LAN SYD-AKL J Special - Good SC earner

[Myrna]

Just want to report / update on our flights with LAN recently. We (hubby and I) flew with LAN on the SYD-AKL route in J class (the special $700 return fares) - for a short holiday. We did not need the status run as hubby already qualified for Plat for another year.

We had really good impressions with the flights - both were on time! The J seats were flat and comfy (some international J seats in Qantas are not really flat). The food - as has been commented in most forum posts - was minimal, but we were not foodies so it was not a real problem. We went to Qantas First lounge at both SYD and AKL to have our breakfasts. We could certainly fly with LAN again - certainly the fares were much cheaper than Qantas J equivalent.

We stayed at the Ventura Inn at Auckland Airport (as recommended by straitman) - the night before the early flight out of Auckland. This hotel has got good reviews from tripadvisor.com. The rate was NZ$109 a night. We think this hotel is great for the price: free parking (up to 2 weeks - so NZers like to stay here when they go overseas. I played golf at Waitangi with a lady member there and she said they always stayed at Ventura when they flew to Tasmania to visit her daughter) and free shuttle bus to airport (24/7), free breakfasts start at 3.30am! And, there are 3 computers in the reception area with free internet acces! The room we stayed has 2 queen size beds! The bathroom was clean and adequate. There is a fridge in the room. So, if anyone is doing the status run - this hotel may be a consideration, instead of sleeping at the airport!

 

[straitman]

As I mentioned previously, the last two times I used the SYD-AKL-SYD option on LAN the points and SC did not post for the AKL-SYD legs.

When I spoke to QF FF recently they stated that this seems to be happening more frequently lately. They did however offer that if I had the issue again they would spend some more time looking into the issue for me.

Bundy Bear travelled with me from AKL-SYD so I am interested to know if his postings worked correctly.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Just want to report / update on our flights with LAN recently. We (hubby and I) flew with LAN on the SYD-AKL route in J class (the special $700 return fares) - for a short holiday. We did not need the status run as hubby already qualified for Plat for another year.

So, if anyone is doing the status run - this hotel may be a consideration, instead of sleeping at the airport!

Thanks for the reports on the Ventura Inn; but sleeping at the airport was rather fun. Would I do it again; maybe; saves money; so I could fly more.

The Lan product was good; lie flat seats and the breakfast out of New Zealand was good, better than I expected, and the IFE was also nice.

As I mentioned previously, the last two times I used the SYD-AKL-SYD option on LAN the points and SC did not post for the AKL-SYD legs.

Bundy Bear travelled with me from AKL-SYD so I am interested to know if his postings worked correctly.

No to that; still waiting; no panic.

 

[david870mdg]

We had really good impressions with the flights - both were on time! The J seats were flat and comfy (some international J seats in Qantas are not really flat). The food - as has been commented in most forum posts - was minimal, but we were not foodies so it was not a real problem. We went to Qantas First lounge at both SYD and AKL to have our breakfasts. We could certainly fly with LAN again - certainly the fares were much cheaper than Qantas J equivalent


!

+1
Just need to ring QFF for the AKLSYD SCs to credit though :shock:

 

[Myrna]

I have checked hubby's and my FF accounts and the SYD-AKL leg's points and status credits were there, but not the AKL-SYD leg's. So, I guess I will have to chase Qantas as well. I did keep the boarding passes - so I can scan and email them to Qantas.

 

[straitman]

I have checked hubby's and my FF accounts and the SYD-AKL leg's points and status credits were there, but not the AKL-SYD leg's. So, I guess I will have to chase Qantas as well. I did keep the boarding passes - so I can scan and email them to Qantas.

It seems that AKL-SYD not posting is becoming a common occurrence.

 

[AV8]

It seems that AKL-SYD not posting is becoming a common occurrence.

I have also had a problem with points not posting for the SYD-AKL leg when the aircraft was replaced with QF metal at the last moment - emailed QF boarding passes and points awarded within 48hrs.

 

[iqis60]

I just did a AKL-SYD leg on Tuesday and the points haven't posted as yet, but thought I would give them a bit of time before I chased them up. Anythoughts on how long I should wait to let it post before chasing it up?

