armrest can be flipped up for easier access to the power outlet and storage space.

There's also a USB-A port integrated to the entertainment screen.


Boarding wrapped up quickly on this mostly full flight. There ended up being 2 empty seats out of 28.


The cabin was still looking quite fresh and new on this four year old aircraft.

The cabin was bathed in pleasant blue mood lighting after the boarding doors were closed.

Checking out the In-flight entertainment while waiting for departure, there is a ton of content including hundreds of movies, TV series, documentaries, music, audio books, and children's programming





There's even a large selection of non-US films.

There's of course a moving map, which is very modern with nice graphics. Flight time tonight is estimated at 12h29min.


The Flight
The safety video played as we pushed back from the gate for an on-time departure.




And we're off for a 12.5h transpacific crossing.


Wi-Fi was available after the aircraft was above 10,000 ft in altitude.

I was shocked to see that Wi-Fi was actually free on this flight! I later found out that AA were testing free Wi-Fi on a few routes and we were one of the lucky few.


AA are known for normally having very high Wi-Fi prices, so this was a pleasant surprise. What was not a surprise was how poor the connection was for most of the flight–good thing it was free! I would not have been happy had I paid the normal price of $35.

While the Wi-Fi wasn't great, it was free so I can't really complain. One nice feature available through the Wi-Fi portal that did work well was streaming entertainment.

The content is the same as you'll find on the seatback IFE. At first I didn't see the point of having streaming IFE when there are monitors at every seat, but as we all know, hardware can break! One of the passengers in the Premium Economy had a non-working monitor, so the wireless entertainment to personal devices came in very handy on such a long flight!


I stuck with the main screen and had plenty of time on this long flight to re-watch several of the Lord of Rings films in honour of travelling to Middle Earth.

Dinner was served almost an hour into the flight. I had pre-ordered the beef brisket option in the app–I believe there were 4 pre-order options, while there were only 2 options onboard for those who hadn't pre-ordered.

While it was nothing terribly fancy, it was a pretty decent meal by Premium Economy standards considering that many airlines serve similar meals to Economy. The meal service in AA's long-haul Premium Economy is very similar to their domestic First class standards.



The cabin was completely darkened as the meal service wrapped up. I had a nap for a few hours, falling asleep in the middle of one of the LOTR movies, which I'd seen a million times already.

I woke up about halfway through the flight. I thought it was interesting that our route took us right over Hawaii. I assume we were avoiding some weather as I believe the route is normally further south.

Cabin crew handed out hot snacks in the middle of the flight consisting of a warm ratatouille-filled wrap. There were also self-serve snacks and drinks available in the galley between Business class and Premium Economy throughout the flight.

After sleeping on and off for the rest of the flight, lights were turned back on for the breakfast service prior to landing.


My son's child meal was served first. As usual with AA there wasn't really anything that stood out as being much different than standard meals, whereas other airlines make more of an effort to differentiate with items more appealing to kids.

For the standard meals, there were two choices for breakfast an "American breakfast" or fruit plate. I always find it odd when AA serve fruit plates as a main course with a side fruit plate. I went for the hot option.

It was fine, again very similar to a Domestic First class meal, the main difference being that drinks are served in plastic cups in long-haul Premium Economy, which feels like an odd choice considering that the meal itself is upgraded and served on real plates with real silverware.
A video on the customs process on arrival in New Zealand is shown shortly before landing.


Amazing how almost half of the planet is covered by the vast Pacific Ocean!

Almost there!


Looks like we'll be getting in exactly on time.


We ended up parking at a remote stand and taking busses to the terminal.


Deplaning on a remote stand gave us some beautiful views of our aircraft on a very nice summer morning.



The parking stand was very close to the terminal so it only took a few minutes to reach the arrivals area.


It wasn't too busy as it appeared we were the only international flight arriving at that time so we were through rather quickly.


After such a long flight we were happy to get to our suite at the Pullman Auckland to freshen up and relax for a bit before exploring the city.

The hotel was in a perfect location to explore the beautiful and lively central business district and harbour on foot!


Some amazing views of the city from the Sky Tower!


There's even an option to have an even better look at the views from the outside! Nope…I won't be doing that ever 🤣

