2018 – Part 44 – Auckland Airport

2018 – Part 44 – Lounge Report of Air New Zealand Auckland Lounge

We effortlessly returned our rental car and walked into the international terminal. Our early arrival allowed us to maximize our time at the airport, strange right?

The Plan

This flight, from Auckland to Brisbane is similar to our Sydney to Auckland flight as we redeemed Aeroplan points to fly business class, Air New Zealand’s business premier.  We arrived early to check-in, to give us plenty of time to grab breakfast in the lounge.

Airport

Auckland airport terminals are divided based on destination with one being domestic, and the other handling all international flights.  Upon entering the international terminal we quickly found our check-in area — wow!

This was the first time that check-in was in a separate area, complete with sliding doors to gain entry.  It wasn’t until we walked in, did we then realize that the space is divided into two.  The first area had a mix of agents and self-service baggage check for frequent flyers and premium economy passengers, once we mentioned we were flying business class, we were escorted into the second room that had seats, so that we could sit down with the agent while we were checked-in for our flight.  I wasn’t expecting this level of service as they tagged our luggage on the cart we arrived with, and then proceeded to place them onto the conveyor belt.  The picture below is one corner looking back towards the entrance.

With our baggage checked, and boarding passes in hand we were instructed to take an elevator up to proceed through security and passport control.  The agents were friendly and apologized as there was a dedicated elevator within the check-in area, however it was not in service that morning.

Leaving check-in it was a short walk to an elevator that took us up to security and passport control.  The line moved quickly and within 10 minutes we began navigating the duty free store that waited for us after security.

Once through the winding gauntlet we found the signs for the lounge.

In the above picture it’s important to note that the airport is undergoing renovations, leading our walk to the lounge to be down a make-shift hallway.

At the end of the lounge was an elevator and a pair of escalators.

Up to the lounge.

Lounge Report of Air New Zealand Auckland Lounge

Here, a feature at the Sydney airport was in full effect — self scanning to enter the lounge.  I found this feature useful as it separated us occasional flyers from frequent flyers.  Lounge agents were standing by the machines to assist folks like us to help scan our boarding passes, and provide us with directions within the lounge.

Upon entering we had arrived early enough that the lounge was not busy (spoiler:  this place was jam packed when we left to board our flight), and we purposely selected the coolest part of the lounge, the outdoor terrace.  Now, it’s a terrace in the sense that sections of the roof are retractable to allow light and air to flow into the space, however at 6:30am, this space was chilly enough for us to be all ours.

Air New Zealand Terrace

Middle sections of the roof can open to allow light and air into the space.

With our carry-on saving our seats by the window I headed to the buffet to grab breakfast.  There was a good selection of hot and cold items, and enjoyed sampling the pastries.

With drinks and breakfast in hand, I settled in to take in the view from our seats as we had a view of one side of the international terminal as well as the runway.  Watching the sunrise over the terminal was a great added bonus.

As sun rose, the lounge did fill up.  We noticed this as this space was the last to be occupied by other travellers and without many sound absorbing materials or objects, the space got noisy very easily.

When we left the lounge I snapped a few pictures as we walked into the main lounge area.  The place was jam packed!  If one were to arrive at this time, I can understand why some might not want to spend time in a lounge given how crowded it was.

After leaving the lounge, our gate was at the end of the terminal that was probably a 10 minute walk from the lounge.

We did leave the lounge early enough for Amber to window shop some of the stores.  I got impatient and continued towards the gate — this turned out in Amber’s favour as she found gifts for her family and something for me.

A couple things of note — the waiting area by our gate lacked seating for a full Boeing 777 flight.  It was standing room only, and the gate was at the end of the hallway.  During the walk to our gate I noticed that the departure signs were simple and straight forward, switching between destination and flight number:

Soon enough Amber arrived at the gate, and in less than five minutes after that, the  call for boarding was made.  We politely made our way to the front where we were able to board with other priority passengers onto the plane.

Read more about our trip by clicking here.