Megan Singleton: BloggerAtLarge.com writer on the Air New Zealand Premium Economy v Skycouch debate

If you're in a position where you can upgrade your seat for a long haul flight, there's still a debate to be had about which seat is better.

Air New Zealand’s Skycouch allows travellers the freedom to lie down on the plane - but how does it compare to the reclining seats in Premium Economy?

BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton compared the two - and wrote a review on her blog here.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Joining me now is Meghan Singleton, blogger at large dot com.
Good morning, Megan, good morning. Have you returned to New Zealand?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yes, I have. I got home on Wednesday to this
lovely weather we've been having.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh look our pleasure. Yeah, no worries. I am really
intrigued today because you were going to give us a
review of premium economy versus this skycouch, both of which
you traveled on recently.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
I did. I went up to Houston on premium economy. Now,
on the air New Zealand flights to Houston, they're on
the least aircraft, so that experience is the premium economy
seats are not the leather ones that you get on
the planes coming out of LA. However, I did upgrade
myself on my LA one to premium economy on the

(00:58):
last trip, so I have got some good experience of that.
But on my way back from LA on Wednesday, I
chose the skycouch. And the way the skycouch works is
that you book Maybe it was just me so that
I booked the other two seats and they are six
hundred dollars each and you get all three seats to yourself.

(01:18):
But the skycouch rose and I think there's six or
eight of them on these aircraft. They have a leg
rest which clicks right up to become a flat surface
with your seat, so that then becomes a really wide,
seventy four centimeter sort of couch. You put the arm
rests up. However, it's not really wide enough for two adults.

(01:39):
I'd say, you know, you'd be really no against the
seat in front of you.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
We don't want snuggling. We don't want snuggling.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
That's how they promoted it really cuddle class. When the
two came out. They did, but there's just no way
you could cud it. Well, not if you're a normal
sized humans. I'll tell you what. Yes, it's perfect for kids.
So there was a lady behind me and she had
two skycouches whose son they were in their jarmy's. The
minute the seat belt sign was off, her boys slept all.

(02:06):
She had a daughter that was a bit younger, and
the daughter had slept on the two seats that they
folded up, and mum slept on sat on the aisle
seat so ideal, ideal for families, and of course if
you can get it for yourself. The whole length of
the three seats, though, is an old fashioned speak five
foot one one point five five meters, so even I

(02:26):
had to sleep a little bit bent on that. But
you do also get a seat belt you could wrap
right over yourself, so it was good like that. You
get extra the premium pillows. You get a little bed
sheet to make it like a little comfy nook. So
I got a little bit of sleep, but I was
paranoid that my feet were going to poke out the

(02:47):
end because I kept trying to And then if you
get bumped through the night. And it's also an economic class,
so you're going to get the economy food, drinks, no amenities.
You get the business stuff and very comfortable. The seat
pitch is long. You've got better sleep in premium economy.

(03:08):
But I have compared the price. I've done a good
old price comparison on that blog post and comfort, so
you can read my full review and decide if it's
right for you.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay, so which is more expensive, Well.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
It depends on the season. When I picked a date
randomly to write my post, it was cheaper to go
premium economy than pay twelve hundred dollars for the two
extra seats. However, I've just looked at another date, so
we're thinking about going up to the States for the
all Blacks, and those premium economies were two thousand dollars
more than than economy. So you just need to do

(03:43):
all that research on the dates that you're looking at
and make that right.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
So you're you're never going to know. It's going to
be about when you want to travel and seeing what's
on offer.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Okay, exactly exactly, because it's dynamic pricing. As with all airlines, hotels,
it's all always dynamic pricing. It always depends on supply
and demand. So you pop your date in, you do
a good old comparison, and then you out whether you
know you're going to sleep in one or other. A
little bit better, I would say, and I have put

(04:12):
a note in there. The way in New Zealand's premium
economies are set up is two four to two. If
you get in the middle of a four, there's no
way you're shimmying out of there in the night to
go to the loop. Yeah, so there are few things
to consider.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Oh, look, appreciate it. Megan, thank you so much, lovely
to have you home. So if you are sort of
thinking of traveling and you are able to afford Premier
Economy or skycout, head to Blogger at large dot com.
Blogger at large dot com Megan Son a full sort
of rundown of it all there for you.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news Talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio