speed-dating

Air New Zealand’s Matchmaking Flight

Air New Zealand, the folks who brought us those cheeky and now-classic, nearly-naked commercials (see a sample below), will be sending a planeload of folks from Los Angeles to Auckland tonight, October 13th, on a 12-hour matchmaking flight.

As MSNBC.com’s (very happily married, thank-you) Well Mannered Traveler, I get to tag along to see if sky-high speed-dating makes any sense or if it’s just an excuse to party on a plane.

ScreenHunter_03 Oct. 12 23.02

According to Nick, the reservations agent who answered my call to Air NZ today, the  LA – Auckland flight is sold out and there are folks in Auckland hoping everyone doesn’t get paired up on the flight over so there’s some mystery left at the sold-out matchmaking flight party planned in Auckland.

What do you think? Does a matchmaking flight make any sense?  If the flight is more than 12 hours long, can we really call it speed-dating?  And what tips do you have to share with folks who are giving this a try?