Air New Zealand business class review calls out herringbone seating

Two travel influencers have labelled Air New Zealand’s business class as the ‘world’s weirdest’ in a critical review of the service.

Kara and Nate, a married couple who work as YouTube creators in Nashville, Tennessee, reviewed Air NZ’s business class in a video posted on the Daily Drop YouTube channel.

The review covered their experience during two flights, Sydney-Auckland and Auckland-Tahiti, which totalled eight hours and cost the pair *$3472.

According to the video, the couple did begin their journey with some biased ideas on what it would be like.

“I have heard that the configuration of the seats on Air New Zealand business class is some of the worst flying the sky,” Nate said at the start of the video, adding that after flying to hundreds of destinations, they were debuting an official rating system they would use for this flight.

First, the couple filmed themselves trying out the Air New Zealand lounge, which business class passengers automatically get access to.

Then, they boarded their flight and walked through the herringbone seating; an experience Kara described as “so weird”.

“I’m just letting the initial shock wear off for a moment and then I’ll give a seat tour,” she said. Eventually, she deemed the in-flight entertainment selection as “huge” and said the reclining chair was pretty comfortable.

However, Nate maintained that the seat configuration was unusual.

“Air New Zealand wins the award for the most awkward business class seat configuration,” he said to camera.

“I’m just looking at a lot more people’s heads. Somehow I feel like I’m inconveniencing people just by putting my feet up.”

The couple admitted that any business class was always better than economy but that it was “kind of fun to be a bit opinionated”.

Kara then sat on the platform that can operate as a “buddy seat” or a footrest before judging that it was far better as a footrest.

Fortunately for the couple, Air New Zealand has already announced plans to update the herringbone layout and seats on certain aircraft.

During the meal service, the couple praised the items, including the garlic bread which was “the best bread” they’ve ever had on an airplane.

Near the end of the first flight to Auckland, Nate said he realised their 10-category rating system wasn’t the easiest to debut.

“I’m coming to the realization that the challenge with the scoring system is I’m not exactly sure what I’m comparing this flight to,” he said.

“This flight is less than three hours long so if you compare it to domestic first class flight in the US obviously this is way better even if you take into account the awkward seating arrangement.”

The seat experience was especially great when it was converted into a lie-flat bed, which the couple said was super comfortable and cosy.

However, Nate still said it was “the most awkward business class seat” he had ever sat in.

In conclusion, the couple’s marks for the lounge, food, seat, bed and other elements, produced a score of 71 out of 100.