I generally tend to fly off-peak but yesterday I had a 7.50 am flight AKL-CHC... wow the AKL Koru Club was dire. Heaving with people; dark, closed in, generally not that appealing a place to be. I had some breakfast, sat around for a bit watching people trip over each other and then decided the terminal had to be nicer. Wandered over to the sparsely populated JQ gates where to my surprise I found quite a few nice comfy armchairs and a nice view over the international apron (to be fair I think it helped that I got there just as a JQ flight was leaving from gate 21 and with gate 22 currently accessed from downstairs it does relieve pressure on the 20/21 area). Still, with the 30 mins free wifi and 3G on my phone I was quite happy. Think this is what I will do in the future after popping into the lounge for breakfast.

OTOH the CHC lounge was an oasis of peace and quiet with gorgeous views over the airfield. Admittedly I was there outside of the peak AKL time but from a design perspective, I have to say that out of the three main centres AKL domestic KC is easily the worst.