Air New Zealand
reviews and complaints

i have booked a flight from air new Zealand, but i missed the flight come to New Zealand, so i booked another flight from other airline to come new Zealand.
when i want to return back, they told me i missed the coming flight, so the return flight automatic canceled, and they without any notification to me about this, i just shocked at the moment they told me when i try to check in. and i didn't get my money back even i didnt take any seat on both flights. feeling dispoint to this airline, wont take it anymore

My father his a heart patient and has diabetes as well he didn't get wheel chair both times while travelling from fiji to new Zealand and then new Zealand to fiji.it was even more sad when air New Zealand staffs here in New Zealand asked him to walk and they can't help it they said he was too late for wheel chair but he was on time due to long lines that day made some delays thou it was late oh early they should have provided wheel chair he started having chest pain and had blister on his foot because of long walk now who will take that responsible.

My husband and 4 yr old daughter were at the Auckland, New Zealand airport for 2 days due to rude and impolite supervisor who wouldn't let them board their flight on Jan. 5, 2018. Confirmation num RNNTZP. US immigration said my husband wouldn't need a visa to transit thru Canada to get back to America. Since my husband is a legal residence (green card holder) here in America and my daughter being a US citizen I didn't have the money to reroute their their ticket back to Tonga.My husband could've been deported back to Tonga and had his rights revoked to travel to New Zealand or even back to the US because he was not allowed to stay in the airport for more than 24 hrs. It cost me more money than I had to try and get my husband and daughter back due to the poor customer service in New Zealand and it being from a supervisor is even more unacceptable. I'm very upset because I choose Air New Zealand over any airline to travel to and from Tonga. I've spent hours over the ph with people trying to help me get my family back but still had to pay an arm and a leg to have my family back in the US. My sister in law was also told by an employee at Auckland airport that she needed a visa to travel to Tonga and she is a US citizen. I want to be heard for the trauma your employee(s) /supervisor caused my 4 yr old daughter. Please reply to my complaint because I will not rest until I get answers on why my family was treated with disrespect.

Dear Air New Zealand

I am writing to complain about the recent cancellation and subsequent rebooking of my son's flight from Perth WA to Auckland NewZealand. My son was unable to fly with us on the 27 December so we booked and paid for his flight for the 3 January. We planned booked and paid for our accommodation prior to his arrival.

The gentleman who we spoke to was very polite but this does not make up for the inconvenience of changing flights and accompanying accommodation to suit your maintenance schedule.

We were offered a flight requiring a stop over of 4 hours in Melbourne. This was to be my son's first international flight alone and he is also deaf in one ear making hearing announcements difficult. This is why we booked a nonstop flight.

We were eventually able to book a nonstop flight but the change in time meant instead of taking advantage of our late check out from our Snells Beach Air B and B we had to get up at 5am to battle traffic to reach our son. We were then unable to check in to our next accomodation due to our early start.

Your very polite representative gave us a free number to use to book and make changes to our son's flight which cost us $28 even though we explained to the representative that we would be ringing from an Australian mobile.

The entire experience has left an extremely poor opinion of your airline and wondering what will happen with our return flights.

Ralie Rogers
10 Albion Street
PERTH. WA. 6025
Ralie.[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]

Hi, I was on a flight from Shanghai to Auckland in business, placed my I-phone 6 on the board of the TV screen and went to the restroom. in the meantime the stewardess prepared the bed and closed the screen and crushed my phone. the purser recognized the damage and gave me a card with email address to write my complaint to but 1, 5 laters and numerous complaints later I got the message that I should ask my own insurance since every passenger is responsible for his own goods during the flight. A JOKE! And I am a SENATOR CARD passenger with Gold card. - nice ! what happens if the stewardess ruins my mobile by spilling a coffee on it? same thing ? lame excuse!

Dear Air New Zealand Management and Board of Directors,

I own an exclusive luxury travel magazine that caters to the uber-wealthy, and am here in New Zealand on my way to Kauri Cliffs to review some of NZ's top accommodations. I always fly Air New Zealand, whenever possible for the last 30 years and count myself as one of the many publishers who have given Air New Zealand rave reviews along the way and contributed to your reputation as the best airline in the industry.

For the first time ever (in my lifetime actually), I had a negative encounter with a flight attendant (Bree-Anne Scott) and pilot (James Featherstone) on one of your flights this morning. Here are the facts:

—As I was boarding, my colleague and I noticed a flight attendant (Bree-Anne Scott) being very short with passengers and creating tension around her. We commented on it to each other, and remarked that she seemed to be in a very bad mood.
—Later in the flight, just as the pilot was announcing the decent, I was wearing loud-ish headphones with classical music (as I sometimes do to sooth my fear of small planes) and did not hear the overhead announcement to put electronics away.
—That same flight attendant, was on top of me immediately asking me to do three things: Put my seatbelt on, put my laptop away, and put my phone away.
—I was eager to comply and felt badly she had to ask me. I slammed my laptop shut and started to put it away, but she loudly and aggressively barked at me to get my seatbelt on. So I set the laptop in the empty seat next to me and started to work on my seat belt. I have bad arthritis and fumbled with my seat belt buckle for a couple of seconds. The flight attendant became immediately impatient, giving me less than 3 seconds to complete the tasks before she repeated her command louder, and switching her command back to "I said PUT AWAY YOUR LAPTOP!"
—At that point, she was rattling my nerves so much (which were already on edge from my fear of small planes), I informed her that I could only do one thing at a time and was confused what she wanted me to do first"
—She became triggered and accused me of non-compliance, which was an outright lie and extreme exaggeration since I jumped to action the minute she spoke and worked diligently to get things put away. The plane had not even begun it's decent and all of these interactions took place in less than 30 seconds since she first asked me to close things up. In any event, I kept working as fast as I could, got buckled and devices put away in about 60 seconds tops.
—My business colleague and 2 other passengers on the flight witnessed the whole thing and came forward later offering me their contact information as corroborating witnesses since they were horrified on my behalf.
—The next thing that happened was that I was accosted by the pilot when we exited the plane and in front of my associate, he shamed me and berated me calling me a "rude" and "non-compliant" passenger. At this point I felt humiliated and bullied, as he and he wagged his finger in my face, while the flight attendant stood behind him with her arms crossed.
—I asked him if he would like to hear my side of the story and he said "No, I can see what kind of low person you are from the interactions my flight attendant has described and I'm not interested in anything you might have to say". This was an attack on my character, which felt abusive, and further humiliating.
—He also said, "I stand by my flight attendant, and back her 100% on whatever she say", which normally I would think commendable, but in this instance, the two of them acted like partners in crime, and I could sense a pattern.

While I fly ever 300 days a year and am crystal clear on the utmost importance of passenger compliance with safety and crew instructions, and wholeheartedly agree and comply with that concept, always……what happened to me on this flight, is an all too common abuse of power by flight attendants that is happening more and more these days, where caustic, foul-tempered flight attendants are allowed to bully passengers, and then accuse them of exaggerated safety-violations to the pilot or ground crew if they get their feathers ruffled. It's truly wrong and should not be allowed to go unchecked. Flight attendants have zero accountability for their own mis-deeds since so often, no superiors are watching their interactions, and all the have to do is cry "safety-violation" and suddenly the passenger is immediately assumed to be guilty, and the flight attendant can get away with being as rude, and abusive as they want, taking out their bad moods on whoever they please.

I have been wondering why Air New Zealand's sterling customer service ratings have been going down, ….and now I think I understand. Unfortunately, I will have to join the growing ranks of travel writers and passengers who are dissatisfied with Air New Zealand's customer service and see the airline as falling from grace. I am also planning to publish this story in my online travel blog. However, i'd like to give you the opportunity to respond before doing so.

Please feel free to reach out to me if youw'd like any further details or contact information of corroborating witnesses. While I think the pilot was just doing his job (albeit to an unwarranted extreme), I think you have a very bad apple on your hands with this flight attendant and she does not represent your brand well.

