Introduction
The time has come for my regular Christmas holiday away with my family. Mum & Dad purchased tickets around the start of April; we would be flying with Air New Zealand on NZ938 from OOL-AKL on the 12th of December and NZ937 from AKL-OOL on the 2nd of January. As we have previously flown Air New Zealand, and found the flights to be a great experience, there was no doubt that the airline would be our first choice when planning our next New Zealand holiday. This would be my first ever visit to Auckland Airport, and my first ever trip that inspired me to do a trip report, complete with photos and video!
Welcome to my 1st trip report! This will cover my very enjoyable Christmas holiday to New Zealand on NZ938 (OOL-AKL) and NZ937 (AKL-OOL). As I had been to New Zealand before, I had very high anticipations for the holiday overseas. The OOL-AKL-OOL route has been operated on for just over 11 years, although charters commenced just under 20 years ago, operated by Freedom Air, Air New Zealand’s ex-low cost subsidiary. In 1999, Freedom Air started scheduled services from the airport to New Zealand, making this the first ever international scheduled service from the Gold Coast. By the start of 2008, Freedom Air had expanded destinations from the Gold Coast to destinations such as Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin. When Air New Zealand took over the helm in March 2008, they made the Gold Coast part of the Star Alliance network and served Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton with direct flights from Gold Coast Airport. Today, Air New Zealand only flies to Christchurch and Auckland direct from the Gold Coast, facing tough competition from Jetstar and Pacific Blue, especially on the OOL-AKL-OOL route. This trip report will show you the great service Air New Zealand offers for cheap fares, and how their amazing booking category system: Seat, Seat + Bag, The Works, and Works Deluxe, well, works. Please enjoy perusing through this trip report at your leisure.
NZ938
DATE: 12th December, 2010
AIRCRAFT: Airbus A320-232
REGISTRATION: ZK-OJA
SECTOR: Gold Coast (OOL) – Auckland (AKL)
SEAT: 21F
AIR NEW ZEALAND BOOKING CATEGORY: The Works
LOAD FACTOR: >90%
ETD/ATD (Gate, Local): 1030/1040
ETA/ATA (Gate, Local): 1630/1629
Gold Coast Airport is the first dedicated low-cost airport in Australia. It has a very modern terminal, thanks to the recent renovations, and has common-user check in desks. The renovations have really opened up the terminal...don’t even get me started on what the terminal was like before the big refurbishment started. As Jetstar and Virgin Blue are the most dominant carriers here, they have dedicated check-in desks at one end of the check-in hall. Tiger Airways has their own terminal (T2) situated ~5 minutes walking distance from the main terminal (T1). Other scheduled airlines to serve Gold Coast Airport are Airnorth, AirAsiaX, Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue.
Anyway, enough with the facts, let’s get on with the trip report. So, by 7:30 in the morning I was up, finishing breakfast and doing last minute checks on my luggage to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, while trying not to collapse with excitement. By 8:20, Mum was driving Dad and I to the airport.
Check-in was fast and efficient. Hardly anyone was in the queue when we arrived, so we didn’t have to wait very long. After being handed our departure cards and boarding passes at the check-in counter, we filled the departure cards out and then made our way through security and into the departure lounge. Gold Coast Airport is quite unique in having a universal security check for both domestic and international passengers on entry into the departure lounge. International passengers then have to make their way through the domestic departure lounge to international outbound immigration and screening before entering the international departure lounge. Makes sense, as they only have one formal terminal – not counting Tiger’s shed. So anyway, we got through initial security (did I mention I was randomly checked for explosives?) and saw that the line through to the international departure lounge was pretty long – 3 international flights (2 being operated by A330s) were boarding and leaving at around the same time period, as well as ours – Jetstar 239 to AKL, AirAsia X 2703 to KUL, and Jetstar 19 to KIX. We decided to just sit down for a while before we went through security. Naturally, I watched the aircraft taxi by.
Tiger Airways Airbus A320 VH-VNO.
At that moment, the queue was looking quite short, so we decided to just get the inbound security stuff over and done with. We got through without any problems, apart from Dad getting randomly checked for concealed objects.
So we made our way through the terrifying horror in the form of Duty Free, then out into the wilderness of the international departure lounge. Again I found a seat, and just relaxed, waiting for my flight.
My boarding pass.
Apparently I’m boarding at the time the aircraft is supposed to land. This would also be a good time to explain Air New Zealand’s booking category system for Tasman and Pacific flights. This system gives you a
choice – you choose what you want for your economy ticket. There are four categories, each altering the price of your ticket;
Seat: You get a seat and a carry-on bag (up to 7kgs), and checked baggage up to 23kgs. Everything except movies is accessible on the IFE; you must pay to watch movies. Complementary refreshments are handed out. You must use your credit card or voucher for in-flight bites.
Seat + Bag: You get a seat and a carry-on bag (up to 7kgs), and checked baggage up to 23kgs. Everything except movies is accessible on the IFE; you must pay to watch movies. Complementary refreshments are handed out. You must use your credit card or voucher for in-flight bites.
The Works: You get a seat and a carry-on bag (up to 7kgs), and checked baggage up to 23kgs. Everything is accessible on the IFE unit, including movies. Complementary refreshments as well as a meal are handed out. After you’ve enjoyed your meal, you have the choice of ordering extra drinks, free of charge, from your seat. If you’re travelling with kids, you can request a Kids Meal at the time of booking, which comes with an activity pack.
The Works Deluxe: Premium check-in and access to the lounge before the flight. You get a seat and a carry-on bag (up to 7kgs), and 2 checked bags up to 23kgs each. Everything is accessible on the IFE unit, including movies. Complementary refreshments as well as a meal are handed out. After you’ve enjoyed your meal, you have the choice of ordering extra drinks, free of charge, from your seat. If you’re travelling with kids, you can request a Kids Meal at the time of booking, which comes with an activity pack. This option comes with extra personal space in-flight, as well as booking flexibility.
You can also Mix’n’Match these booking classes.
It really is an ingenious system that targets virtually all corners of the market for short to medium haul international sectors. Anyway, getting on with the trip report...
Gold Coast Airport Duty Free.
FIDS.
Busy international departure lounge.
AirAsia X Airbus A330-300 9M-XXF.
Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 VH-JQL.
After watching the action for a while, I saw my ride land. I was hoping so much that I wouldn’t get ZK-OJA for the third time in a row – I flew OOL-HLZ-OOL on it in 2008/9. Then the A320 - and the registration - came into view. Please...
Not a very good photo – and yes, I got OJA again. Darn!
Parking at Gate 7.
Gate 7.
The usual calls were made for passengers with infants, passengers seated in the back rows, etc. That didn’t stop people on the flight who didn’t have infants or were seated in the back rows from getting up and rushing to the gate before the aircraft would desert them. Boarding was quick and easy nonetheless, and I found my seat without any troubles. I had to lean forward a bit to see out my window, but that didn’t trouble me at all.
View from my seat, 21F.
Legroom shot. Air New Zealand have 30-33” pitch and 17” width for their economy seats in the A320.
Virgin Blue Boeing 737-800 VH-VUA.
This was my first time in the ANZ A320 since they were fitted with IFE seatback units. However, they didn’t seem to be working! Bugger! So my IFE would just be views out the window! Also, it seems that the monthly Kia Ora magazine was no longer in every seatback pocket – you had to ask a crew member for one. I heard this was a way to save weight. We pushed back 10 minutes late, the Crazy About Rugby safety demonstration was conducted (we only heard the sound, as the IFE units weren’t working), then quickly taxied for a Runway 32 departure.
Flight surface test.