AirNewZealand Airline Warning- they will sting you!

[coyotewildwomen]

We have been stung big time twice by Air New Zealand because we did not fly them from Auckland back to the US. This time my husband missed the outbound flight from Auckland to Nelson by 5 minutes. The Qantas flight from LA was late getting in and he missed his flight. He had to pay $395.00 for a new ticket, had to lose what we had already paid for the old ticket and pay $100 for baggage overage because he was now not considered an international traveler. Customer service couldn't be more rude and unhelpful.

My advice is to leave yourself many hours between getting into Auckland, Christchurch whereever, if you are flying another carrier and then going on with Air New Zealand to another location.

They are also really cracking down on baggage overage- we were 9 pounds over on our last flight and they charged us a fortune( hundreds) in baggage fees. We paid more for overage than our tickets! They will weigh everything including ALL carry ons. This is a big money maker for them.

Given they are the only NZ airline- they seem to be throwing their weight around. What choice do you have?

Be warned!

[Gio]

Thanks For Posting... This Sounds Really Interesting!!

[Ana&Steve]

Thanks for the warning, sorry your had to deal with such unaccommodating, unfriendly situations, but kind of you to try to help others!
Ana

[urban78]

Hiya coyotewildwomen,

I have PM'd you

[coyotewildwomen]

I just want everyone to be warned so they can manage appropriately. It was quite a shock to have to shell out hundreds to continue our journey. It is really tough when you are moving over from another country and have a fair amount of stuff to haul with you on the plane. I can only imagine what we would have paid if we had brought more than just clothes for one person for 6 months! We have not brought over our container yet, but I guess that is the way we are going to have to ship just about everything. It is so expensive to buy things in NZ- that I hate to come with nothing.

[kanatakiwi]

when we do that trans pacific flight now we weigh our bags at home on the bathroom scale, not 100 % accurate but gives us an idea. then we repack if necessary... I also think out contingency plans for any bags I think might be just over the limit, like packing books or heavy things right on top so if they need to be moved to another bag or carry on, its easy to do it. Larger suitcases, I put all my lightest clothes etc in because its so easy to go over the limit. The check in staff will make you repack if you are over, or as you say, pay huge amounts of money. I like that some airports now have scales where you can weigh your bags BEFORE checking in, so that you dont get a nasty shock at the check in counter. Dont expect them to turn a blind ey to your overweight bags, they won't do it, and every time we fly, they seem to get more strict about this.