Sincerely, Kristine

Paid for THE WORKS at $1100 but did not receive the works!
-Paid for movies but once on board the screen advised us we could access all movies for an extra $10
-Food was disgusting Sydney to Auckland...gluten free dish of old tasteless fish pie was awful...stale potatoes and peas...super sweet dessert bar...tried non-gluten on the way back and that was not much better
-Rotorua leg of the journey cancelled (heard if there aren't enough people they cancel quite regularly)...put up in hotel where guests arrive throughout the night so no sleep...others offered a bus...wonder if ANZ would have paid for a physio the next day?
-Rotorua to Auckland trip home...the baggage from numerous planes came out of only 1 belt with prams & delicate luggage coming out of another belt to the far left and with no signage so many customers were left confused... after a long wait my bag NEVER CAME and after another wait discovered it had not left Rotorua!
Lost bag...AGAIN (happened on last trip)... arrived a day later.
Left a nasty taste in my mouth about ever flying with ANZ again!

To whom this may concern-

On Thursday, October 26th 2017 I was scheduled to be on a flight from Heathrow Airport, London to LAX airport in Los Angeles (flight # EBYP8H). I left with plenty of time to get to the airport, as I am never late for flights. Unfortunately, due to major road closures, bridge closures and tube delays near the Roehampton School, I arrived to the airport 45 minutes before the plane departed. I had pre checked in for the flight and had one suitcase that I needed to get home. When I got to the Air New Zealand desk in the Heathrow airport, I kindly asked the staff what could be done to get my on my flight, even offering to board the plane without my bag, and have it sent at a later time. Not only were they extremely rude, unhelpful and dismissive, they gave me no sense of security and no help with getting on to another flight. I am a young female American, traveling alone for the first time, I was visibly distraught and the Air New Zealand staff only made matters worse for me. A female team member said to me "I'm done having this conversation with you, " as I am visibly crying and panicking about not making it on my flight. While I understand that you do have to arrive earlier than 45 minutes to make it on an international flight, it is completely unacceptable to treat any customer with this kind of disrespectful and dismissive manor. I work in customer service and was appalled that grown adults would ever speak like this to a young traveler who was clearly desperate to get home.

The airport team refused to book me on the Friday 10/27 flight, saying that I had to book it in person the day of. This made me feel very uneasy not having a guaranteed seat on a plan home. I called Air New Zealand and spoke with a woman named Jacinta. She said the only thing that she could do was book me a new ticket ($754), charge me a change fee ($200) and a service fee of ($50). Jacinta advised me to speak with a supervisor at the airport about having the ticket fee waived because of the circumstances of being treated so poorly by the airport staff, and having already purchased a ticket home ($410) for the day before. When I arrived to Heathrow on Friday 10/27, an Air New Zealand staff member who I had spoken to the day before looked at me and said "you look better today." How on earth is it appropriate or professional to speak to a customer this way? Again, I was reliving a horrible day where no one from the Air New Zealand company helped me, gave me guidance or assurance that I would be able to get home.

When I arrived to the airport on 10/27, I asked to speak to an Air New Zealand supervisor. I explained to him my situation and told him that Jacinta had said to talk to him about having my ticket fee waived. He informed me that this was not true, he would not be able to help me and that Air Newland corporate (Jacinta) has the authority to do this. The supervisor then told me to speak with Air New Zealand airport operations manager Douglass Bennett. Douglass told me the same thing, the airport team cannot make this call and that I will have to call Air Newland again. At this point I have been tossed from person to person trying to find a solution and no one from your team has been helpful or kind. The fact that there is such a disconnect between corporate and the airport is unprofessional and confusing.

Here I am 2 weeks later, still with no answer and no help from anyone. I have emailed Air New Zealand and talked to representatives on the phone and no one has found any solution. Never in my life have I been treated with such dismissive, cruel manor. Being in another country, alone and having missed a flight, your crew offered no help, they made me feel worse about the situation, and had me spend $954 to get home.

Please let me know what other information you need to make this right and fix this situation. 

Rae Jackson 

Talofa there,

Last night the 29th July 2017, was my fifth flight with air new zealand within 40 days.

It surprises me that last night was different that some flight attendants were discriminate people if I can say the right word.

Anyhow, I hope that the response I got from one of the flight attendants was made on good faith.

I sent a mail to crew and asked what time is kitchen opens and I received no respond.
Few minutes after, self service online was opened up for people who wants to buy something. I made approximately $12 purchase but I still needed more food. When I got back on screen, only sandwich is another option but I needed hot food. So I mailed the crew again if theres left over of meals like curry and rice that I can buy. No one responded to me. Then I saw this other flight attendant stood like 3 meters away from me and then I asked her if the mail on screen works.

