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Air New Zealand flies a robust domestic network within New Zealand. The airline also flies to many international cities with Oceania and North America. After experiencing Air New Zealand on a domestic flight, I was excited to see how different an international flight would be. 

Air New Zealand A320neo Economy Wellington to Sydney: Review

Booking

This was the first flight on a three flight ticket. I booked through United Airlines during a flash sale. The entire ticket cost just 60,000 United miles. In addition to this flight, I was able to book Sydney to Houston in United Polaris and Houston to Columbus, Ohio in United First. 

If you booked just this flight individually it would be 19,300 United miles or 12,500 Air Canada points. If using cash, I’ve found the flight to be consistently below $200. I recommend using cash as you aren’t getting great value for your points. 

Check-In

I arrived at Wellington International Airport at 3:30AM for a flight with a 6:30AM departure. It was so early there was only one small coffee stand open in the entire airport. Check-in only took a couple of minutes. The agent verified my passport and handed me my boarding passes. 

Boarding

Boarding began just twenty minutes prior to departure. Star Alliance Gold Elites boarded first. Then the rest of the plane. Everyone just lines up and you board in that order. I was a bit worried since I was one of the last to board that there wouldn’t be space for my carry on. That turned out to be a non-issue since most people check a bag. 

Seat

Like my flight from Sydney to Wellington, this was an all economy plane. I thought that was a bit odd on an international flight. I was assigned a seat at check-in. Air New Zealand charges for seat selection unless you have elite status. I was given an aisle seat. 

The first thing I noticed when I boarded was the mood lighting. Air New Zealand was rocking purple low light for this 6:30AM departure. I wish more US airlines would do something like this rather than the bright lights. 

The cabin is arranged in a 3-3 seating arrangement with three seats on each side of the aisle. The seat was fine for the four hour flight to Sydney. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable on a longer international flight. There wasn’t a ton of padding on the seat cushion.

The only amenity was a cheap pair of headphones for the IFE. Speaking of the IFE, there was one at every seat. It was clear and super responsive. There were tons of movies and television shows to keep you busy throughout the flight. 

I was one of the last people to board the flight. Apologies for not many cabin photos. 

Food and Drink

Because I was booked on a “business class” ticket through United, I actually booked into “The Works” economy fare. It came with a meal option. There were two choices on my flight. A cold muesli or the hot frittata. I chose the frittata. The frittata included potatoes, spinach, and mushrooms. It also came with salsa. Every meal came with a chocolate croissant. Both options were okay. 

Air New Zealand A320neo Economy Wellington to Sydney Bottom Line

Overall, this Air New Zealand flight was fine. There was a group of friends celebrating a bachelor party. The crew got them involved serving some candy towards the end of the flight.

I can’t imagine flying this economy seat longer than a couple of hours. It would be tough. That comes from someone that has flown Qantas economy. But it is fine domestically within New Zealand and shorter hops to Australia. 

Have you flown Air New Zealand economy before? What did you think of it?

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The opinions in this article are the author’s and not those of a bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.