Airnewzealand Reviews 

I did not pay the extra for a "flexi" ticket, and so when other factors, outside of my control, meant I couldn't travel, I was ineligible for a refund. I did pay the $20 for the CoverMore insurance add-on, but they would not cover it either. No "cancellation fee", no partial refund even cancelling months in advance. AirNZ abuse their monopoly of the NZ air space to collect as much money as possible.
I did make a complaint but they stuck to their guns on the legalese of the terms and conditions.

Wasting my time. Had to wait forever for a delayed flight at 2am in the morning just bullshit

Best long haul experience ever!
Crew are the best in the business, 3rd time flying with this company and the 3rd time i have been blown away with the service. Would not hesitate to recomend!!

So many cancellations due to so called "lack of staff". It happens so much it must be because your flight is not full enough so we are cramming you on another flight that day. So the whole system of paying a higher fare as the plane is booked up is a scam! Also don't buy the works on international flights that AirNZ uses partner airlines because you don't get the works on other airlines.

Same experience as everyone else here by the sounds, I can't remember the last time I caught an AirNZ flight that wasn't delayed or cancelled. They must be making no money based on the number of hotels they have to book for people. Jetstar is so much more reliable now when flying domestically

I have had 2/3 flights cancelled from Air Zealand. I honestly expected them to be a reputable airline, but now I genuinely would never book again. It actually makes me avoid the country as flying such a long distance to be let down by the national airline so many times makes me really disappointed. Do better

Absolute sh*t!
Being in business so long you'd think they'd have worked out how to run things a little smoother.. yet there is always an issue with delays, being charged incorrectly.. or just generally average service

Loyal Air NZ customer for decades, but recent experience felt that branding was more important than actual service. Cute safety videos, smiley cabin crew, kiwiana. Lovely. But an airfare 3x what my wife paid using Jetstar to join me on same family event. A 1kg rolled mat, as a gift for Maori hosts, cost $200 in excess baggage, and camera case at 7kg on one leg $130. Flight out of Cairns was delayed because of engineering issues for an hour (cargo door seal alert - apparently a common thing). Seats hard and crammed. Food ordinary. What I would expect from a budget airline, but not for the price I paid ... months in advance to get a fair deal. Sad to leave memories of quality Air NZ behind, but like many trusted names in NZ today, it seems to have focused on leveraging branding and profit for shareholders above service for customers. Very disappointed.

Terrible. Constantly canceling flights
Do not book with them

We flew AKL-LAX with friends and the cabin crew we got lumped with was very rude and dismissive, and not only to us. We had a meal issue which he dealt with in a really unfriendly way by literally throwing the tray onto our tray table. A passenger behind us tried to talk to him about her meal and was told to 'settle down'. I don't know who stole the jam out of his donut, but that kind of attitude isn't ok in any customer-facing environment.

On our return to NZ we were delayed by the tech crew accepting (or being told to accept) rush cargo, which led to us missing our connecting domestic flight. We then had to see baggage enquiries re a damaged bag which was really badly handled, with us feeling like WE'D done something wrong. Eventually that was sorted. The staff at the next desk were helpful, thankfully, and got us onto a subsequent flight with minimal further delay. The Air NZ woman that took the bags however was curt and unpleasant.

As others have said they're not the premium airline they pretend to be - they overcharge and under deliver.

We plan on avoiding Air NZ in the future, wherever possible.

Yet again, flights to Kerikeri get canceled-this time due to fog. They canned the flight very quickly and the fog miraculously cleared. Hours later...our rescheduled flight is delayed an hour. No reason given for this one. Perhaps there are too many seagulls in the air.

No longer a premium airline, only premium prices.

Service and standards have dropped so much, it's disappointing to see. Don't waste your money

Delayed, don’t give a shit, tell u what u wana hear didn’t make stop overs twice. Just ridiculous service no communication with our bags still stuck in singapore sonewhere

Be cautious when booking online with Air New Zealand.
Unlike many other airline or travel platforms that temporarily hold your fare while you complete payment, Air New Zealand’s system does not. I went through the full booking process — selected seats, entered my payment details — but when I tried to finalise payment, the system refused to process it and forced me to start again. By that time, the fare had increased by around 18% for the exact same booking.

