Airnewzealand Reviews 

Terrible business, operation is border line like the mafia.
If the deal that thy sold you all of the suddenly is not longer extremely profitable they will blame the weather and cancel your flights.
But they not going to do that in advance
They will get you to come to the airport, wait hours, and delay it multiple times, only to in the very last minute they will cancel the flight and leave you stranded somewhere, barely an apology and no refund due to unforeseen circumstances even though in the speaker they advised that the very first 3 delays were due to crew requirement.
Now we stranded in a Friday and the only next available flight is Sunday
I flew here for a international race that I was going to be part of and now will miss the even, 10000s of dollars lost and will have to find a hotel, a cab etc
Never ever again. I understand that’s a war happening but if you canceling due to petrol prices advise us prior don’t bluntly lie to us and last minute change so you don’t have to refund us.
Pathetic business

Paloma was the lady at the gate scanning our boarding pass in Wellington, she lacked any personality whatsoever, was rude and obnoxious, and made me feel as a travel agent I will only ever recommend Jetstar now, this was a totally horrible experience from start to finish.

However, all was saved by Jenna on board the ATR from WLG to CHC, she was the most personable AIR NZ Rep that clearly cares so much about her passengers as much as her job itself, she is a testament to the airline and literally reinstilled faith in our national airline for me. Thanks for a most enjoyable flight and chat, you are incredible at your job and in just the right place. Kudos, and see you next time! Ma te wa.

ridicules customer service... changing flights only via phone,.. waiting time from overseas 45min. Chatbot,.. for ages with cumbersome link accessibilities.... next time SQ again hands down!

An absolutely horrible flight. Business class had herring none open layout meaning passengers look directly into face of another. I can safely say that almost ALL passengers were stunned and horrified by the unusual terrible layout. The crew were obliged to apologise repeatedly to us. The lie flat bed has to be made up by the crew crawling in elegantly onto the hole we are forced to sleep in. Food was also bad. Breakfast was a dried up finger picnic sandwich. The worst experience ever. To be avoided always

You will see a flight price, then get an error booking it, then when you refresh and try again the flight will go up by +15-30%. It has happened to me twice today, whilst trying to book different routes to Europe. Shame.

I booked a flight for my son who lives in Wellington to attend a job interview in Queenstown. Paid for a fully refundable fare (just in case) which cost, wait for it $900.00. He got to the airport 90 mnutes ahead of flight after checking that it was on time before leaving his flat. After getting to the airport after 20 minutes Air NZ announce flight is delayed for 90 minutes as it needs to be refuelled in Auckland (would have thought that might have been planned for). 20 minutes later they announce flight cancelled, apparently it can't leave Auckland. Queue at the airport is massive, go online to get a refund- but no, all I can do is reschedule or get a credit! So rang the help desk- due to industrial action wait times are longer than usual- maybe put more staff on to cover a known event? After 40 minutes waiting- gave up. Now online waiting for a chat bot to put me through to a human, been waiting for 30 minutes and still 14 ahead of me in the queue. Air New Zealand are REALLY REALLY poor, this is the 5th time in the last 18 months they have cancelled or delayed a flight for us. I would advise to actively avoid this airline, they are unreliable, expensive with only at best average service. Jetstar for most NZ routes are 50%+ cheaper than Air NZ and have a better punctuality record.

changed flight a day earlier with less than 24 hours till the new flight departed

removed the skycouch we had booked on the LAX-AKL leg

took the window seat away and put in middle seat instead.

s-h-i-t service

Customer service is absolutely terrible. During the air point system upgrade they've altered my first name by being culturally incompetent and placed half of my first name into middle name. This automatically stopped collecting air point. They won't restore these airpoints for me. Insanity is all I can.

I was flying from Wellington to Brisbane on NZ271 from Wellington to Brisbane on 17 January 2026. During the flight, I asked one of the female air hostess for a pen politely, as I don’t have one to fill out the Australia arrival card. She told me abruptly that she doesn’t have one, and walked away.
I then asked a male air hostess for a pen, je told me he doesn’t have one, but he said he will get one for me. I waited for half an hour, he didn’t come back to me, so I asked another female flight attendant, she said she doesn’t have but will get one for me. Half an hour later, (so I waited for an hour) the male air hostess have me a pen in the end.
I always thought Air New Zealand as one of the best airlines, but this experience ruined it. I understand air hostesses can be very busy but waiting for an hour to get a a pen is a little bit much.

What disappointed me most was the first female air hostess who was quite rude and wasn’t interested in helping at all.
I didn’t expect them to be particularly friendly and nice to me, but she was plainly rude. I think with her attitude, she should be a debt collector and not an Air New Zealand air hostess. Very disappointing.

Air new zealand need to focus on core business like aircraft maintenance and operations. In the last 2 years most flights are delayed or cancelled due to Air craft maintenance. Not acceptable. Quit the DEI crap and Air taxi spend and fix your planes. If you have not committed to an air points program then choose another airline.

