Shanghai to Auckland
Once through the queue check in was painless. I again got the slow queue at immigration. At this busy time of day the lines snaked back a fair ways. Fortunately I had spied the customs and departure cards at the landside entrance and check in counters respectively (why are they not both found at check in I do not know). Some others had not, and after lengthy waiting in the queue sent back to fill them in.
Security was quick. Even though liquid rule is in force there is no need to remove from carry on.
I have a quick look at duty free but nothing strikes me as a compelling bargain for my remaining yuan. So I headed to the "first class lounge number 18" which is Air NZ's designated lounge, for which I have an invite card. The lounge is sparse. No shower (as expected), minimal reading matter, almost non-existent food and very limited drink selection.
I remembered that SQ's lounge is not a contract lounge, and SQ has a flight departing very close to the same time as the NZ flight, thus I should have access to the SQ lounge through my status. As luck would have it, today the gate being used by NZ is right outside the SQ lounge so no horrible backtracking or walking the long length of the terminal to make the flight.
Along the way I noticed a NH own lounge also, but did not try entering. I have a feeling that without an invite card, or flying that airline, or have status with that airline, there is no access.
The SQ lounge is joint business and first (dashing my hopes of something nice for my PPS status), rather crowded and probably the worst SQ lounge I have seen. Nonetheless it was still much better than the contract lounge used by NZ - that's how bad that lounge is. There is a modest yummy food selection, and moderate drinks selection. Alas no dom here.
Soon time to leave the lounge and board. There is a scrum at the entrance to the airbridge. The airport design is deficient in that no holding area by the gate, and multiple pathways to approach the airbridge. Result is too many pax arriving from different directions and nowhere to wait while boarding pass and passport are checked.
Once through that I made my way to my seat and settled in with my usual bits and bobs for inflight. I have a nice chat with my neighbour who travels the route regularly, finding it more convenient than his old routing via Singapore on SQ.
We have a few pre-departure drinks while the rest of the aircraft boards, and given menus, amenity kits, slippers (hmmm why does PVG get slippers but not HKG?) and offered yesterday's NZ newspaper (which I naturally decline). I find a magazine I haven't read before in the rack at the rear of the business cabin. It seems today the business cabin is only 3/4 full. When I'd checked a few days ago it appeared to be full so maybe some late cancellations or date changes?
A hot towel was handed out, but not collected until we reached cruising altitude. Also of course NZ arrival cards. As usual we were asked for our drink orders for after take off. I asked what specific white wines were onboard and was told to look up the wine guide
So I then had to explain that not all wines got loaded on every flight (the guide lists several of each variety), at which point she understood what I was getting at and brought them out for me to check ^
Once the IFE was switched on I noticed my handset wasn't working properly. I could select a program to watch but not adjust anything (volume, light, pause, rewind, etc). After a while where my call light was being ignored (again - see the trip over) I made my way to the galley to check if there was anything they could do. Rather than look into it she just said to switch with another seat. Hopefully they made a note for someone to look at once back in Auckland so that the next passenger doesn't have the same problem. So I moved all my gear over to the new seat - and was lucky that there was nearby overhead bin space for the first row is always a challenge.
The meal service was moderately fast although a bit inconsistent. Eg desert wine brought around so much later than the desert that it was half eaten, and took a few goes to get the right glasswear.
As I was a bit tired and a long day ahead of me (we'd been told that we would be ahead of the scheduled early hour of arrival), I quickly got ready for sleep while most passengers where still having their tea or coffees, put on some nice music and settled in. I managed a few hours sleep before awaking a couple hours earlier than I'd hoped.
I dozed a bit more but eventually succumbed. We had indeed made up a lot of time on the schedule - more than an hour, and so the time between dinner and breakfast services was rather shorter than most passengers would be comfortable with. At least breakfast didn't start until less than 2 hours before arrival.
I couldn't help but notice the content of the breakfast was similar to that served in economy class, albeit with a few extra accompaniments (yah for smoothies), better presentation and much slower service.
I was still attempting to doze as we touched down in the darkness, having a rare straight in approach to land towards the east. The super early arrival meant we arrived not long after the US and south america flights, thus busy at immigration. All the booths downstairs (once again upstairs NZ & Australia immigration was closed - it has now been a while since I've used that) were manned and so the wait wasn't too long. Through customs and agriculture x-ray very fast (most people from the earlier flights still waiting for their checked bags).
I toyed with changing my plans given how much earlier we'd arrived (and no secondary either). I decided against heading home since it would take up much more time. So I stuck with my original plan to walk across to domestic terminal, arriving a bit before security opened, wait a bit, then up to the lounge for a quick shower, and head directly into work.