We travelled to Auckland in premium economy onboard Air New Zealand's State of the art dreamliner. The premium economy cabin on this plane is quite small with just 21 seats, arranged in 3 rows in a 2-3-2 configuration. The small size of the cabin was a real positive, making the space feel very private.

We were seated in the window seats in the back row, which was great. The cabin is so small that there are no back row/having to wait for service concerns and the toilets are on the economy side of the galley kitchen so not too close to be a concern.

The premium economy seats are made of black leather and are extremely comfortable. Each seat has an extendable foot rest with full leg support and a decent recline. There is plenty of space between yourself and the seat in front.

You are provided noise cancelling headphones in premium economy and the inflight entertainment contains an extensive range of new release and classic movies and TV shows.

The State of the art dreamliner features the unique dimmable windows. The windows do not have shades and are instead dimmed at the touch of a button. A simple control at the bottom of the window allows you to select from 5 different dim levels.

Premium Economy Inflight Dining

We departed Australia at midday and received the lunch menu consisting of a 3 course meal featuring lots of iconic New Zealand local ingredients.

To start with we were served an entree of cold Moroccan spiced chicken with coconut and harissa yogurt which was excellent and a nice refreshing start to the meal.

The main meal consisted of a choice of braised beef, paprika chicken or smoked salmon. We chose the braised beef and the paprika chicken, both of which were packed with flavour.

The beef was served with a creamy colcannon mash, rosemary carrots and green bean.

The paprika chicken main was served on a creamed cauliflower base with macadamias and topped with mustard pickle.

To finish the meal we were served a salted caramel cheesecake.

Air New Zealand pride themselves on using the finest New Zealand produce in their meals and this extends to their drinks service. The drinks service was excellent with a pre departure beverage offered (sparkling wine or orange juice) and the flight attendants regularly offering top ups and additional drinks.

A 'Now Serving' section in your inflight entertainment system allows you to view the current selection of wines available onboard with a detailed blurb about them.

All in all we thoroughly enjoyed flying on Air New Zealand premium economy. The seats were spacious and comfortable, the food was delicious, the wine List was high quality, and the service was exceptional.

Air New Zealand premium economy is definitely worth the upgrade from economy. Book your premium economy airfares with Y Premium, the premium economy experts, search live pricing and compare all premium economy tickets in the one spot.