As I am trying to fly to every current Air NZ destination on Air NZ (had all of them before the changeover), and also every current Air NZ route on Air NZ (had most of them before the changeover), this gave me an extra destination and about a dozen extra routes to fly.
As luck would have it, I was free to spend the day flying the first day Coolangatta was an Air NZ destination. So once again I get some more "inaugural" flights, maintain my 100% record of flying on Air NZ to all Air NZ destinations, and also knock off a couple more Air NZ routes.
My itinerary today would be AKL-OOL-WLG-AKL (Auckland to Gold Coast to Wellington to Gold Coast).
Another early start to the day, for this flight was the first of all Air New Zealand's international flights. Still, premium check in lobby was empty and I promptly got my 2 return boarding passes with a comment the seat beside me had been blocked. I wasn't surprised - I'd noted they were still selling very cheap fares just the day before on both flights. I must remember to check OOL whenever the BNE fares seem too high, as it is not that far by car or train between these Queensland cities.
I paid my departure tax (this is going mid-year, and collected at time of ticketing like most of the rest of the world - about time) and proceeded to the immigration officer who is working in the premium lobby. There is a snag. At first I thought the flight had not yet been opened for immigration (each flight gets manually opened when the first passenger arrives at immigration), but no - immigration have no record of the flight. Somehow in the changeover from Freedom Air to Air New Zealand the records have not been updated properly.
I waited about 30 minutes while the flight got added to immigration's records and finally I am allowed through. I am quickly through security and manage for the first time in a while to avoid the pat-down plus explosives swab. Then upstairs. Incredibly the NZ lounge still isn't open (why doesn't it open at the same time or shortly after check in opens?), and I see the friendly QF lounge agent waving to me so I head there instead. We chat for a while until more people start arriving and then I go inside to the F lounge. I realise this will be my last time to have QF F lounge access when not flying oneworld, for the QF platinum lounge access rules change in 2 days time. This will be a big loss for me at SYD and MEL in particular.
I check my email and then head out to the NZ lounge which is now open, grab a drink and check out FT for the half an hour before the flight is called.
At the gate lounge there has been some effort to acknowledge the inaugural flight, with a few signs, some beach balls and fake surfboards. Juice is handed out as we walk up to the BP reader. The flight load is light, 83 pax with no one in business class. Before the doors close I am offered a newspaper which I happily accept (the lounge only had the lower quality one by the time I left there).
We have a 20 minute delay departing due to "needing to get something out of the hold".
IFE was the movie Enchanted followed by a couple of tv shows. Breakfast was served - a choice of fritata or cereals & yoghurt, plus fruit (a few pineapple chunks and orange segments), small muffin, water, juice, tea or coffee.
I dozed for a while to be awoken when they held a mini quiz in honour (?) of being the inaugural flight, with prizes of retro Air NZ cabin bags (these went for ~$200 each at the christmas charity auction!). I won one by being able to identify the next new destination for Air NZ - Beijing. This wasn't difficult as I am on the double inaugural flight for that
There were strong headwinds and a bumpy ride most of the way, so we landed late. Coolangatta airport has no airbridge so disembark by stairs in the early morning chill. A couple of jetstar aircraft were parked up and a virgin blue and a tiger aircraft followed us in. With few international flights there is no international transit facility, thus I had to complete immigration processing twice in the space of a few minutes. A bit annoying but not surprising.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
As luck would have it, I was free to spend the day flying the first day Coolangatta was an Air NZ destination. So once again I get some more "inaugural" flights, maintain my 100% record of flying on Air NZ to all Air NZ destinations, and also knock off a couple more Air NZ routes.
I toyed with the idea of going to the Qantas Club in the domestic part of the terminal (being Australia, there is no BP required to get airside, and my status allows open door entry). Qantas don't have any international flights from Coolangatta so there is no international lounge. However, my connection was relatively short and so I decided not to bother. In hindsight, I should have gone to the lounge and grabbed a coffee. With only the 2 Air NZ international flights (one to Auckland and one to Wellington), and light loads on both, immigration was a breeze. The only potential issue with visiting the Qantas Club is if the pa announcements are not made in that part of the terminal. And, as the airport terminal is small (with a sliding wall to close off a couple of gates when needed for international flights), there is a chance the pa announcements are heard there too.
