At AKL QF lounge today on my way to Europe (NZ J fare was +3k+ via LAX).

Lounge not too bad. It has been a while since I have been here.
Busier than usual - lots of families with kids. Pretty full, but there the business center is hardly used, where I found a quiet cubicle. NZ could do with a few of these.

Champagne - Lanson (France not AU) - better than NZ Dulcet.
Red Wine - Wolf Blass Grey Label - very nice!
Beer - Tuatara Kapai Pale Ale - I am a big Pale Ale fan. Very nice...slightly tipsy now...
Cheese - selection of Blue / Camembert ...my only complaint is only rice crackers.
Food - sandwiches, hot food outside lunch/dinner was rice/chicken (F) + beef potato/lasagne (J) - soup Tomato (F) / Kumara (J). The coleslaw was particularly good. Food better than the NZ offerings around the same time.
Coffee - no barista but there is a bean to cup machine with Ice Cream fridge next to it filled with Kapita Vanilla Ice Cream, surely this must mean affrogato! Takeaway coffee cups would be nice.

Overall the fitout has a less cold/sterile feel/look about it vs NZ. As busy as it was, the dining area seem quieter vs NZ (usually lot's of clanking of plates and cutlery).

The Koru lounge is superior in the international terminal but its so incredibly busy and the Strata lounge is quiet that if I had access to either I would choose the Strata lounge any day. The Koru lounge in Auckland at night is insane. One of the most insane lounges I ever visit (one of the others being the Auckland domestic lounge - seeing a pattern here).

Pretty much all I want out of a lounge is a nice quiet atmosphere, some healthy vegetable snacks, coffee and alcohol. Unfortunately for Koru, the atmosphere is by far the most important on that list. So if they bumped me I would be plenty happy.

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I've only used the "new" international lounge once (must be a couple of years ago now) and it seemed incredibly busy but I guess first thing Monday morning with everyone trying to get to Australia early that's to be expected. My next opportunity will be mid-afternoon (still a Monday) when I'm on an SQ flight. Hope it's less busy then

Its pretty much crowed every morning, doesn't matter on the day of the week. Allot of its is caused by using AKL as an hub as such.

08:50 NZ123 AKL-BNE 77W
08:45 NZ191 AKL-ADL 789/77E (3x weekly)
08:45 NZ46 AKL-RAR 77E/789(5x weekly)
08:45 NZ296 AKL-APW 77E/789/77W (5x weekly)
09:00 NZ103 AKL-SYD 789
09:20 NZ135 AKL-BNE 77W
09:45 NZ52 AKL-NAN 77W

With that morning rush hour they are really asked for trouble.

Even if every business class seat is occupied with a customer (ie not staff travel), that is still slightly fewer than 250 business class passengers.

If Air New Zealand were a well managed airline, simple solution would be to lease the Strata lounge off the airport and call it the Koru lounge.

Done.

I think you are overreacting... With my 2-3 trips to NZ a year, I can always find standing room there [just kidding, but in the morning 5 minute search is required]. :p

Mythical lounges.
 

Its not just the Business Class passengers - there are plenty of Gold,Elite,Koru all flying short-haul on Seat Only Fares.

Sometimes on the Tasman it does feel like half of an 77W have access to the lounge in some form.

Thanks to credit cards and lounge passes being included in cereal boxes (they aren't, but it sure feels like it) the whole 77W probably does have access.

Am currently in the Wellington regional lounge, this is what a lounge should be like. Quiet and peaceful, with lots of room either "lounge" or work. But its 1224 so a quiet time

Seems like the only way to enjoy and functionally use the lounges is off peak. If this place was busy the cafe right below looks very nice and i would rather buy a coffee and camp out there

I've been in the Christchurch domestic lounge at peak times and found it perfectly manageable. Is it busy? Yes of course, it is peak time. But do you have to look anxiously around for any free seat like the Auckland one? No. Are the ceilings large and big so even with lots of people in it, it doesn't feel cramped and tiny? Yes. Is there plenty of space around the eating area so that a large number of people can fit to queue? Yes. It's one of my favourite lounges I've visited anywhere in the world.

It feels like everyone has access but frankly, I only know a couple of people who have access to Koru lounges. The vast majority of my friends/family are envious and ask me "what is it like inside."

Only time I have had an issue with the CHC domestic lounge is at peak when an Auckland flight got delayed so there was a bit of backlog. But yes the high ceiling does make it seem more pleasant.

At little old but the AirNZ lounge sizes vs the number of pax.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
Wellington comes out well but that is mainly because a big regional lounge that is actually worth using, as food and drink wise is pretty much the same as the domestic lounge. If I don't need to go through security or using the north pier at Wellington will use the regional lounge. If Chc and AKL had regional lounges along the same lines as Wellington correctly sized & have same food/drink and barrista coffee, would help things a lot on the domestic side. AKL needs the space, CHC would be nice when flying to Wellington not to worry about security and have to walk so far from the regional gates.