I stayed in the Airport Holiday Inn the night before the flight out. Fortunately my parents were staying for a few more weeks, so they could drop me off at the airport at a sparrows fart. Holiday Inn was nice enough, but was dissappointed with the overpriced internet, which was a common theme in all the hotels I stayed in in NZ.

Quick off topic ramble about internet-
I ended up purchasing a pre-paid 3G usb modem for $99NZ that came with 500mb included (about $82 Aus with international credit card fee), which was pretty good compared to what you get in Oz. You can top up with another 500meg for $30. It's with NZ Telecom, who use the same frequency for next gen, so I should be able to use the modem for pre-paid here if I pick up a telstra sim. The modem seemed to have different frequencies selectable too, so hopefully I can use it for other overseas travel too.

 

[straitman]

I just did a AKL-SYD leg on Tuesday and the points haven't posted as yet, but thought I would give them a bit of time before I chased them up. Anythoughts on how long I should wait to let it post before chasing it up?

Due to the issues mentioned above I normally only wait about a week, do an online Missing Points Claim, about 5 days, and when that is rejected I then ring. Alternately you could email or fax a copy of the boarding pass to Qantas FF.

I stayed in the Airport Holiday Inn the night before the flight out. Fortunately my parents were staying for a few more weeks, so they could drop me off at the airport at a sparrows fart. Holiday Inn was nice enough, but was dissappointed with the overpriced internet, which was a common theme in all the hotels I stayed in in NZ.

The Airport HI is not bad for the price but as we normally arrive late afternoon and leave early I have never even looked up the Internet prices.

Across the road from the HI (past the Grand Chancellor) there is a very good Indian/Chinese restaurant.

 

[markis10]

Quick off topic ramble about internet-
I ended up purchasing a pre-paid 3G usb modem for $99NZ that came with 500mb included (about $82 Aus with international credit card fee), which was pretty good compared to what you get in Oz. You can top up with another 500meg for $30. It's with NZ Telecom, who use the same frequency for next gen, so I should be able to use the modem for pre-paid here if I pick up a telstra sim. The modem seemed to have different frequencies selectable too, so hopefully I can use it for other overseas travel too.

Thank goodness they sell all their devices unlocked , a couple of days in NZ and it works out to be a good deal compared to hotel charges.

 

[iqis60]

Thank goodness they sell all their devices unlocked , a couple of days in NZ and it works out to be a good deal compared to hotel charges.

Yep, it was the internet rates in the Millenium hotel Rotorua that sold me on the 3G internet option. One days worth of internet there pays for $30 worth of pre-paid refill for 500meg. I was going to just get a pre-paid sim, put it in my palm treo pro and use it as a modem, but initial tests in the shop with their sim weren't working and I couldn't be stuffed wasting their time and mine working it out when a modem with credit was only $99 NZ anyway and I could use it for other trips.

And yet another side note, I'm going to do another SYD-AKL-SYD run on LAN after 1st of March (census date) to help pump my points. My trip to NZ was to finish the last leg of an around the world I did in June-July, so instead of buying a one way back, I purchased AKL-SYD-AKL-SYD so I could get the NZ cheaper rate for a return to Syd as well. It worked out at $292AUD for each hop including international booking fee by being able to book from NZ and using the US site to get the discount, which I thought was really good value. I'm seriously considering spacing the last AKL-SYD hop right out so I can slip more AKL-SYD-AKL bookings in between. It all sounds like a bit of a waste of money to just get into the next status level and it would be if the mountainbiking in NZ wasn't so amazing. I hit the trails on Rotorua and Taupo and was blown away. I kept finding myself with two empty water bottles and no food left, having been in the saddle for 5 hours and wanting more! So chasing a more SC's with such a good rate in NZ doesn't feel like such a waste of money for me now .

 

[harvyk]

Has anyone been able to get good deals for one way fares? I'm looking at flying QF CBR - BNE - AKL, and then LA from AKL - SYD, QF SYD - CBR. Whilst I can get the QF website to enter in the flights as per my request I'm having trouble with the lan.com site, as when I select one way it's turning around and stating there are no return flights, and looking like it's trying to search for flight in Year 00.

