AKL | Jason Around the World

Auckland to Tokyo with Air New Zealand, overnight in Tokyo

Airports, Business Class, Flights, hotels, Japan, Restaurants, South Pacific Tour 2014 2 Responses »

Dec 052014

Slept through my first alarm, and was running late in the morning. As I rounded the corner from my room, I saw the elevator there and people heading for it. I picked up my pace a bit and ran for it, putting my hand in the doors to keep it open…which caused a flurry of Chinese and some excitement from the already fully elevator. Given the earpieces and the way they all freaked out, I’m pretty certain I was in the elevator with President Xi, lol. You’d think they’d control the elevators so they don’t stop or something?!

Checked out, stopped by Starbucks to fuel up, managed to find the airport bus, and given the relatively early hour it was a nice quick traffic free drive to the airport. Check-in was pain-free as well, and I had a time for a quick snack in the lounge before boarding. I just had a small nibble at it, knowing there would likely be more in flight:

Got to the gate just as boarding was starting, and was one of the first on board to grab a photo. I’ve actually never taken a business class flight before with herringbone seats, and was curious how I’d like it. Generally, I strongly prefer planes with all-aisle access business class so I’m not having to either climb over people or have people climb over me.

Air New Zealand flight 99
Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to Tokyo/Narita, Japan (NRT)
Depart 9:45, Arrive 16:55, Flight Time 11:10
Boeing 777-200, Registration ZK-OKG, Manufactured 2006, Seat 4K

First thought, these seats look crammed in there and people are right on top of each other:

I usually am very meh about amenity kits, but these came with awesome socks that matched my shoes. Everything goes better with bubbles:

Apia to Auckland with Air New Zealand

Airports, Flights, hotels, New Zealand, Samoa, South Pacific Tour 2014 No Responses »

Dec 042014

I’d arranged a taxi to meet me at Fagali’i Airport, and was back at Aggie Grey’s way before my flight to New Zealand. Since I’d already checked out in the morning before heading to Pago Pago, decided to grab a small appetizer at the hotel restaurant and enjoy one last sunset beer. Hotel provided a free shuttle to the airport about two hours before the flight, and in no time I was there and checking in. Nothing exciting, immigration and security were a piece of cake, and soon I was in the departures lounge. The duty free store was all sorts of festive:

Our plane arrived from Auckland about 30 minutes late, giving us only 30 minutes to turn it around, so it was becoming clear we’d be slightly late. Of course, they waited until the scheduled departure time to tell us it was going to be “a little late.” A little late became a little later. And a little later. An hour after departure time, I was getting worried the turnaround crew would go illegal, so asked the gate agent what the story was. Appears there was only one working lav on the entire plane, and they were doing their best to fix it. 90 minutes past departure time they gave up, and we decided to board:

Air New Zealand flight 997
Apia, Samoa (APW) to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL)
Depart 21:45, Arrive 00:45 next day, Flight Time 4 hours
Airbus A320, Registration ZK-OJC, Manufactured 2003, Seat 11C

As we were boarding, the flight attendants informed us there would be a one beverage limit per passenger “except in case of emergency” due to the fact there was one working washroom for over 150 passengers. It was a completely full flight except for four seats, and coincidentally all 4 seats were in the same row…a row which according to ExpertFlyer became completely empty 10 minutes before departure, and then they placed one passenger in the middle seat of each row. These passengers were very chatty with the gate agent, and it’s a safe bet they were either friends or employees. Rather sad.

Before takeoff, it was time for the most epic safety video ever:

Some thoughts on the flight:

It was only about four hours, which is about the limit of what I can tolerate in economy, even in the exit row. Fortunately my row-mates were polite and not overly large, so it was a pretty good flight. The odd thing is, how the food on the flight works. You only get free food and drinks if you purchase a more expensive fare, which appears to be approximately a Q fare or above. I figured this meant very few people, but it looked like nearly half the passengers were offered a meal. Everyone else had to pay for something from the buy on board. The meal was actually decent, certainly on par with what you’d get in domestic first in the states.

The coolest thing about the plane was that you could order drinks or make requests through the seatback touchscreen. It even knew what fare you were on, and if you needed to be charged for your request or not. After dinner, I decided to try my luck and order a second glass of wine. The very friendly flight attendant appeared with it about 5 minutes later, and reminded me it was only one drink per passenger except in case of emergency. I smiled at her, and said “it’s dark…I won’t tell if you don’t tell…and plus…the wine volume in my blood is getting dangerously low…almost to emergency levels!” She laughed, and just said to use the touchscreen when I needed more. Needless to say, a great crew can make an otherwise average flight great!

Landed quite late, just after 2am local, and fortunately immigration and customs was a short wait. Took the airport bus downtown to my hotel, and was finally in bed just after 3am. Was very glad I’d canceled my kayaking trip the next day due to rain, since it would have been a very very short night otherwise. I was staying at the SkyGrand hotel, and for some reason they’d kindly upgraded me to a nice corner room where I promptly passed out the moment my head hit the pillow.

Auckland to Tonga with Air New Zealand

Airports, Business Class, Flights, New Zealand, South Pacific Tour 2014, Tonga No Responses »

Nov 282014

The flight wasn’t too early, so I was able to have a nice relaxing start to the morning in Auckland. When I finally did check out and head to the airport bus, I encountered the Aquarium bus on the way. Every city needs a shark bus!

Check-in area was rather packed but Air New Zealand’s premium check-in is rather nice. Of course, it didn’t want to check me in at the kiosks, but with a little help from an agent I was checked in and on my way in five minutes. The nicest part of the premium check-in area is the private elevator up to immigration and security. It feeds into a private immigration line, and then into common security, but appeared to save several minutes.

