We use a recent business class flight experience to make a judgement.
Why no blog posts for some weeks?
In the second week of March, 2017, a group of 16 of us, all friends, headed off to South America, flying in and out of Buenos Aires, for a four-week tour of Argentina and Chile. It was my intention to submit blog posts at least once a week, however, it proved too difficult given the slowness and unreliability of Internet access and concerns about Internet security.
We returned to Australia on the 14th April.
We had some marvellous experiences covering Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Atacama and Mendoza so we will make the intended blog posts about our South American trip over the next few weeks. In this blog we just give an assessment of my return flight in Business Class.
Flights in both economy and in business class
Our flight to BA (Buenos Aires) was with Air New Zealand. There were two legs to the journey: (a) from Melbourne (or Adelaide or Brisbane, where some of our group members live) to Auckland of about three hours and (b) from Auckland to BA of about 12 hours. About half the group, including my wife and I, flew economy class while the rest flew business class. On arrival, the business flyers praised the ability to lie down and sleep properly and also commented on the extra perks available and on the quality of the food, wine and service.
For various reasons, my return flight to Melbourne on the 14th April was changed from economy to business class and while it is fresh in my mind I thought it would be interesting to give a personal assessment of the advantages of business class over economy from the point of view of food, wine and service.
Business class fares are roughly four times the cost of an economy fare
Most travellers will probably have experienced flying economy class, sometimes known as “cattle class”. The seating is cramped, with little leg or elbow room. The limited seat reclining means fitful sleeping at best. The food ranges from barely edible to quite good, there is a very restricted range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and the service is agonisingly slow as the trolleys make their way up and down the long aisles.
Business Class, presumably, was created for the business traveller. It is not the same standard as First Class but it has noticeably more comfort than economy and premium economy. The main attraction is to allow passengers to sleep well on long haul flights and arrive at their destinations feeling much fresher and energised. Secondary attractions are being able to use the airport lounges to freshen up and work in, faster boarding and disembarking, more comfortable cabin facilities including fewer passengers per toilet, and attentive on board service, with superior food and wine.
Many tourist travellers now choose to fly business class over economy or premium economy. Whilst they want the comfort aspect and extra perks, many also expect an out-of-this-world food and wine experience.
Airline marketing of the fine dining aspects of business class is quite conspicuous and might sway many travellers. So at four times the price of economy – possibly six times, possibly just three times – is business class worth it if you are a tourist traveller?
Following are the notes I made about my recent business class flight from Buenos Aires to Auckland. While it happened to be on Air New Zealand, it is not meant to be a critique of their service. The notes are simply about a single experience. Other airlines may have fared better or worse had it been them with whom I flew. The notes might provide some assistance in your decision making about what class to fly in.
For information on business class direct from Air NZ click here: Air NZ Premium Business Class.
The ambience, facilities and extras
I didn’t try to use the reciprocating business class airline lounge at BA airport as it was in another terminal.
Business class on the BA to Auckland Air NZ flight had seating for 24. There were noticeably many young men present and I later found out that half a dozen were Air NZ employees on “staff rates”. Overall there was a higher standard in the quality of dress and demeanour of the business class flyers compared to your typical economy travellers, but there were only 24 of them. Given the predominance of younger travellers, beyond the Air NZ employees, I wondered if business class is now no longer just the domain of the “business” traveller but also of cashed up youngsters and families.
The seats were “pods”, angled away from the windows towards the aisles, so it was very difficult to look out the window. Passengers were isolated from each other by the high sides. However, the pods were very comfortable: plenty of cushions, convenient entertainment screen and dining table, and the seats could be reclined or turned into a bed.
The headsets were nothing really special: more comfortable than economy but certainly not noise reducing. The entertainment options, while on slightly larger and easily moveable screens, were the same as in other classes. The seat messaging system where you could contact fellow travellers with a text message stopped working after a couple of exchanges.
The business class area is uncluttered and roomy enough, with very little noise from other passengers. It does take on a cluttered and dishevelled feel as the flight progresses, especially as people head off to sleep. I rated the ambience as 8 put of 10.
(Note though, that on the later flight from Auckland to Melbourne, there were two young children, one of whom let off frequent high-pitched screeches. Sleeping was not an issue for me on that short flight but it would have been a problem on the previous 12-hour leg.)
After “supper” it was time to sleep. The bed configuration is clever and comfortable. You can lie perfectly flat. It was easy to sleepy well, especially with a sleeping tablet. I rated the sleeping facilities as 9 out of 10.
