Air New Zealand economy "bed seat"

[Hartington]

There are various reports around the web that Air New Zealand is going to introduce an economy class bed seat. Apparently it will only be offered on check in because it depends on spare seats being available and it will cost $150 per segment (I wonder if that's US or NZD?).

As someone that quite often uses premium economy products I think I'd be a bit unhappy if someone back in economy was able to lie down to sleep when I can't (there is no suggestion this will be available for PE seats). I recognise that the proposal is effectively only available on a space available basis and, as such, my decision to buy PE at peak times will still be justified but I'm a bit surprised to see an airline apparently undermining their "premium" offering.

[Donkey497]

As far as I can find out so far, the rate is NZD150, which seems to equate to around USD110. As you point out, it's only going to be offered at check-in, and only to passengers in economy with an empty seat beside them, as it takes up 2 seats. This brings up a couple of points:

If it's only going to be offered at check-in, what happens when you have a load of passengers who don't have a reserved seat having to be allocated the seat next to someone who has already paid for the seat/bed? Will they give a refund?

I'd hope that the bed/seat will actually be standard in premium economy, but if not, what are they going to introduce to keep the distinction between Premium & straight Economy?