Despite the best efforts of TFL and our transport system to confound me, I got to Heathrow by way of train to Victoria, taxi to Paddington, HEX to Heathrow. I almost forgot ANZ had switched terminals at one point and started heading to the front of the train, as if I was heading to T3. I had to have been on some sort of VS-influenced autopilot... after all, ANZ only moved to T1, what, over a year ago! (Where's the 'slapping forehead smiley'?)
My last 'box' on my VS Gold upgrade card got me a nice seat near the T1 exit at the back of the train, meaning I was up to the ANZ desks in no time at all.
Good job I did the taxi from Vic to Padd, because I realised the flight was almost an hour earlier than I expected it to be - thanks to us changing from daylight savings time a week earlier than the USA!
ANZ have now moved back into the main check-in hall in T1 - they were tucked into what was the old BA premier zone originally. This area has since been turned over for exclusive use by those *A members displaced from T2 - LH/OS/TP, etc. - a 'common user' lobby for them, fronted up by Menzies Aviation staff.
ANZ now have their own desks in the centre of the main hall, right next to the search area, with seperate and well signed desks for Business Premier/Premium Economy/Star Gold, and for 'everyone else'.
Seen straight away, choice of seat confirmed, bag checked-in, boarding card issued and passport stickered (still wonder what this actually proves at the end of the day?), and directed over to fast track, which, while wasn't as fast as the VS channel can be, was faster than the main line, and typical BAA security... 'Take your shoes off', said one BAA person. 'Why are you taking your shoes off?', asks the next. Hm. Okay. Scratches head...
Off to the *A lounge, which I was worried would be quite busy. Last time I was there in the mid-afternoon since the LH move from T2, it was heaving.
Being *A Au, I always had the BMI lounge in my back pocket as an overflow, though turns out this wasn't necessary, as LH/OS are using the BMI lounge for their Silver members (as they, like BMI DC Silvers, have a lounge entitlement when flying on 'their' airline).
I guess the previously busy *A lounge was due to the arrival of the entitled Silvers from T2, who have now been squirreled off to BMI, giving them some guests for a change, as they soon won't have many international flights left to use that lounge if they continue on their apparent path of self-destruction/self-preservation (depending on your point of view, i.e. if you're an LH Board member or not). May as well make use of it, I suppose.
Which brings up the question of which lounge do I like better of the two T1 lounges. The shared *A lounge, or the new BMI one?
I think I have to come down in favour of BMI's new International lounge, though it's a close call. It has a view outside of 09L/27R, a better standard of furnishing, and arguably a better layout. The downsides are that it's a mile hike away from the rest of the terminal - but is then most useful when you're leaving from one of the 'Gate 5s', and there's no bacon or sausage sandwiches in the morning like there is in the *A lounge.
I think the *A lounge has the upper hand slightly on the buffet food offerings, and being in the middle of things, but loses out on the layout, quality of furnishings, and inability to see out.
Anyway... We'll get in the air soon... ANZ are the only airline who provides their own concierge in the *A common lounge at T1, and I think it's because they like to call their lounge pax late in the boarding, to avoid the jetway scrummage, in a similar style as has been discussed elsewhere on V-Flyer recently. So, when the NZ1 pax were called down to the gate, not only was there no queue, but very clear priority boarding provided in advance of the gate area - general boarding is shunted off into the waiting area, while priority boarding bypasses this and goes straight into the jetway. Sadly, only one jetway though, so a small jetway tailback leading to ZK-NBV 'Christchurch', where I was welcomed onboard by name, and directed to my choice of 3A, which is in the nose on the main deck.
Pre-departure drinks and newspapers came very quickly, and the nice washbag amenity kit was waiting on the footstool. Gate to gate IFE was already switched on, which given there was a bit of waiting before getting underway once we were on board, meant that there was something to do in the meantime.
With wheels up around 4.10pm off 27R, service started quickly, usual good choice of NZ wines offered, a Sauv Blanc, a Chardonnay, an 'alternative' wine (turned out to be a Rose on this flight), a Pinot Noir and a Syrah, plus dessert wine.
The wines offered on the return flight a week later differed from the selection on the outbound as well.
ANZ have a six-month wine cycle, but it's a wide selection of wines, with a range of varietals and styles from different NZ vineyards. Not all of the wines fly on all of the flights, instead the wines are flown on some sort of random or rotating basis, which helps reduce the possibility of pax getting the same wine selections over and over again during a trip.