While I waited in the airside area I noted the spartan facilities. A toilet. A small duty free shop, which in common with other airports in Australia you must walk through to reach the gate, and a coffee shop. That is all. So Gold Coast joins Cairns as the only international destinations served by Air NZ, with business class, and yet no lounge facilities. (In Cairns Air New Zealand used to use the Qantas Club however as all the Qantas flights are in the morning and Air NZ flights are in the evening the costs of opening the lounge were deemed too high ).
My aircraft landed.
When the Auckland flight boarding was announced I noticed they called landside as well. They managed to mangle the priority boarding calling first for business premier, premium economy and star gold to board first or at their leisure. Being an A320 a/c there is no business premier or premium economy, and what happened to the mentions for Air NZ gold elite, Air NZ gold and koru club? They also got the gate wrong - referring to gate 12 instead of 11.
Eventually boarding was called for my flight, a bit after our scheduled departure time. Once again the boarding call was mangled. This time they managed to not mention premium economy, but still referred to business class as business premier and said gate 11 instead of gate 12 actually being used.
With a super light load I took my time and boarded last. I got a pleasant surprise at the BP reader - I'd been upgraded to business class Clearly not an op-up as the load was only 42 passengers. This reminded me that on the flight over I thought they could have moved the couple of *Gs onboard into a business seat even with economy service as a nice gesture.
Anyway, I was in a cheerful mood heading across the tarmac and up the stairs to my seat. We got a pre-departure drink. Then it was time to go.
Once airborne we were given the DVD playlist and handed our personal DVD with disk already inserted. Given the mainscreen IFE was Alvin and the Chipmunks I was happy to take a DVD, even though I'd seen most of these several times in the 2 months since the list was last refreshed.
So far, so typical. But from here the service went downhill. If I had paid for business class I would have been extremely disappointed.
The curtains were never closed during the entire flight. Fortunately with such a low load there were not too many economy passengers traipsing through to use the loo.
There was no extra service in business than in economy. No extra drinks, no hot towels, no checking everything was okay - no little touches that make flying that bit more pleasant than it can be.
We did get an insincere apology that the flight had no business class catering.
Before the meal service everyone got a paper bag with a chocolate fish inside, an NZ tourism brochure and a 10% off voucher for Air NZ holidays (minimum purchase $1000 and with the usual list of restrictions).
The meal served was a breakfast due to the catering problems, and not the usual lunch (this is a short flight that lands in NZ mid-afternoon). Drinks other than tea coffee or water were not offered with the meal. Instead, after meal trays were cleared away a single round was done with the drinks trolley. According to a recent post on the NZ forum by a lurker, there is now supposed to be 2 rounds with the drinks trolley for trans-tasman (was one). Disappointing that even with such a light load (42 pax) they couldn't even manage that.
Boiled sweets handed out as we descended over the low cloud. We didn't see more than glimpses of the land and water below until we broke free of the cloud just off Point Jerningham (ie less than 2 minutes before landing). I admit by then I was wondering if the airport would be open.
Immigration was quick with just a brief hold up as it appeared our flight was loaded in their system with the wrong flight number A longer wait at customs - thanks to our delay all the passengers on another international flight (from Melbourne?) had collected their bags and were working their way slowly through customs.
Despite the upgrade (I did really appreciate the nicer seat even though the only other benefit was pre-departure drink and DVD), the service was far below normal Air NZ standards and easily the worst I'd had in a long time.
Clearly not an op-up as the load was only 42 passengers. This reminded me that on the flight over I thought they could have moved the couple of *Gs onboard into a business seat even with economy service as a nice gesture.
A longer wait at customs - thanks to our delay all the passengers on another international flight (from Melbourne?) had collected their bags and were working their way slowly through customs.