Wow, believe it or not just a few hours ago I was thinking about how there aren't many Air NZ reviews on this site, so I'm looking forward to your next FRs!
This looks like a pretty good flight and better than what I'd expect from AA. Plenty of space and decent amenities. They seem to have done a good job with the meals, especially the real silverware and plates, and that mid-flight service.
Yeah that is odd, I'd understand it for a special fruit meal but as a regular meal if there's going to be fruit anyway then they might as well have a different main (or a different side).
Well, that's certainly appropriate for this trip
Overall seems like a good experience and not a terrible price for it either. Thanks for sharing!
Hah what a coincidence. I would love to try NZ on long-haul too, but I always have a hard time straying from oneworld alliance out of FOMO points/status haha
The best thing about AA is that their hard product is so consistent across subfleets (except now with the brand new 787-9 cabins). As far as the service; however, that is always frustratingly inconsistent as we'll see on the return flight. Every time I have a good experience on AA and think I should give them another change, they right away find a way to ruin that with a new bad experience haha
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Yeah I'd like to as well, I only flew them once CHC-BNE. You should step out of your comfort zone!
Ouch, that doesn't sound good. I'll wait for the return FR then 😄
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing. Surprised AA even offers this route, wouldn’t expect it to be sustainable outside of peak tourism season. TBIT is that quiet approaching midnight these days during the peak TPAC block? SFO is jammed pack and barely has enough gates at this time.
AA’s W offering looks solid, the extensive in-flight amenities and meal presentations are definitely distinguishing from economy. The meal themselves look average, but serving the second meal on real tableware is rare for W that usually default to a Y-style meal. No menu cards offered? I would expect AA to offer these more premium touches on the highly competitive Oceania market that UA/DL seem to be stronger in. I think the lack of glassware in W is related to the galley space that number of additional items would require.
Where is the other AA plane at AKL coming in from, DFW?
Hey there, thanks for your comments!
It only operates during peak season haha. a Very short season of mid-December to March. I think our return leg was on one of the last seasonal flights to operate. They do run DFW year-round, but that's super inconvenient from SoCal
Yes, the fact that both meals are upgraded is nice. It's always disappointing to end on a low note on carriers that serve an Economy second meal, which as you mention, is most carriers.
Nope, neither on the outbound or return legs
Yeah it's possible though considering how small the J cabin is on 788s with only 20 seats they really could serve W from the J galley, or at least store the glasses there. Most other carriers manage to have real glasses in W (at least the first service)
Correct! Good catch. Yeah I figured they got the gate with jetway since they arrive and leave earlier than the LAX flight. Fine by me!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello Kevin
The price for this leg was considerably good, compared for the average price
The lounge you visited in LAX looks very good and the food service you got really made the visit worth
Such a great touch to deliver a children menu too (and your little boy definitely appreciate)
The meal onboard looks good, I think the presentation is more careful and detailed than other Y+ meals I've seen here
I can imagine how lucky you feel discovering Wi-Fi onboard was free, I'd spend all my flight check-in Flight Radar
Disembark via stairs on long-haul flights is always a nice experience, seeing those heavies from the tarmac delivers great views
Enjoy the Middle Earth and look forward for the next reports ;)
Ciao Carlo, thanks for your comments!
Absolutely! It's always a gamble to buy Economy and try to upgrade later, but the sale price was just too good I couldn't pass up such a deal, haha. And I got lucky with good upgrade offers for both legs! It helps that I bought the tickets 10 months ahead and checked the app daily to check for upgrade offers...sometimes OCD behaviour can pay off haha
Qantas First class lounges are consistently amazing--having access to these is a huge perk of oneworld Emerald status!
Haha, I definitely spent the whole flight on FR24, though the Wi-Fi didn't work very well. Still it was nice to have!
Thanks!
Hi Kevin, really excited for this series, as I remember seeing some of your pictures before.
That’s quite a good price. Around 2K RT for premium economy down to NZ is very good, I know Australia can be a bit cheaper if I remember correctly.
Gosh, this is just where AA shines no doubt about it. I mean, even as a 1K member on UA it just gets you a little dedicated kiosk in Business ugh, so I am very jealous. Combine that with the fantastic QF Lounge, it is really is the perfect way to start a flight. The only thing I wish is that AA followed suit with DL and had a private lane (at least in LAX/JFK) for security as while you might have skipped it, I always find it embarassing skipping the queue.
Oh look… a stem 🙃
The amenities look quite nice, in fact, I think this is the first report (in W) I have seen since AA updated their amenities last year for J, F, and premium economy, so it is cool to see a similar bag to J. I’ve gotta say, when those new cabins debut on -9 (or have they already now, I know ORD-LHR is soon) it will be an even more beautiful experience. Not that premium economy is bad now, but the new cabins look elegant and with the good amenities…
Free wifi and upgraded meals minus the fruit plate (which I shall never understand how they can serve as a main)? Not too shabby at all, apart from the glassware. I do have to ask though, considering you woke up with halfway to go, how bad was the jetlag the first day? haha
😅 haha. Scared of heights as well? Thanks for sharing a few pics already, looks so beautiful and the Pullman looks really nice as well!
Have a nice day
Hey, thanks for your comments!
Yeah it's an amazing deal! Definitely a gamble as upgrade offers are not guaranteed, but it helps that I booked the flights a good 10 months out. Upgrade offers were consistently above $1000 each way (which is still decent considering I paid under $800 RT); but obsessively checking every day paid off when lower upgrade offers popped up. AU flights are usually cheaper to buy W--usually around $3200-3500 when buying far enough ahead while NZ is always closer to 4K or more despite being a slightly shorter flight. I assume it's because of less seats available on the route and more demand during peak Southern Hemisphere summer season.
Yes, AA definitely still do a few things right and these touches have remained from their days as a more premium carrier. This is also something that AA and BA both consistently offer, which is nice
I could never even imagine an AA fishbowl in the QF F lounge 🤣 Granted, to AA's credit, they do have proper champagne flutes in Flagship lounges. I think they only use them in F on board, which I guess will stop once they no longer offer an F cabin when the 77Ws and 321Ts are all retrofitted
Yes, and I really liked the new lumbar/neck pillow. This design is no much better than normal pillows for these types of seats. Nothing beats the Finnair neck pillows though!
I hate that they do the stupid fruit plate with a side of fruit even in long-haul Business. That honestly should only be a special vegan pre-order thing.
It's such a long flight I fell back asleep for a few more hours so honestly i slept most of the flight. I actually love the timing of this flight leaving at midnight and arriving in the morning. I wasn't even remotely jetlagged when I arrived...maybe a little stiff from sitting for so long, but I slept a lot haha. When you think about it NZ is only a few hours difference from California. It's actually way easier to adapt to NZ time than it is to the 9 hours when we go back and forth to Europe
Very much so! I'll stay behind the safety of the glass thanks very much 🤣
Thanks for stopping by!
nice cabin product on the b7879 to new zealand and nice meal too as well hope you had a great time do stay tuned to my next trip report on CX a330 300 comming in june best regards pheeplanes
Yes, had a lovely time in NZ, Thanks!