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The Boeing 747-400 is Air New Zealand's flagship, serving major routes such as those between Auckland and Los Angeles.

All seats on the Boeing 747-400 have AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) in-flight entertainment systems for the ultimate in personalized entertainment. Power ports are in every Business Premier suite as well as each Premium Economy seat.

For its Business Premier product, Air New Zealand adopted Virgin Atlantic's pioneering Upper Class lie-flat bed. It is still one of the best Business Class seats in the world, featuring a bed that unfolds to be fully flat, and every seat has direct aisle access without requiring passengers to climb over anyone. This seat is also unique in that it has two surfaces, a softer and comfortable contoured side when used as a chair and a firmer side that provides better support for sleeping. Most passengers like the comfortable bed with only one seam, but often complain about the limited recline when in seat mode. The cabin crew will flip the chair forward into a bed and provide a cotton pillow, duvet and sleep sheet for Business Premier passengers. The design of the seat means that you must get up in order to switch between seat and bed mode. Passengers are seated at about 45 degrees away from the direction of travel, which may require some getting used to.

Note that the airplane's seating layout is not optimal for passengers traveling together in Business Premier. Consecutive rows are separated by high partitions between rows and suites across the aisle are too far apart for quiet conversations.

The rear half of the upper deck is configured for Premium Economy Class, giving coach customers a rare opportunity to fly on the upper deck on the Boeing 747-400 without paying for an expensive Business or First Class ticket. This upper deck section of the plane is generally preferred for being more private and quiet. The front of the upper deck is especially prized since the galley is in the back.

Most of the seats in the Economy cabin have a good amount of legroom at 34 inches. However, some center section seats appear to have less legroom; rows 35-42 DEFG and rows 63-68 DEFG might have up to two inches less space than other seats.

Meal service for the Coach cabin is normally front to back for rows 35-52, then jumps to the back of the plane to row 68, and moves forward until it ends at row 53 where the galleys are located. If a lot of passengers in rows 53-57 missed getting their meal choices, the second meal service sometimes will be done in the reverse pattern.