I do remember (through a boozy haze) we had a Villa Maria Pinot Noir, Sileni 2007 Syrah, Kahurangi 2008 Sauv Blanc, some sort of Chardonnay, and a Rose (this is a rotating style which could have instead been a Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurtztraminer or Viognier) on this flight.
The first drink service is accompanied by a small plate of antipasto style nibbles, rather than nuts or crisps.
ANZ had revamped the design of their menu booklet since my last trip, and on the front cover is a picture of some smiling NZ chefs who contributed to the menu (Rex Morgan, Geoff Scott and Peter Gordon), posed in a kitchen. A nice bit of design, which for a minute had me fearing that ANZ had abandoned decent inflight food in favour of pretending they have it, but I need not have feared...
Dinner service started shortly before an hour after takeoff, and shortly beforehand the FSM came through with appropriate paperwork, greeted me by name, recognised *A status, and checked if I needed anything else.
Back to dinner, the place setting including wine, water glasses, cutlery, sideplate, etc., is bought on a tray which includes the starter: 'Five spice smoked duck breast on mango and cranberry salsa with lemon infused olive oil dressing'. This was really nicely presented on the plate, and a very nice start.
A selection of warm bread was served hot on the heels of the tray to go with this, with an option of butter or oil.
Once the starter plate was cleared, the main course choices were:
NZ Lamb navarin and cutlet, with truffled potatoes and minted crushed peas. Looked pretty good. Another good 'lamb two ways'-type dish, similar to one I had out of LAX over a year ago.
- or -
Spicy coconut and coriander prawn curry with jasmine rice and ginger glazed bok choy. This was my choice, and I was really happy with it. Just the right balance of spices.
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Chicken penne pasta with thyme and parsley, courgette and toasted panko crumbs. A pasta bake by any other name. [:)]
- or -
Light choice of three mushroom and sun dried tomato tart with pea shoots and herb and caper dressing. Posh quiche? One of the crew was snacking on a piece later in the flight, looked pretty good to me.
Wine and water were kept topped up reasonably well through most of the meal, which was followed by dessert:
Gourmet ice cream - raspberry pannacotta and tiramisu ice cream
- or -
Banana, date, pecan and hazelnut sticky toffee pudding with fig and pear compote and vanilla ice cream
This was rounded out by cheese and fruit, offered with port, or just more red wine. [}:)]
Freshly made tea and cafetiere brewed coffee (rather than the instant bleh VS serve) were offered after the meal as well.
The meal was, like most other Air NZ flights I've taken, really good. Just the right amount, not too stodgy, well presented and good flavours that seemed to work well.
The above gastronomic blow out was accompanied by ANZ's great selection of on-demand entertainment.
As well as having recent releases, one thing ANZ seem to do really well, and much better than many other airlines, is provide a great selection of classic films and old favourites. Sometimes, when you're away from home, and away from comforts, you just want something you're familiar with, especially if you want something to fall asleep to! I think I preferred the selection to my previous VS flight.
You can check out what I mean on here on the Air NZ website, where the listings are available (make sure you look at the 747/777 listings, they are slightly different to the 767/320 ones).
Let's just say that the entertainment and the frequent drink top-ups helped the flight go by really quickly!
Afternoon tea was served before arrival in LA, a fresh fruit starter, followed by a selection of finger sandwiches, served from a tray, all actually quite edible and enjoyable - Thai green chicken curry with tomato, Three cheese rocket and sunblushed tomato, Roast beef with horseradish and beetroot relish, Smoked salmon with cream cheese. No curly edges! Those were followed by scones with jam and clotted cream, tea and coffee.
Given the time of year, a lot of the flight was conducted mostly in dusk/twilight conditions, on the usual 'up-and-over' routing over Greenland and Canada, with it finally starting to go properly dark as we flew over Las Vegas and started to descend into the LA Basin.
A smooth touchdown on 24R put us on the correct side of the complex at LAX, with the taxi to T2 and the usual tow-on to the stand, where everyone seemed to stay seated (having seen so many people get out of their seat during tow-ons, even though there's been a warning to stay seated) until we were on the gate.
There was the tail-end of the pax from the Air France flight waiting to go through the Immigration check, but that didn't cause any significant delay, a pleasant immigration officer said 'you're a busy guy' and stamped my passport, the priority tag obviously did it's stuff as my bag was somewhere in the first 20 or so off, and I was clear of the terminal within 30 minutes of landing.
A very good flight with Air NZ. Pleasant, attentive cabin crew, great service. Looking forward to my trip at Christmas!
Mike
