The highlight of this trip is to see the crucifixions near Manila on Good Friday. While this had always been an idea, I decided to make it happen when Air New Zealand announced flights to Manila.
Eventually, the proposed service quietly disappeared into the ether. But I decided to continue with the idea when Qantas had a sale to Hong Kong (their Manila flights weren’t cheap as there wasn’t much competition and the days didn’t work out).
My departure was 0835 from Auckland to Sydney. I got to the airport about 2h beforehand. The online check-in queue was non-existent and I was through airside in no time. The good luck with queues here and there meant that I had a little too much waiting time.
I had been assigned a window seat during online check-in and was unable to change it for free. But at the airport I managed to change it to an aisle seat in row 14 which was an exit row. Despite being the 2nd exit row on the 737, it was non-recline. I can’t work that out as it wouldn’t recline and obstruct access to any exit. Quite the opposite, on some (they have several configs) Air New Zealand A320s they allow recline on the first exit row and the row before it, on some aircraft as long as it isn’t the window seat.
Anyway, there was lots of legroom and it was comfy enough with the pillow which I had asked for. The hot meal was nice enough and there was an option for a fruit platter. This is my third experience with Qantas’ New Zealand based crew. Unfortunately I have to conclude that they’re not a jolly bunch in their interactions with their customers; they’re not the most pleasant but at times you get a hint of defensiveness and aggression in their response to customers.
The transfer time in Sydney of 1h10 was very achievable with no queues at security; no boarding pass check was required to go through from arrival to departure unlike in some countries. I got to my gate at the expected boarding time but it didn’t commence till a little later. There was only a pre-boarding announcement and it led into full boarding without further announcements for boarding by zone.
I had been assigned a window seat in the second to last row of the plane. There appeared to be a few spare seats around; the only ones left on the plane. Unfortunately, there had been a little reshuffle and I did have someone next to me. I couldn’t shift anywhere that would make an improvement 🙁
Having downloaded bank statements etc to work on the flight, I was disappointed. The situation was not conducive and I didn’t do shred of work. I did watch a few documentaries from their wide selection of very good entertainment programmes.
I was very impressed with Qantas catering on the flight:
- Upon take-off we were offered a bottle of water each which they crew would happily refill.
- The main meal delivery and collecting in was slow. They were kind enough to give me a second meal of Thai beef salad (not spicy enough for me).
A few of hours later, they came round with fresh apples. - Another hour later, it was an ice cream bar.
- And about 1h20 before landing, it was a box of fried noodle served barely warm.
The hardware was good too:
- The seat was comfy with lots of recline but the downside was that it was very cramped when the person in front takes advantage of that feature.
- There is also a basket-style footrest.