An Air New Zealand 787-9 Dreamliner. Photo / Getty Images
Tejas Lamb lies from Auckland to Denpasar on NZ245.
The plane: ZK-NZJ, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This was one of the type of aircraft grounded for a few months while Rolls-Royce fixed problems with their Trent-1000 engines.
Class: Economy. The seat I was assigned could also be converted into a Skycouch.
Price: $1062 one-way on a Saturday.
Flight time: Scheduled 9hr 20m and we were just one minute late touching down in Bali.
My seat: I was in 38C, the aisle seat a couple of rows away from the Premium Economy section. We were travelling in a family (of four) and the 787-9 is laid out in a 3-4-3 seating plan, but weirdly we did not get placed in the middle block. Instead we were seated as three in the middle and one on the aisle seat. It was pretty comfortable, but the person next to me took up half my seat after he raised the armrest mid-flight.
Fellow passengers: My neighbour complained a lot to the person on the other side of him, in 38A, as he only ordered a Seat + Bag fare. He thought meals and entertainment system would be complimentary. He kept on looking over my shoulder to see what I was viewing, but the anti-glare technology meant he couldn't see anything. He kept on buying alcohol — and ultimately the beer and whiskey seemed to make him sleep.
Many on board were families travelling to paradise for the school holidays, like us.
How full: One hundred per cent — school-holiday rush. Entertainment: The entertainment was very good. There was a lot of variation in terms of movies; they ranged from classics to new blockbuster hits, such as Black Panther. The actual screen however, was dirty and had a big chip out of its side.
The service: The flight attendants were very helpful, trying to respond to everybody's requests. They were caring, yet professional towards the passenger who forgot to buy food. As I was in the aisle and the rest of the family in the main section, they kept on forgetting about me and my vegetarian meal. When they did arrive, they handed the lady in 37A's meal first, which instead of being given a vegetarian meal, she was given a gluten-free dinner, which had meat.
Food: We were served a couscous salad with dried cranberries or sultanas accompanied with salad and the usual bread roll, butter and a vegan cake, which I did not eat. The food was good overall.
Toilets: Small and unclean but luckily I needed to use them only once throughout the flight.
Luggage: You're allowed to check in two bags per person, weighing 23kg, as per international standards. One of the bags was over the limit by 2kg but my dad persuaded the employees to let it on.
Airport experience: The Auckland to Bali service is a 10.05am scheduled departure but it was delayed and we boarded at 11.30am. This was very frustrating as we could have had more time in the lounge. The Premium Check In staff were nice and helpful.
The Koru lounge was very busy, full of parents with school children, which was expected.
When we arrived in Denpasar, we bought a pass that allowed us to be escorted through the airport avoiding queues. Denpasar Airport was horrendously busy and it was definitely worth the money spent for swift processing. We got through the whole airport, including immigration and baggage claim, in 35 minutes whereas, if we had not had the special pass, we would have had to wait for up to two hours.
The bottom line: It was a great flight and the service was good.
Telegraph: Paying visitors will be welcomed like official guests.