Sadly this is what she said "oh is it about a meal that you want to buy?" I said "yes please". She replied "umm there are left overs but unfortunately they are not available for purchases".

What would you do if you are a shy sort of customer and you did not want everyone else to know what you asked for?

I dont know what your answer is but I CONSIDERED IT OFFENDED, I felt embarrased and offended.

My concerns are:
1. Why didnt someone responded to my mails ?
2. Why didnt someone just come and whispered to me if its a requirement that left overs are not allowed to be purchased on the plane instead of talking to me from like 3 meters away and let all other passengers knew that I asked for food?
3. Why didnt I offered a lolly before the plane lands?

Of course I dont travel first class when I travel, but I am another human being just like everyone else on the place. I do feel embarrased and offended too when I am not treated with respect like everyone else. I dont mind if its true that left overs are not available for purchase but I do mind my rights to keep my infomation and all my needs confidential. I do have the right to treat with respect and equally just like every other human being whether white or brown big or small etc...

One of my flights within the last 40 days, there were four of us all dependent on me including one adult and two dependent kids. Three of my flights was included another adult who I paid for. Two of my flights was just me. Isnt that enough to be treated with respect on the plane?

Air New Zealand airlane serves most of my families travel to and from. It is fully trusted however, what happened last night was inappropriate and I would consider this matter seriously if I manage the staffs on plane.
Who knows how many other air new zealand passengers who treated the same way I was treated last night but couldnt voice their concerns?

Its inappropriate and it made my trip last night uncomfortable.

My email is [removed]

I was sitted on seat 27A. There was a old man on the same row and was sitted in 27C. He witnessed what happened. Then he offered me a chocolate bar but I didnt accept it.

Thank you indeed.

I find it unfair and stupid that comming off a international flight to a demostic flight I have to pay $60 for my carry on backpack because I have duty free. Whats the point in duty free when u have to pay $60to chek in ur 1.5 kg carry on back pack. I understand that there are rules that need to be folowed for safy reasons, but at some point you have to understand where the traveler is comming from.. It seems like yous are just doing anything yous can to make money of kiwis in a situation like this. I was using air new zealand for convince but I shall not do so ever again and yes I will be telling people about this horrible experiance I have had here at the auckland demostic terminal

I recently flew to Brisbane on Air NZ. I chose a 3 segment journey there (Chicago to San Fran to Auckland to Brisbane) and a 3 segment journey back (Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles to Chicago). The only reason I flew Air NZ is because they are a part of the Star Alliance and I am trying to stay loyal to build status with them. FYI-Flying Qantas would have been quicker and cheaper.

Upon my return, I noticed that United had not given me credit for 2 segments on my return leg (Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles). I submitted a mileage adjustment with United and they sent me a letter stating that I did not fly the appropriate class to receive credit for those 2 segments. It was a $2700 ticket! Furthermore, I went on the Air NZ site and tried to re-create the flight and noticed that you cannot even tell what class you are in (aside from non-economy flights that you choose) until you print out the ticket - and pay for it of course. This means that I am not getting credited 8200+ elite miles.

I sent Air NZ an email, but did not hear back from them. United's customer service did not seem to care either. I have 4 trips scheduled in the next month on United (Star Alliance). They heavily promote staying within Star Alliance, but fail to honor mileage across the network. I am thinking about switching to American Airlines as they are cheaper and I have not heard of poor customer service such as this. I am a Consultant dealing specifically with Sales and Customer Service and would never advise a client of mine to treat their customers so poorly. Moreso, I work for a firm out of Australia and cannot imagine advocating the use of ANZ to any of my co-workers, especially the founder of the firm who has to fly from Los Angeles to Brisbane every 10 weeks or so.

I had the misfortune of booking two flights with Air New Zealand from London to LA. The cost was £1400, however, the following week they were £1000. Air New Zealand refused to do anything for me and told me in no uncertain terms that it was 'tough'!

Disgraceful service and I will not be using Air New Zealand again! Hang your heads in shame!

air new zealand premium economy rip off, you pay twice the price for very little more than you get in economy, after my complaint i was told my seat in premium economy from lax to Auckland was one/ half inch wider than a economy seat, i have been making this flight for more than 20 years with Qantas, what a big mistake that change was to try air new zealand, fair warning to all air new zealand is a full blown rip off you think you are getting something better because you paid for not so with air new zealand

I am a new zealand passport holder and wish to complian about the delays and food regarding flying with air new zealand.

