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Old Jul 30, 2015, 6:37 pm
  #1  
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check in time for VA134
Hi all

I am on VA 134 tonight (SYD-CHC) and will likely be finished with a meeting early and get to the airport around 3.30pm for a 7.20pm departure.

Will I be able to check in and go through to the lounge (hand luggage only) at that early time?

I am booked on the NZ codeshare so cant do online checkin.

any advice appreciated

thanks!
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 1:20 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by oranjemakker
Hi all

I am on VA 134 tonight (SYD-CHC) and will likely be finished with a meeting early and get to the airport around 3.30pm for a 7.20pm departure.

Will I be able to check in and go through to the lounge (hand luggage only) at that early time?

I am booked on the NZ codeshare so cant do online checkin.

any advice appreciated

thanks!
In answer to my own question, got here at four and no problem checking in.

Thankfully I got an express pass, the queu for immigration snaked all the way around the line, there were only 5 immigration officers in total, two for express. Lots of people had to get pushed forward at risk of missing their flights.

I asked the officer and she said seven of her colleagues had called in "sick" (so a 60% absentee rate), yeah, that Friday-itis!

Thats a disgrace, no doubt the union will ensure they are not disciplined for faking a sicky!

Now in the very nice new NZ lounge.
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 6:12 pm
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For the calling in sick, its cold and flu season. Ive now been sick for almost 2 weeks, my husband about 8 days and coworkers are dropping like flies (not from me, ive been working from home to avoid people).
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Old Jul 31, 2015, 8:30 pm
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Originally Posted by Osmo
For the calling in sick, its cold and flu season. Ive now been sick for almost 2 weeks, my husband about 8 days and coworkers are dropping like flies (not from me, ive been working from home to avoid people).
OK, fair point, maybe they are all sick, but it still seems highly unusual to have a 60% absentee rate on a Friday!

Maybe Im just a cynic!

And the effect on passengers was pretty bad
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 10:24 am
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Aussie passport holder leaving NZ, I find using their Smartgate a good thing.
Have used it many times. Was apprehensive the 2nd visit to NZ, first NZ Smargate user at that time, when I first used it, but after its ok, really.
Our Aussie eGate has a lot to learn from them.
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 10:25 am
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Aussie passport holder leaving NZ, I find using their Smartgate a good thing.
Have used it many times. Was apprehensive the 2nd visit to NZ, first NZ Smargate user at that time, when I first used it, but after its ok, really.
Our Aussie eGate has a lot to learn from them.
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 9:24 pm
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Originally Posted by AustralianPoochie
Aussie passport holder leaving NZ, I find using their Smartgate a good thing....
Fascinating! - considering this thread is about a flight arriving into NZ.
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Old Aug 2, 2015, 5:02 am
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Ah.
SYD - CHC, read it as CHC - SYD.
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Old Aug 2, 2015, 5:07 pm
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Originally Posted by oranjemakker
OK, fair point, maybe they are all sick, but it still seems highly unusual to have a 60% absentee rate on a Friday!
Maybe Im just a cynic!
And the effect on passengers was pretty bad
We once had a 80% absenteeism on a Monday due to a single staff member being sick on a Friday. It still gets talked about from time to time.

And considering the thousands of people with germs that the airport staff come across on a daily basis - Im not surprised. But Ive become a germophobe in my old age.

And to be slightly on topic, the bio security line arriving into NZ is always a hot mess and there is no express line for FFs, at least Sydney offers express lanes for those lucky enough to get to use them.
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 4:07 am
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Originally Posted by Osmo
And to be slightly on topic, the bio security line arriving into NZ is always a hot mess and there is no express line for FFs, at least Sydney offers express lanes for those lucky enough to get to use them.
Yes! Its a right pain in the backside. Especially CHC when all the flights arrive from Australia within an hour or two. I had a 40 minute wait. Lines backing up all over the airport.

And totally unacceptable because its an entirely predictable problem, it happens every night so they should be able to staff it better to make it move more quickly.

And back to the topic of this thread, VA134 is one of the last arrivals so the problem is compounded as all the other flights pax are ahead of you!
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 10:16 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by oranjemakker
Yes! Its a right pain in the backside. Especially CHC when all the flights arrive from Australia within an hour or two. I had a 40 minute wait. Lines backing up all over the airport.

And totally unacceptable because its an entirely predictable problem, it happens every night so they should be able to staff it better to make it move more quickly.

And back to the topic of this thread, VA134 is one of the last arrivals so the problem is compounded as all the other flights pax are ahead of you!
The two year round wide body flights into CHC (EK and SQ) arrive in the morning and early afternoon.

In summer add another wide body flight in the morning (SQ) and mid afternoon (CI).

While it might seem that lots of flights arrive at CHC late evening, it is probably not 80% of arriving international passengers (other flights being narrow bodies).
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 4:12 pm
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Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
The two year round wide body flights into CHC (EK and SQ) arrive in the morning and early afternoon.

In summer add another wide body flight in the morning (SQ) and mid afternoon (CI).

While it might seem that lots of flights arrive at CHC late evening, it is probably not 80% of arriving international passengers (other flights being narrow bodies).
Sorry, I should have said "so many" flights from Australia arrive at the same time. My understanding is that the airport is frustrated by this too, not that the flights are all arriving but that customs does not staff up appropriately. A few more agents would speed things up a great deal.
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Old Aug 12, 2015, 2:13 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by oranjemakker
OK, fair point, maybe they are all sick, but it still seems highly unusual to have a 60% absentee rate on a Friday!

Maybe Im just a cynic!

And the effect on passengers was pretty bad
The staff should have been replaced.

Also being shift-workers there's a very good chance that Friday wasn't actually their "Friday" anyway.
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