I just went thru AKL yesterday, had meetings in WLG and then a quick routing up thru AKL and out to SFO. I was checked in at WLG, thru checked to my final international destination and not told a thing about the departure tax. Call me stupid, but most of the countries still doing this antiquated currency collection on departure are just trying to get a fast buck (in hard currency). To make a long story short, I waited in an immigration line in AKL for 20 minutes, only to be told to I had to exit and go pay the departure tax. Part of me is frustrated with NZ for not giving me direction about this on check in at WLG. The other part wonders why the country has taken so long to get with the program and just add this to tickets so we dont have to deal with this hassle. I missed getting a predeparture massage or shower and instead had to run around getting the tax paid and then sprint to the gate. The AKL-SFO flight made up for any frustrations. What a great airline! Even the SYD-WLG A320 in J class was a treat compared to a domestic US airline... and now I have a couple hours in the SFO UA club and a segment on UA to look forward to!