Arriving at Chaotic Auckland Airport

I started my morning with an early wakeup at the Langham after a long (and amazing) day of Waiheke. The night before, the Air NZ app wasn’t even letting me check in – I’m not sure why here. My hypothesis was a United-ticketed journey with a combo of both NZ and NH was too complicated for their app to handle? Unfortunately, even their website wouldn’t even let me check in. Both kept saying that the flight was not open yet for check-in, even though clearly I was inside the 24-hour window. Oh well.

I tweeted [MENTION=823940]flyair[/MENTION]NZ with my issue and they were unhelpful: something like “maybe this is a tech issue, we’ve forwarded your issue to the web team, and our airport staff will help you out tomorrow.” I absolutely hate checking in in-person since I hate giving up sleep time to wait at the airport, so my typical routine involves 0 carry-on bags, mobile check-in the night before, and normally I can show up at the airport 1 hour pre-departure. Ah, I guess this time I would need to be a normal person.

For those of you who are frequent business travelers may understand that it’s always a delicate balance of “how late can I arrive at the airport before I miss my flight?”

Fortunately, for some reason the next morning I was actually able to check in online so that took a little pressure off (for once, I had to look up Air NZ’s check-in cut-off times and had tailored my schedule as such). However, I still wasn’t able to get a boarding pass. So I was half way there….

First person down at Eight for breakfast. Apparently the Christmas in July theme is strong here.





Now… I walked outside down the street around 6:40am to catch the 6:55am Skybus. And, the Skybus was late.




The Skybus was about 15 minutes late (my quibble with ground transport anywhere is that it’s generally less reliable), and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to print my boarding pass if I arrived later than one hour prior to departure… Commence the nerves! Traffic didn’t look hot either. Looking at the map I thought we would arrive at the international terminal first…. But we went domestic first and then international. I arrived at 7:45am and had approximately 10 minutes before check-in cutoff. Again, I had checked in online already but wasn’t sure if the machines/people would be able to print a boarding pass for me inside this window. Normally in US airports (and Canadian I believe), at T-1 hour the flight goes to gate control which means agents who are not at the gate cannot even print a boarding pass.

I headed over to Air NZ’s “premium check-in” area (sorry, no pics… was in a RUSH!) which was mobbed with people – to be fair, general check-in was even busier. I thought a Wednesday morning would have been more chilled. Thankfully Air New Zealand’s kiosk printed both boarding passes (first to NRT and then to SEA), both on Air New Zealand boarding pass stock. We’ll see if this works in Japan!

Air NZ’s premium check-in has a direct elevator to a separate passport control line… Which is a blessing and a curse as there is only one machine to process all travelers going in this direction, and the only one elevator to bring you up. So of course there was a wait. Eventually the line got so long the agent upstairs had to disable the elevator temporarily because the area before the passport control machine was so packed. She also eventually began having families go into the general processing area.

Anyways – I looked up my gate (16), which I found out was in a forlorn corner of AKL international terminal… AND a bus gate. I got lucky today! :rollesyes:

My flight’s departure was 8:55am and by the time I had completed my own departure procedures, it was 8:15am and I had no time for the AKL Air NZ Lounge. Sorry folks! I booked it over to 16 and boarded a bus to take us to a remote stand. PS – if you are at this gate (and I think 17)… Make sure you leave time. The walk is far.

AKL – NRT in Air New Zealand J on the B787-9
Flight #: NZ 99
Departing: AKL 8:55am (actual 9:20am)
Arriving: NRT 4:50pm
Booking Class: I Class
Equipment: B787-9
Seat: 4A

I had had a very rushed morning so was glad to settle into my seat. Air New Zealand’s 787’s are arranged 1-1-1 in business class in a herringbone configuration, with the A-side seats facing a wall and being much more private. I lucked out and got seat 4A even booking so late.

[img]http://preview.ibb.co/kpQS0Q/Photo_Jul_11_1_36_02_PM.jpg/[img]

Lovely cream colored seats after the new refresh.



If you get the chance to fly up front on one of Air New Zealand’s 787s, make sure to pick on the A-side. These seats are much more private and tend to have better service since FAs only need to serve one side. The cabin was completely full today, with mostly Japanese businessmen and a few families seemingly on holiday.

Also on board (in 4E?) was a young man who either was a travel blogger or some sort of salesman that chatted up everyone he was sitting close to, and then showed them some video on his laptop, loud enough for the whole cabin to hear. Unfortunately, it seems like he also met someone in the Air New Zealand lounge who was sitting on my side, and came over a few times to show him this music video and chat him up. I turned up the volume on my Bose noise-cancelling QC20i’s… and kept watching my movie :rollseyes:

Flight attendants were very friendly and offered pre-departure beverages. However it was soon 9:00am, and the boarding door had not been closed. The captain came on to inform us that we were awaiting passengers inbound from a Christchurch flight that had been delayed. This made me slightly nervous as I only had a 75 minute connection in NRT.

However, the captain let us know we would make up time en-route and still would arrive on-time. Phew, I hope so!

Flight attendants passed around menus after door closure.

Today’s meal format would be breakfast first, and then dinner before landing (one of the first times I’ve had this happen!).





Another shot of the wall in front of me before breakfast.



Breakfast was served from a cart – I got fresh fruit with passionfruit yogurt. The FAs were delighted with my choice and shrieked: “Phew! Glad you got that one. It’s really good!” I could tell this would be a good flight.



Sarah, one of the FAs, came around with the “bakery basket” and offered a selection of pastries. I selected a warm croissant (it was warm, flaky, and SO delicious for an airplane croissant!). I also requested strawberry jam and Vegemite.

For those of you unfamiliar with Vegemite, it’s a brown paste made from yeast extract that’s a byproduct of other food industry production processes. It’s similar to Marmite (nearly the same?) with different flavor nuances. I first had Marmite in the UK when I visited my uncle at the age of 4. I hated it. Now, older and (hopefully) wiser with a broader palate, I appreciate the rich umami meatiness of Vegemite and Marmite. It’s incredibly salty, though definitely should be used in moderation.

I had a Vegemite scroll in Sydney last time I visited and it was delightful, and I was hoping I could create some sort of similar product – sweet strawberry jam and salty Vegemite. It worked!!!

I chose the Japanese breakfast – I am always seduced by the thoughtfulness and delicateness of all things Japanese (even if it’s from an Auckland airline catering kitchen ).

Grilled ginger glazed salmon, rolled omelette with nori, Japanese rice and pickles.





The salmon was done beautifully, and like my dish on UA, hot! The Japanese breakfast was delicious – though I will note that there something decidedly more… “rustic” about this breakfast. The rice was not cooked with as much care (it was overdone) as it was on NH (following report). The pickled vegetables were missing which would have added a nice acidic refresher to the dish. Overall, however, the dish was lovely and light.

One of the neatest features of Air New Zealand’s entertainment system also made itself known. The purser sent out a text message that appeared on the screens of everyone’s video screen without interrupting the content. He just wanted to let us know that despite our late departure we would still be arriving on-time and connections were safe. This made me feel better, but of course I learned to never say I am “on-time” until I am safely on the ground in my destination, because until you are the off the plane with your bag, you are not in the clear

Air New Zealand provides a nice memory foam mattress pad for its longhaul flights, as well as TWO full-sized pillow and a duvet. Other airlines take note!



The seats do not recline to a fully-flat mode, rather you have to bring it to a full-upright position and then push a button that flips it over to reveal the bed surface. Sort of a hassle but not as big of a deal as others have made it. I also found the shoulder space was more sufficient than on other airlines (even with a reverse herringbone layout) since you can lower the armrest near the window and there is more shoulder space.

I did not sleep long, being a day-time flight, but apparently missed the mid-flight meal service of tea sandwiches and cakes. I asked an FA for some and she gladly obliged. The tea sandwiches were nothing to write home about (and not pictured) and quite mushy after sitting on the plane.

The pastries were marvelous.

Raspberry and rhubarb frangipane, and a caramel shortbread with orange and pistachio friand.



I will also note here that I forgot to take a picture of the amenity kit, but it was sufficient. Nothing mind-blowing. A grey iPad-sized zipped case made out of the faux wool material that is popular these days was embroidered with the Air New Zealand logo and fuchsia highlights. It contained the usual suspects (fun socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, eyeshades, etc.). Lip balm and hand cream were from Antipodes (though the packaging says “distributed from Air New Zealand…”, is Antipodes owned by Air New Zealand?) and were again, fine. I actually prefer the UA Cowshed products.

2 hours before landing dinner service began.

I chose the beef tataki with a seaweed salad instead of the master chicken stock.



It was delightful. Light and flavorful, but unfortunately the beef was sliced quite thickly – ah the fumbly Kiwi catering hands instead of delicate Japanese ones

I also ordered a glass of the champagne – a glass of the NV Billecart-Salmon Brut. What year? Menu didn’t say. It did say a minimum of 4 years old though. I’m not a champagne drinker (I actually dislike it as it gives me a horrendous pounding headache), but thought I might as well for the photo op. And all the travel bloggers always, without fail, have to comment on how expensive/cheap the champagne is, right? This one retails for $50 US I think. It’s fine. I still like my $3 San Pellegrino with lemon.



