So it was finally flight number four of my journey to Australia and my first business class flight on the 787 Dreamliner. So far, I had spent just $40.00 out of pocket on my flights and the rest was paid with airline miles earned from credit cards.

Air New Zealand flight 175
AKL [Auckland] to PER [Perth]
April 21, 2017
Depart: 10:55 AM
Arrive: 2:25 PM
Duration: 7hr30min
Aircraft: 787-9
Seat: 6A

After a short time at the gate, Business Premier passengers were called for boarding. I headed onboard and got comfortable in my seat in the rear of business class.

Although SeatGuru typically marks seats at the rear of a cabin as undesirable, this location turned out to be quiet and spacious. In addition to having extra storage space, I didn’t have to see any other passengers for the duration of my flight, as there were no seats facing me and nobody behind me.

 

The two crew members working the front cabin came by and introduced themselves and offered me a pre-departure glass of champagne. I then went ahead and checked out my amenity kit.

Soon enough, we pushed back and taxied to the runway.

After a smooth takeoff and climb out, the crew came by to begin the meal service. I decided on the poached chicken salad to start and the brisket as my main. I also ordered a glass of the single malt scotch that they had on board.

All aspects of the meal were delicious. The appetizer flavorful, the brisket amazing, and the ice cream wasn’t overly sweet. The cheese course was good, but I much prefer the cheeses offered on United’s Polaris product for some reason. The dessert wine was fantastic though. I really need to figure out what they serve.

After my meal, I was ready for a nap. As soon as I made my request to the gentleman working the cabin, he quickly made up my bed and adjusted the windows in the cabin so it wasn’t too bright. Probably one of my favorite features of the 787 is that the crew have the ability to centrally dim the windows to keep the cabin comfortable.

After my nap, it was time to have afternoon tea (if you’re keeping track, this is meal number five of the day). The crew set the tables and then delivered fruit salad and brought by various sandwiches. I sampled one of each. Then they came by and offered more, so I went ahead and had two more.

Afterwards, they came by with various tarts and other suites. Since some of the passengers weren’t awake for the meal service and apparently they provisioned the aircraft very heavily, they insisted I tried one of everything.

After nearly seven hours of what seemed like constant eating, it was just about time to land. After a timely touchdown, I was finally in Perth!

Total travel time to Australia: 44 hours and 5 minutes.

The only thing left to do was clear immigration and collect my bags. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out), my bags did not make it on my flight out of Chicago the day prior. The agent at the baggage counter kindly compensated me with AUD 150 and arranged for my baggage to be delivered to my friend’s house upon arrival. Luckily, they arrived the next day.

Now, time to see some kangaroos!