My flight over to Australia was with an airline I had never flown with before, but had heard about. I wasn’t really prepared for it though. Living in North American had gotten me used to tiny chairs, limited entertainment (Air Canada is great, though US carriers are terrible), and non-existent food options. My flight down to New Zealand on Air New Zealand was a great joy, but that was partly buoyed by using points to bump me into getting a lie-flat seat. It was back to cattle-class for my 4 hour flight across the Tasman sea on my way to Melbourne.
The check-in was auspicious and easy enough. No waits, as there were about 20 check-in agents working hard. Which was good, Emirates had all 3 of their flights that left Auckland (going to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, before all heading onwards to Dubai) within an hour window. So, lots of people at the airport. No worries, I had dropped off my bag and headed towards security within minutes.