Having already ordered salmon for breakfast (and having it twice on UA…), I decided to go against my gut and have the peppered beef filet with fondant potato, carrots, and horopito pepper.



Fondant potatoes were fine. I didn’t finish them. I actually tend not to like most potato dishes unless they involve them being fried



The filet was cooked to a medium-well… So farther than I like, but it was still tender and flavorful. The horopito butter (what I was looking forward most to trying) was a huge letdown as it was quite flavorless. I’d like to try horopito in the future sometime on its own or in a different preparation.



I skipped both desserts, not being interested in either of them and instead went with the cheese. The red onion jam was fabulous. I wish legacy American carriers would serve some sort of compote or savory/sweet jam with their cheese plates.





Thankfully Air New Zealand provides a decent ratio of crackers to cheese. Alaska Airlines in the US, has a famous cheese platter, where you get like what, 2 crackers for the entire plate?

Pretty soon after dinner was cleared, we were landing in NRT.

On-time, phew! I would not risk a 75 minute international-international connection in many airports besides NRT, ICN, SEA, DTW, MSP, TPE, and maybe AMS?



I wished the flight attendants a lovely layover in Narita and deplaned into the jetway… Where it was 35 degrees, sweltering compared to our 14 degrees in Auckland! It was hot!

Overall, I really enjoyed my Air New Zealand experience, especially on this long-haul sector. I really wish the flight was better timed as a red-eye to maximize the time for sleep, but then I guess you miss out on some of the in-flight experience. The updated cabins with the cream-colored seats and mood-lighting are modern and new without feeling harsh.

All the FAs I met are friendly and the service is top-notch. One of the FAs even personally recommended to me their onboard blueberry chia bars (delicious!) as one of her personal favorites. I really enjoyed chatting with them (and the purser’s “please enjoy our great Kiwi service” keeps ringing through my head). While Air New Zealand might not have the absolute best business class hard-product, as a whole I think they do a really good job, worthy of their “one of the best airlines in the world” accolades (if you can believe Skytrax…).

I really can’t wait to fly Air New Zealand again! What an airline. You Kiwis should be (and are) proud of your home country airline!

ANA Business Class Lounge, NRT

Upon deplaning, I saw a sign for “NH 178 – Seattle, Please go to Gate 58A,” as well as another sign for Bangkok. Ah – the Japanese service I was hoping for!

My family and I have transited NRT many times, first with NWA and then now with DL (but infrequently now that DL is dismantling their NRT operation), however never on this *A side, but we’ve always had a good experience with the extremely friendly staff. Connections are their middle name.

Granted, DL now installs screens at their hubs that shows customers connecting destinations and gate information on a screen after you deplane, but there is a certain special feeling you get when you realize that someone looked ahead of time on the entire manifest for connections and printed a sign just for you (and whoever else is going to your destination). That is the customer experience that airlines should be trying to achieve (though I guess a screen does the same, except the feeling is different!).

Today’s SEA-bound flight was departing from 58A. Perfect…. One of the FARTHEST gates from where I was standing. How lucky was I today?!

I walked a long underground corridor after the cursory Japanese security and boarding pass check. The agent stared at my boarding pass for the longest time trying to figure out why it said “Air New Zealand” (since NZ issued it in AKL). I guess the format was unfamiliar to her—and now this made me wonder if it’s quite uncommon to transit NRT from New Zealand to get to North America. It’s not terribly out of the way, but I’m sure most people try to get to LA or SF instead of going through NRT.

Anyways, I was able to book it over to the concourse where my flight departed from, and even had a quick look inside one of the ANA Business Class lounges. Can’t remember the location was, but apparently this was the “bigger ANA J lounge” according to the agent.

Nice thing is that ANA actually publishes their lounge menu online (and they actually have a menu to start with!). Link (pdf) here:

https://www.ana.co.jp/wws/japan/e/as...ounge_1706.pdf

ANA Lounge.



I haven’t done a lot of research on ANA’s offerings. But I know they have a SUITE lounge specifically for F passengers and then apparently both the J and F lounges have some sort of specialty-chef dining service? I’m not sure as I didn’t have a lot of time to research (or stay).

Quiz time: how many of these airlines actually fly to NRT?



This ANA lounge was MASSIVE: it seemed like it never ended. There were two self-service food areas along with an a la carte window that offered noodle soup and curries made to order (or ladled to order, I guess). I did not take part since I was running low on time. I only had the chance to visit once I realized that the Japanese do not board their planes until something like 20 minutes prior to departure, with their wonderful friendly efficiency.

Fried chicken – I guess this is a take on karaage. It was actually quite delicious.



Remind me to book a longer layover to stay here longer next time. However, I was lucky that I was even able to make this connection when booking so last minute so I digress.

Next up: NRT – SEA in ANA J on the B787