The Trip Here X(

Ok, I suggest you don't read all of this.  It's not that exciting, it's mainly me decompressing from the stress of a really long flight.  Includes some  a lot of ranting, general rambling, and criticism of American airlines

On Friday, I flew to LAX.  Since I had a voucher for a single ride ticket, I flew first class.  Yay.  Can't help but find it very intriguing how the crew actually seems to care about your overall well-being.  During the flight, the steward stopped by to make sure I was comfortable, asking if I was hungry or thirsty or mentally distraught every five minutes, like clockwork.  I appreciate good customer service, but I'm pretty certain that the reason it took me the entire flight (6 blasted hours) to read 20 pages of my book was because of the paranoia this steward instilled within me with his mothering. Eventually I couldn't listen my cd player because I was afraid he would sneak up on me.  

The customer service in America overall is distinctly different from New Zealand's.  By airlines alone, anyone can see this.  Sure, the service in first class was great, but so is all premium service.  However, U.S. Airways service outside of triple the price of economy tickets is mediocre at best.  It's not necessarily that the stewards are rude or inaccessible, but they certainly don't go out of their way to help people.  

Even at the counter, when I made a request to have my luggage automatically transferred to Auckland instead of having to pick them up in LAX and then check them in again, (I booked my tickets badly) the lady at the front desk rolled her eyes at her coworker and said to him, "Don't even bother, I know it can't be done."  

Luckily, the coworker ignored her and arranged my luggage to arrive in Auckland directly.  Jerk.

Air New Zealand, on the other hand, is arranged perfectly.  There is something really special about how they present themselves to the consumer.  A genuine looking smile and a cute little quip to a nervous traveler can make a huge difference, and that's only once significant difference I observed.

Upon boarding the aircraft, the safety demonstration was given in video format, with the old guy from Modern Family guest starring.  It made watching the video fun, and virtually painless.  And my god, that personal entertainment system.  

I know it's pretty much standard procedure to have individual televisions on international flights now (GOD DAMMIT WHY CAN'T US AIR EVEN HAVE ONE DAMN MOVIE ON A SIX HOUR FLIGHT?!) but that airline really takes advantage of the interface.  They have included a steward instant messaging system, so that you can request food and drink without even speaking to a person.  It's like WAWA for the sky.  

The entertainment was awesome.  I found lots of New Zealand/Australian bands through the music provided.  Sometime while I was eating dinner, I passed out from exhaustion over my food.  So much that I didn't even notice them take my tray away. I woke up by breakfast, then slept some more.  Ugh, and there were so many movies in my playlist :(