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Reply With QuoteA few months ago the flights were leaving AKL in the wee hours of the morning due to a 3-week power outage on the island preventing flights from landing safely in darkness. To think we feel hard done by to lose air-con for just an hour or so - makes you realise just how lucky we are. Anyway I was grateful that the flights are back to their normal schedule leaving AKL late at night, arriving in IUE (Niue's airport at Alofi) in the middle of the night and returning to AKL by early morning. Why you might ask given they both have middle of the night departures? It is because AKL airport virtually shuts down when the last flight to the US departs, leaving few amenities for passengers on any later flights.
So it was after work that I found myself heading out to the airport for the all-night turnaround trip to IUE - it isn't that unusual for an FTer right? Traffic was particularly heavy, as normal on Friday evening but perhaps added to by the U2 concert on tonight. So I found myself reading all of the posts to date of jacob_m's latest report on an enviable trip, which I had printed out to read on the flights. Doh.
Despite the best efforts of the traffic I managed to arrive at the sweet spot for evening departures - too late for check in for the early evening flights, and a bit early for the latest departures, meaning no queues. Nonetheless I still made use of Air NZ's premium check in facility to check in, pay my departure fee ($25 payable in cash - saves using the machines outside the bank or queueing at the bank to pay) and clear immigration.
But first I have to check in. Being the only passenger using the premium check in at the moment the agent has time for a brief chat and joke about my craziness. Without prompting she changes my pre-selected seats to give me an entire row of 3 seats each way ^. No upgrades are possible for this flight uses the 737-300 aircraft which is fitted out in all economy, as it is mainly used for domestic main trunk flights.
Looking back, the last time I flew on an NZ 737 internationally it probably would have been a 737-200 across the Tasman to Australia. Tonight I head northeast instead of west, and this will be the fourth different NZ aircraft type I have flown to the South Pacific Islands - the others being 747-400, A320 and 767-300. Nothing like variety!
Formalities completed I head up the escalator bypassing the main immigration lines, through security and up to the lounge (via several twists and turns and up another escalator thanks to the terrible design of the international terminal). As the lounge bouncer scans my boarding pass I take a peek at the flight listing on her desk - each flight has notes about how many NZ gold elite, *G, and koru club pax; as well as any needing special attention (eg wheelchairs). It seems I'm the only elite pax on my flight tonight - a stark contrast to many of my main trunk domestic or hub to hub international flights which seem to be full of elites.
I notice a few changes in the lounge but mainly concentrate on getting a bite to eat (nice curry), having a drink (nice red wine - oops did I really have that much already?) and seeing Australia make a strong start of demolishing England in the first Ashes test. I also take the chance to have a shower before the lounge gets too full from passengers on the 2 late NZ flights to London - one via Los Angeles and the other via Hong Kong. It was lucky I did go when I did since I grabbed the last shower - I can't recall seeing them all in use before.
The flight was called later than I expected (already showing closed on the monitors which are notoriously unreliable, at least in the international terminal), followed moments later by final call. Ah good - they waited until boarding nearly complete before calling me then? Alas no. By the time I had wended my way to gate 2 (just a few metres away from the lounge) boarding had not even started, and furthermore there were no gate agents in attendance! Boarding did start a few minutes later and was slow - certainly much slower than on domestic flights. A combination of more carry-on baggage and more families of infrequent flyers chatting and sorting out who will sit by the window, who gets to sit by dad, who gets to sit across the aisle by themselves, etc. So we are about 30 minutes late by the time doors close.
The taxi is quick and we are soon heading into the darkness of the midnight sky, but first doing a lazy turn over the bright lights of the city before heading out into the Pacific Ocean.
Dinner is served straight away. We have a choice of crumbed chicken fillets or lamb pie, both with potato salad, alcoholic (cans of beer and mini bottles of wine - quite reasonable quality for economy without being stunning) and non-alcoholic drinks, and kapiti ice cream (fig and honey). Sorry mad_atta, I failed to get the names of the wines, there were 2 reds and 2 whites to choose from, plus Lindaeur sparkling wine. After my efforts in the lounge I imbibed only minimally.
Once dinner was cleared away I made good use of the 3 seats, for I had 6 blankets and 3 pillows with which to make a nest (and that is without asking for any extras - perhaps a case of mistaken identity?). I managed to get a comfy position and lightly dozed and sometimes watched the IFE. The movie was The Devil Wears Prada, followed by Will & Grace, The Simpsons, and The Family.
Throughout the flight there were problems with the cabin temperature which fluctuated between quite hot and rather cold. The crew came through many times with drinks and water ^
Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer 
