An airline will actually offer bunk beds on a plane

Bunk beds on a plane? This is actually happening. Air New Zealand just unveiled this very innovative new product. It’s called Economy Skynest, and it’s the world’s 1^st sleep pods on an airplane. However, being savvy and redeeming airline points for luxurious business-class lie-flat seat beds is such a better deal…

A big industry event took place last week in Hamburg, Germany: the Aircraft Interiors Expo. I told you about the improved double-decker airplane seat concept, and separately, I’ll also present Air Canada’s major unveiling very soon.

Air New Zealand was the first to disrupt seating norms with its Skycouch (now copied by United Airlines). Flytrippers helps you travel for less with our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.

Here’s what you need to know about these airplane bunk beds.

What are these airplane bunk beds?

Air New Zealand has unveiled a very innovative and unique new product: actual bunk beds on an airplane. Fully lie-flat options are no longer only for business class and first class.

There are 6 bunk beds (2 sets of 3 superposed beds).

The length is 6ft 6in, and the width is 25in at the shoulders and 16in at the feet.

Reports are that they’re very comfortable, albeit a bit hard to get into.

You either need to crawl to get to the 2 bunks at floor level, or climb to get to the 4 elevated bunks.

It’s not unlike existing CRCs, the bunk beds that airline crew already use on long-distance flights (that you don’t see and might not know about).

It’s a good idea, even if it’s a bad deal. There’s almost assuredly a market of people who will want to pay for this.

It’s even kind of wild that it took so long for an airline to try this. There are 30,000+ commercial aircraft in operation with thousands of airlines… and there’s about zero uniqueness in economy class.

Kudos to Air New Zealand for daring to try something new.

This new bunk beds section will be located in the center of the cabin, between the premium economy class and the economy class.

Unfortunately, that’s close to the lavatories, a place many savvy travelers normally try to avoid to get a quieter space.

There’s also a privacy curtain for the whole section, at least.

For now, the Economy Skynest bunk beds will only be offered on Air New Zealand’s flagship Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner twin-aisle planes. They have a fleet of 14, but it’s those with the V5 configuration that will offer this.

The first route to get these airplane bunk beds will be New York-JFK–Auckland, starting in November 2026. Flights will be on sale on May 18, 2026.

How do these airplane bunk beds work?

To be clear, no one is assigned these Air New Zealand Economy Skynest bunk beds. Everyone will need to have an actual seat. 

These beds will be bookable for 4-hour stints. You can only book 1 (thankfully, Air New Zealand is protecting people from wasting too much money).

So it’s not so much like upgrading your flight to a higher seat class, but more like booking time in a sleeping pod. 

If you’re interested in being a travel pro, you need to know the difference between the hard product (seats, layout, design) and the soft product (food, amenities, service) on airplanes.

Here are the details of this new option from each angle.

In terms of soft product, the experience comes with many amenities:

• Mattress pad
• Sheets
• Blanket
• Pillow
• Earplugs
• Eyemask
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Aotea hand cream

In terms of hard product, there’s more to these bunk beds:

• Privacy curtain (but it’s somewhat see-through)
• Ambient lighting (designed to support sleep cycles)
• Reading light
• USB charging port
• Ventilation nozzle
• Small stowage
• Seatbelt
• Call button for crew

Finally, there are a few rules:

• No passengers under 15 allowed
• No food is allowed (just water)
• No shoes are allowed (but you can’t be barefoot)

In short, you book this to sleep for a few hours. Then, subtle lighting changes will indicate when your time is up, or a flight attendant will wake you up.

The bunk beds will be cleaned between each passenger.

How much will these airplane bunk beds cost?

Booking these bunk beds will cost 495 USD for 4 hours. 

This is obviously in addition to the cost of the plane ticket itself (and Air New Zealand is rarely a cheap option).

It’s truly a terrible deal for anyone who wants to save money, because there’s such a better way.

But plenty of people will surely pay the extra 495 USD for 4 hours, just like so many people pay for cash upgrades to business class when there’s a way better way.

But the better way requires effort and planning… and most people don’t want to do that.

Indeed, if you’re savvy, you would get a premium credit card like the Amex Platinum Card for a net fee of 599 CAD (cheaper than the 4-hour block).

You’ll get 110,000 points by unlocking the welcome bonus.

This week, I just flew 25 hours in the world’s best business class for 95,000 points.

A bit better than 4 hours, right? And my suite with a lie-flat seat bed also came with amazing service, amazing food, a sliding privacy door, a pajama, a better amenity kit (Dyptique), access to one of the world’s best airport lounges… 

And I didn’t have to pay for an economy ticket, like you will have to do with the bunk bed. And there are wayyyy more routes available than just Air New Zealand’s limited 787 network.

I flew to Asia for 75,000 points on the outbound of that trip. Again, over 15 hours instead of 4…

But again, it requires a bit of effort to learn.

Still… a much better lie-flat seat for 25 hours without having to pay for an economy class ticket. For the same price as the bunk bed for 4 hours!

Oh, and the Amex Platinum Card also gives you unlimited free access to the world’s largest network of VIP airport lounges for 2 passengers, automatic Gold elite status at the 15,000+ Marriott and Hilton hotels, and soooooo many more travel benefits.

And yet, people will say that travel rewards aren’t worth it and will waste 495 USD for 4 hours…

Because it’s simpler. The easy and lazy option will always be more popular.

Redeeming points for luxurious business class lie-flat seat beds is such a better deal. But you have to learn how to do it, and you have to put in a bit of effort. 

But if circumstances lead you to pay the high price of flying Air New Zealand on a route with these new bunk beds anyway…

Then maybe paying 124 USD per hour for a short nap could make sense in some cases. I never would, but many surely will want to.

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Summary

Air New Zealand has once again innovated, years after launching the economy-class row that turns into a bed that United is now copying. This time, it’s even more radical: they will install actual bunk beds and let passengers pay to rent them in 4-hour blocks.

What would you like to know about airplane bunk beds? Tell us in the comments below.

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Featured image: Airplane bunk beds (photo credit: CNN)