Air New Zealand Air Points - No more 'Express in AU' :-(

When flying WLG-SYD last weekend I noticed that although my boarding pass had the usual 'Express out NZ' printed on it there was no sign of 'Express in AU'. Since I had time to kill I went back to the check-in desk to ask why this was, only to be told that as of a week or so ago there is no longer any such thing as the Express lane for immigration in Australia. Apparently this is the result of new legislation around how airlines gather information about passengers, passed in the name of security. Sure enough, on arrival at Sydney there were only 3 lanes: Australian Passport holders; cabin crew & diplomatic; and everyone else.

Luckily for me, when I travel NZ-Australia it is usually on the afternoon flights, and the *A terminal at Sydney is a complete ghost town at that time so there is never any wait at immigration anyway. For those early morning flights, however, the Express feature was really useful. I never did quite figure out who was eligible and who wasn't, but it's a pity to see it go. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

You wont be the only one in the Australian passport holders queue without an Australian passport. The last two times I have passed through SYD, I have been the only person in my immediate line of sight who has had an Australian passport.

On the last time through I passed a comment to the guy behind the desk after he perked up at the sight of my Australian passport (the guy infront of me was in need of a visa which he didnt have) and the Customs officer said that a quarter of the people in the Australian passport lanes, are non Australian passport holders.

<rant off>

I will reserve judgement as to if this change will actually make a difference to the length of lines.

It will however, be odd if NZ passport holders dont get some sort of special treatment at Australian ports as IIRC Australian passport holders can use the same line as NZers in NZ (which from experience is often the slowest as the majority of people on the Trans-Tasman flights hold one passport or the other) ...

It never occurred to me to try the Australian passport queue with my NZ passport - clearly I'm too law abiding! It has always annoyed me that Aussie passport holders get preferential treatment in NZ but not the other way around, though as you say it is not always to their advantage.