On arrival at Auckland, I did pop in for a look at the Air NZ lounge. It was a hive of activity, with a constant din and with many seats taken by young and not so old travellers, possibly reflecting the predominance of tourist passengers there. I chose to find refreshments elsewhere, in the main transit area, at a reasonable cost and in reasonable peace and quiet.
The Menu
A detailed business class menu was waiting at my pod on boarding. There would be two meals served on the 12-hour flight from BA to Auckland – supper and breakfast. For supper there would be two choices “to begin”, three choices for “mains” and a sweet and a cheese course “to finish”. For breakfast there were four options “from the stove”. Thus, between the two meals there were about ten substantial choices.
It is common these days for airlines to have chosen celebrity gourmets to assist them with the food and wine they offer. The Air NZ menu indicated that two award-winning chefs helped with the “unique and memorable dishes” on offer. However, in fact the small print revealed that they each only created one of the ten dishes, the other eight presumably being created by the catering company.
The menu also indicated that four wine consultants and internationally recognised wine judges helped in the selection of the premium New Zealand wines that were on offer.
Following are my assessments of the supper, breakfast, wine and service treated separately. The quality of the photos is poor but hopefully they are still illustrative enough.
The supper
The menu promised much for “supper” but delivered uninspiring food.
To begin, I ordered the “Smoked duck with sherry vinegar, marinated figs, red grapes, quince paste and baby beet leaves”. It looked OK and was pleasant enough, if somewhat bland, with little flavour of smoked duck. It was the creation of one of the award-winning chefs.
It was only when I had eaten half of it that I decided to take a photo. Apologies for the quality of the photo – it took me a while to realise how I could create better lighting.
For mains, I ordered the “Gourmet beef burger with Swiss cheese, crispy bacon, caramelised onions, served with tomato relish, mustard cream, pickles and sweet potato crisps”. It was not a creation of one of the award-winning chefs. My notes say: “A pretty ordinary hamburger. Is this Swiss cheese? It isn’t gruyere or similar, no flavour, not melted. The meat part of the hamburger is fine but bland. Not sure where the crisps are.”
The attendant was happy for me to try the cheese course. The Argentinian cheeses were all chilled and cold and so quite hard. Not quince paste as we know it but more a thin tasting quince puree or jam. Partly because they were still chilled, the cheeses were really boring, reminiscent of commercial supermarket cheeses.
For dessert I chose the “Gourmet dessert of zabaglione ice cream with peach compote and chia seed tuille (sic) biscuit”. It was quite delicious, even though not a creation of one of the award-winning chefs. However, there were two scoops of ice cream but no peach compote! When I asked the waitress she had to go to the galley to get her typed up running sheet. It said it was a peach sauce not a compote; she apologised that the menu was incorrect.
The dinner/supper was certainly not one hat or one star restaurant quality. I rated it 6.5 out of 10.
(See later for my notes about breakfast.)
The wines
Given the preamble about wine consultants and internationally recognised wine judges, there was in fact no wine list and possibly there were no more than six or seven wines in total to choose from on board this 12-hour flight. (There seemed to be a good selection of other drinks, such as beer and spirits.)
The wines all seemed to be widely available commercial labels, rather than boutique wines. They could not be described as cheap wines, though they are far from top of the range.
The attendants were keen for passengers to try them. In all I tried six wines, though in smallish quantities.
A glass of French Champagne was available before take-off. It was a non-vintage and quite refreshing but not breathtaking. The wine: NV Billecart-Salmon Brut. A Google of the discount bottle shops shows it could perhaps be bought in Australia for around $60.00.
A second Champagne was available after take-off. It was fine too, but far from great. The wine: NV Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve. Estimated cost in Australia, $85.00.
A third sparkling was available which I did not try. The wine: Allan Scott Cecilia Brut NV. Estimated cost in Australia, $20.00.
An extra card inside the menu indicated that three fine NZ chardonnays were being profiled and to ask the attendant for them. My attendant was unaware of this chardonnay offer and only had one of the three on her trolley. The wine: Villa Maria Keltern Vineyard Chardonnay 2014. Estimated cost in Australia, less than $30.00.
I also tried a pinot noir (just one to choose from) with the hamburger, a merlot blend with the cheese and a botrytis dessert wine with the ice cream. These three were all NZ wines, but I did not take note of the makers, vintage, etc. The dessert wine was the wine of the trip. My notes say the chardonnay, pinot and red blend were “not out of the ordinary”.
I rated the overall wine experience as 6.5 out of 10.
The food and wine service
The table was roomy and provided a quite cosy and personal dining experience, with a tablecloth and quality glasses, crockery and cutlery.
The attendants, however, were far from maître d’ quality and seemed to have no food or wine training.