I’d gotten to the airport several hours before the flight to catch up on a bit of work, so I was quite hungry for lunch by the time I arrived. Another reasonably good Mac’s beer and some tasty stew to start:

Finished off with a MOA IPA which was quite delicious, and some sweets and cheese for dessert:

Wifi in the lounge was quite good and I managed to get a good amount of work done, and about 45 minutes before the flight I headed down to the gate area, which was jam packed and standing room only.

Air New Zealand flight 274
Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to Nuku’alofa, Tonga (TBU)
Depart 16:15, Arrive 19:10, Flight Time 2:55
Boeing 767-300, Registration ZK-NCK, Manufactured 1997, Seat 2A

Boarding began right on time, and bubbly was offered. The load was incredibly light in business today, since the plane had been switched from an all-economy A320 to a 767 about a week before the flight. More bubbles for me! Coach, however, appeared to be packed.

Today’s dinner menu:

This was my first flight with Air New Zealand, and I had high expectations based on what I’d heard from others. I mean, how can you not like an airline that shows Monty Python:

Dinner started out with more bubbly, and a small bowl of nuts:

Due to the light load, it was suggested I have multiple appetizers, both of which were quite good:

The main was also pretty good as well, especially for a 2.5 hour flight:

Plus, cheese and desert. Amazing service for such a short flight:

Flight went very quickly, and soon we were on approach to Tonga. The crew had been excellent and friendly, although it was hard to tell how much of that was due to the extremely light load in business and how much was the usual excellent service. Either way, it was a fantastic flight despite the rather poor hard product for a 767.

Tonga was taking Ebola extremely seriously, and a group of 10+ nurses in old-school white nurse uniforms met the passengers just inside the terminal and asked questions and distributed information cards:

Immigration moved on island time and took over 30 minutes, but it was no big deal because all the fellow passengers were super chatty and friendly. It was great meeting a few people who’d been on the flight and they were all really excited that someone would come all the way around the world to visit Tonga.

Brisbane to Auckland on the Emirates A380 in first

Airports, Australia, First Class, Flights, South Pacific Tour 2014 2 Responses »

Nov 232014

Despite it being an early morning flight, I decided I would take the train to the airport in an attempt to be fiscally responsible. Actually, what sold me on the idea is the fact that there was a Starbucks across the street from the train station. Proper caffeination is essential for travel. Was there a few minutes before they opened at 6am, was caffeinated and out the door by 6:15 and on the way to the train station. Only about a 10 minute wait for a train, not too bad:

The other great thing was that I only had about $5 left on my transit card, but they only check the balance when you enter the system. The ticket was way over $15, leaving my card with a balance of nearly $10 negative when I checked out. I guess this is part of the reason there’s a deposit to get the card. Bargain!

Check-in with Emirates was a bit of an unpleasant experience. Likely because there was nobody waiting to be served, the first class check-in person had called over someone from the economy line. Someone was a group of like 15 Chinese tourists. Unfortunately the business class line wouldn’t help me either, because there were people waiting to check-in for business class. All told, I was in line almost 20 minutes to check in, which is pretty much inexcusable for first class.

Off to the Emirates lounge, which is shared with first and business passengers. Somewhat surprised Emirates doesn’t offer separate lounges.

That said, with Veuve on offer and a great buffet. it’s better than any first class lounge in North America, so can’t complain too badly.

Only had about 15 minutes in the lounge, and then it was time to board. Boarding was done directly from the lounge, which is always a nice touch.

Emirates flight 434
Brisbane, Australia (BNE) to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL)
Depart 8:25, Arrive 14:35, Flight Time 3:10
Airbus A380, Registration A6-EDM, Manufactured 2010, Seat 2K

This was to be my second time on Emirates A380 in first. The first was a complete “accident.” I was flying on a United award from Dubai-Frankfurt-London with Lufthansa in first, connection to a paid United ticket from London to Washington. Unfortunately, the Dubai-Frankfurt had a minimum two hour mechanical delay, meaning there was no way I would make it to London in time for my connection. I pulled up ExpertFlyer, and saw there was a direct Dubai-London on Emirates A380, and decided to try my luck with the Lufthansa agents. They had to call the station manager, but he approved it! Talk about taking care of passengers when things go badly!

The seat/suite was just as nice as I remember:

Something to drink? I suppose the Moet will do for a pre-departure drink. In fairness, the flight attendant was very apologetic. I’m always surprised airlines are too cheap to pay the duty on liquor to serve the good stuff on the ground.

This was a breakfast flight, and due to the relatively short flight service started immediately after takeoff…when the bubbles were upgraded to Dom. Much better!

Bread. On a plate. Take note United.

Another glass of Dom? Don’t mind if I do!

Decided to go with the sweet option, and the apple crepes didn’t disappoint:

Cabin shot…I’m not a fan of the Emirates bling, but…

Today’s bubbles selection:

Didn’t have any, but the wine list was rather unimpressive I thought:

The breakfast menu:

Now, let’s get to the real fun. Emirates is the only commercial airline where you can shower on board, and it’s exclusive to the A380. In addition, Emirates was offering the first 100MB of WiFi for free on this flight, with a small $1 charge for additional usage. This was going to require the first-ever live in-flight shower posting.

The shower stall:

Back to the seat and feeling refreshed…with more Dom of course.

One of the very few flights I’ve taken where I can honestly say it went by way too quickly. I would have definitely liked a few more hours to enjoy the service, but it was not to be. Perhaps another time. I’ll save the comparisons of Emirates first for the trip post-mortem after it’s all over, but it was an overall solid experience.