Flying AKL - SYD there is not a lot of difference between a QF red-e-deal and LA J (technically I) but if the website has a heart attack entering in one way flights I may have a problem...

Any thoughts???

PS some of the forum regs may know why I want to fly BNE - AKL rather than LA from SYD to AKL, based on some of my previous posts so no, a return LA SYD - AKL won't do...

 

[Cheesy]

Quick off topic ramble about internet-
I ended up purchasing a pre-paid 3G usb modem for $99NZ that came with 500mb included (about $82 Aus with international credit card fee), which was pretty good compared to what you get in Oz. You can top up with another 500meg for $30. It's with NZ Telecom, who use the same frequency for next gen, so I should be able to use the modem for pre-paid here if I pick up a telstra sim. The modem seemed to have different frequencies selectable too, so hopefully I can use it for other overseas travel too.

Great advice there, just looked on the TelecomNZ website, and the free starter SIM offer ends on 31 January (for anyone else who's interested). Doing the LAN-J special on Thursday, if anyone is going through AKL and can see if the TNZ store there has any, please let me know. It would be convenient to pick one up there before connecting to WLG.

 

[Mal]

Great advice there, just looked on the TelecomNZ website, and the free starter SIM offer ends on 31 January (for anyone else who's interested). Doing the LAN-J special on Thursday, if anyone is going through AKL and can see if the TNZ store there has any, please let me know. It would be convenient to pick one up there before connecting to WLG.

Too late now, but DSE Electronics (NZ) does ship most products to Australia.

eg assuming this is the correct item. Telecom Pre paid Mobile Broadband MF626 and includes the appropriate sim (it appears to), then you could possibly pre-order and have shipped to Australia. This does depend on regulatory requirements regarding ID though...

There also appears to be a min of $NZ20 for shipping of items up to 1Kg (it used to be much cheaper), but with current conversion rates that isn't too high a price.

 

[Cheesy]

Obviously timing is the key here. We'll just see what happens, worse case scenario I now know I can get one from either TNZ or DSE in town when I get to WLG.

 

[gilby08]

Quick question, has anyone done say a:
SYD-AKL (Monday)
AKL-SYD (Tuesday)
SYD-AKL (Tuesday)
AKL-SYD (Wednesday)
(days are not actual days, just trying to show the short lay over times!)

Or something similar like that, with the very short lay over times.. If so how does customs react to this?! As i assume it's perfectly okay to do this?

 

[Mal]

If so how does customs react to this?! As i assume it's perfectly okay to do this?

I haven't done it, but will give some general advice: In Australia, you should be able to avoid customs/immigration for the most part because you're just turning around. The key issue is whether flight connections in Sydney can give you the boarding pass - I assume they can. If they can't then you'll have to go through customs each time in Oz.

New Zealand immigration/customs will most likely give you a hard time on the second entry in 2 days, or perhaps even the first entry or exit when you are there for only overnight.

I think NZ has introduced Smartgates that Australian E-Passport holders can use, so that might help with getting into the country - but I'm sure a secondary based on your suspicious travel patterns is nearly a certainty.

 

[tuapekastar]

I think NZ has introduced Smartgates that Australian E-Passport holders can use, so that might help with getting into the country

Can confirm this - we were directed to them at AKL mid-December, though TBH it quite possibly would have been quicker getting through regular immigration via a person.

That obviously was just due to the situation on the night - I am a big fan of Smartgate, especially when there are long immigration queues.

 

[Skoogle]

Quick question, has anyone done say a:
SYD-AKL (Monday)
AKL-SYD (Tuesday)
SYD-AKL (Tuesday)
AKL-SYD (Wednesday)
(days are not actual days, just trying to show the short lay over times!)

Are you thinking of setting up an AFF group run?

 

[Wannabee]

Are you thinking of setting up an AFF group run?

I'm in! Well for one of the SYD-AKL-SYD's anyway