One of the attendants dropped my bowl of nuts on the floor when the tablecloth slipped. Later she let half of someone’s dinner slip off her tray.
My main attendant openly said she knew nothing about wine. She pronounced “merlot” as “merlotte” and “botrytis” as something like “boisterous”. She mispronounced “zabaglione”.
She took my tablecloth away and came back with the cheeses and was shocked to see “no tablecloth” and had to fetch another one.
However, the attendants were extremely pleasant and helpful. There was certainly the option of more food and wine if one wanted it.
The meal service was friendly and efficient but certainly did not have any class or finesse about it, especially combined with typos, mistakes, etc. I rated the food and wine service as 7 out of 10.
However, for all other service aspects, the attention from the attendants was terrific: I rated that as 9 out of 10.
Breakfast:
Around 10 hours into the flight, breakfast was served.
One of the assistants slopped some yoghurt on the floor in front of me. The “homemade” muesli had some rancid bits in it. The attendant confirmed that it was not “homemade” but that it would have been made by the caterers.
The coffee was very disappointing. My notes say: “Pretty ordinary coffee, plunger, weak, 4 put of 10.” The second cup I requested was lukewarm even after I asked to have the cup warmed up before refilling. The third attempt was hot but it was still weak, American fast food quality coffee.
From the four hot options, I chose the “Hot bacon bagel – a gourmet bagel with bacon, spinach and cheese, offered with onion jam and barbecue sauce”. The bacon roll was not a real bagel but a flavourless bun, with flavourless cheese, albeit melted. The onion jam was still chilled.
The Danish pastry was no better than standard hotel breakfast quality. The brown toast was tasteless, dry, biscuity and teeth clinging. It barely had a brown colour, even after “toasting”; and it was cold. The quality might reflect the difficulty of finding decent bread in Argentina! The marmalade was in a plastic sachet.
The breakfast on the long haul flight, then, was no better than a typical hotel breakfast and possibly little better than what was served in economy class. I rated it 6.5 put of 10.
(ps Breakfast was again served on the second leg, Auckland to Melbourne. My notes say: “Everything plain, tasteless and ordinary. Horrible coffee. No better than economy class?”)
Overall judgement: Is business class worth it?
Except for being able to sleep well and travelling in an uncrowded, comfortable environment, the overall experience was underwhelming and of highly questionable value to me.
I experienced unremarkable food, wines and service – somewhat below respectable restaurant standards. It certainly did not live up to the Air NZ hype: “In our Business Premier cabins you’ll be treated to an unforgettable culinary experience. Our world renowned Kiwi chef has developed a mouthwatering menu full of fresh and innovative creations … And, of course, there’s an extensive selection of premium New Zealand wines to complement all meals.” (Air NZ Food)
Using rough estimates, assume the cost for a one way ticket from Buenos Aires to Auckland is around $4,000AUD and assume the cost for a one way economy ticket is around $1000. (Note that return trips would be cheaper per sector.)
My guess for the value of the two meals and wine in business class on my flight is around $250. My guess for the value of two meals and a couple of glasses of wine in economy class on that flight was around $50. Thus business class means an extra $200 cost for superior, but far from great food, wine and service.
Thus the extra cost of business class compared to economy for the extra perks, comfort, ambience and ability to sleep on the 12-hour BA to Auckland flight is estimated at approximately $2750.
If you are a business person, politician, sportsperson, musician or someone who is incapacitated in some way or who needs to arrive at their destination well slept and feeling fresh, the cost of business class might well be worth it.
If you are going on holidays, and money does not matter to you, then go for it. However, while you sleep well during the flight you still suffer jet lag at the other end like everyone else. Those in the back of the plane might get several hours less quality sleep time, but that is quickly made up the next night at the final destination.
Consider a totally different flying option: a return trip, Melbourne to London. On Qantas, a return economy fare for May-June 2017 will be around $1,700AUD. A return saver business class fare will be around $7,700. Or $6,000 more. Value the food and wine and service at $1,000 for all flights combined.
This is an extra $5,000 per person or $10,000 per couple. That is a lot of money that could be spent on great accommodation, fabulous restaurants and extraordinary experiences at your destinations. Or it is a substantial total amount that could be put to your next holiday. Or pay for your children or other loved ones for their travel or day-to-day expenses. Or give to a charity. Or …
Is economy class flying all that bad? Not in my opinion (in general, as some airlines are not as good as others). For us it is character building to spend 24 hours each way in a little discomfort. The food and wine might be pretty ordinary, but it might not be much better up the front of the aircraft anyway, where there might also be crying babies and coffee that is just as dreadful!