This feels very misleading and leaves a poor impression for first-time customers.

NZ432, 16th of September, 1.45pm flight Wellington to Auckland. My parents and i flew from Wellington to Auckland. We were helped by two very helpful ladies at the airport to have our seats organized together ( from separate seats), all good. We were asked to board the plane first due to my mum’s not mobile enough, she had to sit on a wheelchair. I helped mom, father walked along with me, took some time finally got to the second to last seats, sat down. Because the flight was at 1.45 pm, we had a brunch in the mid morning so all of us were a bit hungry. So I asked the flight attendant ( a bit solid build lady) standing at the back if there would be some snacks during flight I told her why I asked. She said yes, then she gave us a couple of snacks each, I was quite appreciative and thanked her. When the plane took off, she and another thin & tall lady flight attendant start giving passengers snacks, she skipped us, my father told me would like to have some water, asked me why she missed us? I told my father never mind and to wait till they come back she might have forgotten about us, but I was wrong, she skipped us again. There was a lady passenger sitting behind me pat me on my shoulder said I should ask them. I said I would. After I realized that she had no intention to serve us, I asked the thin & tall flight attendant that we had been missed and we would like to have a drink， she kindly gave us water and tea. My parents have flown with Air NZ ( and other airline too) always on business class, they have a very good experience with Air NZ until this time. We felt that we were purposefully being missed for what reason I don’t know, was it because I asked about the snacks? I am not sure, although we had our snacks before everyone else, but we would not ask for the second time for sure. Would the snacks bothered her so much? Or did she has a bad for whatever reason? My parents and I talked about it the other day which made me to put it in writing here, we felt hurt. My name is Hong Tao, mother Ruiping Zhang, father Yi Tao

Flight from Queenstown to Auckland,flight cabin crew really disappointed service.

I am going to buck what appears to be a trend of lack of service, recently we had to change some flights and return urgently for a family emergency from Nashville to Auckland, from the start the customer service lady we spoke to at Air NZ could not have been more helpfull, and although we had not booked transferable flights home orignally she was just so helpfull in getting us good seats on the flight we needed.
I had also put in for one up upgrdaes for our orignal flights home, which we subsequently lost as we did not take that flight, once back in NZ I made contact with Air NZ and was able to get the credits for these put back for us to use at a later date.
The whole deal under very stressful circumstances was very very good, thank you Air NZ!

I'm adding to the already long list of dissatisfaction expressed with the way Air New Zealand is now treating its supposedly valued customers.
I flew on NZ174 on 30 Sept 2025 from Perth to Auckland. I booked and paid for my tickets through my travel agent on 24 June 2025. I paid extra for a 'chargeable pref. seat' number 34J. I chose this seat deliberately as it's an aisle seat in the front row of the economy seats and within easy access to the toilets.
When I went to check in on the mobile app I found that I had been re-seated to 47A which is a window seat in the second row of economy in that section. Not at all what I had booked and paid for 3 months prior.
I tried calling the Perth customer service number - no answer. I emailed my travel agent, she phoned customer services in NZ and was given every excuse under the sun including that 34J had been allocated to 'someone in need'. That someone in need I found out when I went to the loo, was just an ordinary person like me.
AirNZ has always been my airline of choice but no more. I feel sorry for the people on the ground and in the air who have to put up with complaints from customers. Its not their fault as they're just following directives from the top brass, hell bent on making money and who are protected from their poor decision making by their employees. And while I'm at it, what happened to a decent meal not served in a cardboard box?

Absolutely hopeless, seems every second flight is delayed. Avoid if possible.

Auckland to Houston - NZ28
The staff! Not just the crew, but literally every airport, from check-in, gate counter to airline crew were absolutely flawless.
If we had questions, they were answered immediately. On the aircraft, any concerns were answered. They even drew us a helpful map to show us where to travel across at the arrival airport. They didn't have to, but they did. I was just hoping they had advise. But they really went above and beyond. Amazing people.