I chose the A380 on my previous trip (Auckland-Singapore) because when I asked here about sleeping the majority opinion seemed to be that the feet area was more deficient on the B777 than the A380. As I recall the B777 flight leaves Auckland just after midnight so depending on your travel arrangements you'd have another night to pay for a hotel even though you'd be leaving around 9pm vs. checking out at more or less the usual time, heading for Auckland Airport and catching the afternoon (A380) flight. I can't answer for the lounge for the midnight flight, but I checked in as early as I could at Auckland Airport and the lounge (Air New Zealand) was quiet. By the time I headed for my (distant) boarding date it was bursting at the seams, as a lot of *A international flights leave in the afternoon and - as I recall - Air NZ's is the only *A lounge. When I was there the passenger make up included TG, SQ and UA as well as NZ's own passengers