Totally hopeless customer service website. Just try changing a seat or a flight.
These people should stick to playing rugby

Horrible service. We were meant to fly from Wellington to Queenstown today as part of our honeymoon. Not only was the flight initially delayed, but once the plane was boarded, the flight was cancelled due to the pilot being sick. Apparently, this is not the first time this has happened for one reason or another. Needless to say, not only did we waste precious holiday time after travelling all the way from Europe, but they caused us a lot of stress with missed excursions and having to make all the last minute amendments. We just hope that tomorrow's flight will not also be cancelled for whatever reason. Would not recommend this airline based on our experience.

Rude cabin staff. One out of nowhere invaded my personal space and tightened my seat belt for no reason I could see - the fasten seat belt sign was off. After I undid the seatbelt there seemed to be a determination to irritate me about the seat belt for the rest of the journey. I have flown nearly 1000 times and never had treatment like this

Air New Zealand wasted my holiday time at Wellington Airport today. If regional services will not be flown in gale force winds then let everyone know and cancel flights early and let clients make other arrangements. We had our morning flight and then the follow up afternoon flight cancelled. Actually they had no aircraft available for the afternoon flight. At the disruption desk we were advised they don't control the weather. As your passengers we don't control the weather, logistics, contingency planning or cancellation policies. A refunded ticket to use for a car rental would be appropriate. We got nothing, no voucher for a meal, accommodation for the evening, not a coffee, nothing. Hope Air New Zealand can organise flights tomorrow or provide adequate warning of cancellations.

Our luggage was lost during a transfer from Honolulu to Auckland. We had a connecting flight. Air New Zealand was super unhelpful in tracking our bags, leaving us to call around ourselves. We spent hours on multiple days calling around.
We still don’t have luggage despite finding the bags via Air Hawaii and letting Air New Zealand know where to pick it up! They said that “they don’t know what to do”!

We flew Air New Zealand since we used to have good service before but we were very disappointed in the airline this time round! If you’d like to entrust your valuables to the airline to deliver, remember once Air New Zealand received your money they do not see any obligation to keep their side of the deal!
My suggestion is to consider Air Hawaii or any other than Air New Zealand

Customer service 24/7 chat is a disaster. Been waiting for them to check why my checked in prepaid baggage has been reduced to 4 ( including wife and two kids) instead of 6 ( I paid for extra pre paid baggage for me and my wife) . Almost two hours and still waiting for them to check and resolve my queries. This is the night before my flight, as I checked in online I found out they change it to only 4 checked in baggage. Now I have to chat with them about this. This is giving me a headache. Terrible customer service. Lucky they change it through messaging, last time you have to call them, that was also terrible. But still the same, you have to wait for them to answer your chat messages even it takes two to three hours.Terrible and I hate it!

I had no idea Air New Zealand would be so bad. I wished I would've consulted this site first. Terrible!

Changed my selected seat 20 minutes before flight. Go ahead, pick whatever seat you THINK you are going to get, but it is all a sham. They'll move you at the last minute and be super rude about it. No sorry, no thank you for understanding... not even that.

Sometimes they won't even let you pick your seat and in that instance WATCH OUT. They reserve the right to bump you for someone handicapped or an employee. Not sure why that happens only at Air New Zealand. Other airlines seem to manage to fly disabled people and employees without bumping people from the flight. Unreal! Glad to see I am not alone on this. Terrible experience.

Worst airline I’ve so far experienced. First time AirNZ, never again!! Premium check in experience was a total chaos and nightmare. Takes one glance to understand why this airline can’t compete with CX or Singapore airlines. Wasted more than an hour. The flight was massively delayed too - the pilots were simply late. Can’t make this stuff up.

I had a very disappointing experience with Air New Zealand and will not be flying with them again.

My family arrived at Wellington Airport within Air New Zealand’s published guidance of 2–3 hours before departure and was inside the airport before the check-in cut-off. Despite this, several of us were denied boarding.

Self-service check-in machines repeatedly failed to process our passports, forcing us to seek staff assistance. Due to system failures, long queues, and understaffing, manual check-in took a long time. The staff member assisting us was repeatedly interrupted to help other passengers, which caused further delay — all of this was entirely outside passenger control.

Even though we were actively attempting to check in before the cut-off, and even though the flight itself boarded and departed 30–40 minutes late, Air New Zealand staff refused to complete our check-in and told us we were “too late.” Requests to verify our presence using CCTV were dismissed.

After the incident, Air New Zealand refused all refund and reimbursement requests, relying on assumptions rather than the actual evidence provided. Elderly family members were left distressed and we were forced to purchase new tickets at our own expense.

This experience demonstrated a lack of fairness, discretion, and accountability. If you rely on Air New Zealand’s published arrival guidance, be aware that it may not protect you when airline systems or staffing issues cause delays.

I am extremely disappointed and will never use Air New Zealand again.

Customer service line is impossible to get through. When you need to change a flight, it’s a disaster,they’d rather you couldn’t contact them at all.