henrus

A little update to this thread...

Arrived into Auckland at 1:30am on VA90 from Rarotonga with the crew suggestion that transit security won't open again until the next morning. They were correct as it was shut with around 20 people milling around (before the Rarotonga passengers arrived).

Just decided it would be easier to go and enter NZ with no problems and I was landside at at around 1:45am. Only McDonalds was open but surprisingly the security upstairs was still open for FJ414 the 2am flight to Fiji. Despite it still being open they were only letting through FJ passengers and shut security at 2am telling us to comeback at 4am.

Just ended up in the food court for 2 hours and by 4am quite a crowd had built up however they didn't end up opening until 4:30am. It was apparently also 4:30am when the transit security apparently opened - so much for a 24/7 airport.

kiwifrequentflyer

Thank you for the update! That was fascinating.

Reading back through the comments on here was also fascinating. Now I see why Air NZ probably favours morning TT flights from Australia to Christchurch compared to Qantas/VA both leaving in the evening - it means there are actually decent connection options for regional locations! Since this exact same problem would happen there too. You learn something new every day.

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l etoile

Please follow this in the Oceania forum.

l'etoile
sr moderator

trooper

That made me curious...so I had a look at the AKL website. They say the "International Terminal" is open "24/7" (Italics mine) I suppose they are not lying... but that is a BIT misleading eh??

serfty

Interesting.

It is two or three years since I did this, but there is (or used to be) a call button on the arrivals side of transit security (near Gate 1 and 2). I would press this and someone would come over (eventually). They would escort me across to departure security for processing back to airside departures.

I would then find a gate lounge to get a couple of hours shuteye (normally downstairs at between gates 2 and 4).

ja1

I'm about to do this run next month so I'll post an update.

So just to clarify, when you arrive in AKL, you are allowed to leave the (international?) terminal - but there's nothing to see or do (unless you want to hit some golf balls) and you can't get back into airside until after 04:30 (and perhaps well after if there's a large security lineup) and you'll have to go through immigration/customs ?

And then you might get 15 minutes in the lounge as it won't be open in time.. before you're boarding your next leg (to MEL in my case..)

henrus

Will be interesting to see if your experience is any different. You can enter NZ even for the 4 hour layover.

When the crew handed out NZ immigration forms on board I asked if they thought transit security would be open - he said something about the call button being removed or no longer functioning - then said that when they've operated VA90 and it's been delayed with a 3:30am arrival they've seen a big queue from the last flights of the night just sleeping there - he implied is opened after 4ish.

Obviously I've got no idea how accurate this is but I got off the RAR flight and went over to the transit area only to find people who were sleeping on the floor (and the one bench in the area) - they looked like they'd been there for a while and I didn't want to join them and went back to immigration and entered NZ. No one questioned why we were entering for 4 hours (smart gate let us through - AU passports) and we just wrote "in transit" on the arrival cards. Nothing really to see or do except from a 24/7 McD in the food court upstairs - plenty of charging spaces nearby and many other people spending the night in the airport.

Things started to get busier at 4am when other food outlets opened and then at 4:30am (on the dot) they let everyone back into Customs/Immigration - queues for this weren't that long but built up very quickly. Don't expect to use the priority lane as you need the stamp from check in downstairs (still wouldn't let me through as a VA Platinum traveling in Business but it made no difference in the end).

and yes the lounge opens exactly at 5am (glass door is actually on a timer) - we got let in a couple of minutes earlier but he had to come and swipe the door open for this.

If you haven't been to Rarotonga airport before a few tips...
- You need your return ticket printed and be prepared to show them upon arrival (no exceptions for anyone!)
- Wifi is paid (and expensive) everywhere in the entire country except the international arrivals seating area where you get 30 minutes free per day.
- Check in for the VA flight opens 3 hours prior (be there 3 hours prior) but then head across the road to the Islander hotel (less than 200m walk) - average food but good drinks and cheaper than the airport. Friday night at the Islander (outside section) turns in to a massive party with a DJ and all.
- Head through security at the last minute (ask the check in staff when they think you should head through - they gave me an exact time) especially if leaving on a Friday (same day as the NZ flight to LAX) - there aren't enough seats for everyone in there - 2 shops and 1 bar/cafe.