1. my fligt on the 8th Septwas originally for 4pm from auckland airport but was delayed till 8pm which made the
arrival time 10pm .
In total my time sitting at the airport was 7 hours as i arrived 3 hrs prior as requested by your airline
this is unacceptable .

2. Dinner vouchers and phone cards were only issued if you physically went to the customer service counter and asked for
them and if you did not go you got nothing.

3. The food served was disgusting and what you would of expected to get on a budget airline and not Air New Zealand.

I have always loved travelling with Air New Zealand i have traveled with your airline all the way to Europe with 3 kids,

Your service has slipped quite dramaticly but your fares are still the
highest of all the airlines.

A reply in writing to the above address would be gratefully appreciated

Planned holiday in New Zealand from Australia. Booked flight from Christchurch to Queenstown and return with Air New Zealand early 2010. Earthquake hits Christchurch a few days ago. The kids are afraid to go to Christchurch. Jetstar were great and allowed us to cancel the flights from Australia with a full refund. In fact that was the policy about the earthquake they published on their website. We phoned Air New Zealand and asked if they would do the same thing and they refused outright saying that we paid 8 service fees (Two adults and two kids on a return flight) of $15 we could defer the tickets. So the best they can do for the $600 plus tickets they expect us to forfeit is that we pay another $120 to use the tickets another time. This is not much good to us as we live in Australia and have canceled the trip. Next time just fly Jetstar and give Air New Zealand a miss.

I have flown Air New Zealand multiple times in the past year, in fact, I've just earned Silver status and am quickly on my way to gold status with this airline. You would think the problems regarding the true, factual experiences of a more valued customer would be heeded, but this is not the case. Without whining about the details, a brief summary of the factual events are below. I am happy to discuss in greater detail, and am willing to provide details to journalists who need evidence to write articles about either Air New Zealand, or its Premium Economy class of service.

1) Tried to charge me a US$150 change fee to upgrade from regular Economy to Premium Economy, when the fare terms state that this fee was to be waived when upgrading to a higher class of service. Had to argue with customer service agent for 45 minutes until he finally logged in as me on my online profile and saw that I was right. I did purchase Premium Economy service at an extra cost of US$903 for an Auckland-San Francisco segment.

2) One of the reasons I upgraded was supposedly power ports in "most of the seats". I was told by the gate agent that no power ports existed in the Premium Economy cabin on this flight. Writing Air NZ customer service later, they now argue that this was not the case (essentially calling me a liar). This is in direct contradiction to the onboard power ports advertised on their website (ask me for a print-out of the airline's website page)

3) The food, which was supposed to be the same as business class, was disgusting (in particular, a fish dish). The food in regular Economy cabin has always been much better.

4) Due to the change in daylight savings time, the crew got our arrival time wrong and therefore only Business Class passengers got breakfast. All other passengers were not offered any meal service whatsoever. This seems odd to me - why would business class passengers be served an hour earlier than regular passengers? This sounds calculated to me.

5) Bags of Premium Economy and Business Class passengers were supposed to be delivered at the same time - earlier than regular economy passengers. Mine were delivered a full THIRTY Minutes after the other premium economy/business class passengers. Huge waste of my time.

In summary, Air New Zealand's "Pacific Premium Economy" service means a premium profit for the airline. True, you get more leg room, a cheap amenity kit, and nicer headphones, but these are small wins in the face of the other shortcomings. Most importantly, and disappointingly, my follow-ups have been completely disregarded by the company. I receive lip service but the airline will not stand by its mistakes. I cannot recommend Premium Economy on Air New Zealand. It was a complete waste of my money. I will also be trying the nonstop Auckland-Los Angeles service on Qantas Airlines in the future. Perhaps they will value my business more.

To the airline's credit, I have no issue with the flight attendants. The inflight service was very good. However, it was the airline's complete post-flight washing its hands of responsibility that have irrevocably disappointed me, and which are the impetus for my crusade to share the truth with other passengers who regularly fly between the US and New Zealand.