15 August 2012

An open letter to Air New Zealand - Thank you for the best service ever!



Dear Air New Zealand,

I'd like to give a big thanks (and a virtual hug) to your inflight teams and in Melbourne, London, Los Angeles and Auckland for the great service when I flew Melbourne-London-Los Angeles-Melbourne between 29 June and 14 August 2012.

I have a severe skin condition called Ichthyosis which makes my whole body very sore, and your staff did their best to ensure I was comfortable, warm and hydrated for all my flights.

The great service began with Carol from the iMeda team who cleared my creams for travel and granted me extra luggage allowance to take 12 kg of Dermeze (like Vaseline) for my 6.5 week trip). Carol's email communication was fantastic, and from our conversations, I knew my flying experience was going to be good.

On each flight I was given extra leg room which made me comfortable and able to stretch out so my skin didn't crack during sitting for long periods of time. On one flight I was even given the skycouch! Oh what a treat! I was given extra water for hydration, and extra blankets for warmth. The staff on each flight came to see if I was ok and whether I needed anything.

Here's me on on my flight from Los Angeles to London. Very happy.

The pinnacle of the great service was on my return to Melbourne - I had just flown in from New York to LA (on a local American airline who were not as accommodating as you, despite me talking to their medical department back in January when I booked my flights) and my skin was very sore. I was not going to have a comfortable flight from LA to Melbourne without a shower or at least a wash, and there was no private disabled toilet in LAX for me to do this. The LAX Air New Zealand staff let me use the shower in the Koru Club and invited my mum and I back for drinks and snacks before the flight. I was also given use of the shower in the Auckland Koru Club, and breakfast too. I felt so very lucky.

I arrived in Melbourne yesterday feeling refreshed and well, like I hadn't just flown 20 hours from NYC. This trip was my first out of Australia and I was nervous about how my skin would fare, especially with flying such long distances. This flying experience has given me the confidence to travel more.

Thank you for making my long journey one of my favourite parts of my overseas trip. The service I received exceeded any I've received from Australian and American airlines. You listened to my needs and provided treatment above and beyond what I expected. Amazing! Thank you.

I wish you flew domestically in Australia. I will be recommending you to everyone considering flights to New Zealand, London and Los Angeles, and especially to people with special needs.

The friendliness and individualised attention from your staff has impressed me so much.

Kindest regards

Carly Findlay
Melbourne Australia

(PS- I loved that you featured my favourite singer, Darren Hayes, on your inflight entertainment. I may have listened to his album 4646 times across my flights!)

-

Note: I was not paid to write this endorsement. I worked with my doctors to sort out prescriptions and letters for the airline and insurance company. I also encourage you as individuals to take responsibility for alerting airlines (and other service providers) about your special needs. Be polite and factual when explaining your needs. I do believe great service goes both ways.

To book a flight on Air New Zealand from Australia, visit Air New Zealand's Australian website. Visit their main website here.

16 comments:

  1. Awesome Carly. Awesome Air New Zealand!!!! Listen UP other airlines.
    :-)
    BB

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's wonderful Carly.. I will definitely look at using Air New Zealand next time I fly. :) So glad you had such a wonderful experience.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So happy things worked out on the flights for you, Carly! Great job, Air NZ. Have LOVED your twitter/instagram updates. Your trip seems like it was incredible. Catch up very soon to hear all about it?!?!?
    Heidi xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great post Carly! I think it is really important to recognise excellent service when we get it. And well done Air NZ.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice Carly!
    Saw how happy you were in the tweets, just had to come over and check out your post! Kudos to Air New Zealand!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love Air New Zealand too! How wonderful that they looked after you so well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've travelled Air New Zealand from Sydney to LA (and back) and they are without doubt the best airline I've travelled on, far exceeding Qantas and the American airlines. So glad you had a great trip Carly, I really enjoyed seeing all your happy tweets from the US. K xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. This sounds wonderful Carly. When I make it out to Australia someday, I'll be sure to use their services.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So pleased they took such great care of you and you had such a wonderful trip. Think it's really important to recognise great service too. Keep well Carly x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Three cheers for Air NZ!! Kudos to them for going the extra mile.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is great to read :) We are flying with Air New Zealand and Virgin (all arranged through Air NZ) from Townsville to Queenstown via Auckland and reading this is making me feel heaps better about the journey. Last o/s trip was with Air Vanuatu.... and let me just say it left a lot to be desired. Thanks for sharing your experience.

    ReplyDelete
  12. just popped in from Curly Pops, what a trip! I love London also, its my fav city in the whole wide world, glad your trip was made comfortable by Air NZ, will definitely consider them next trip, which will be New York soonish ! Nice to meet you :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So glad Air NZ really took care of you, Carly. I have flown them in the past and have loved them too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing.
    Flights to Addis Ababa
    Cheap Flights to Addis Ababa
    Cheap Air Tickets to Addis Ababa

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading my blog. I love receiving comments :)
I really appreciate the time you've taken to write to me, and to share something about yourself.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails