EK F MEL-AKL, better to check in in person at 4.30am on day of flight?

[kermatu]

There was a lady directing AU/NZ passport holders with nothing to declare down the crew/wheelchair line and what looked like directly out. I didn't get to use it as I had something to declare.

I have occasionally been directed down that line - I have some mobility issues so randomly get selected for a shortcut! - including earlier this month. But everyone, including crew, still need to see the customs officer first. but yes, I've then been waved through to the exit every time.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

DO NOT USE AN IPOD for taking very important momentoes.
I did it on the ipod, and put the wire into my pc usb, it wiped all the pix from the ipod memory, everything is gone.
But I will try to put a scan of my 2 boarding passes.
Next time, I will take a small digital camera instead.
Sorry about the caps, ...
Overall, for someone who has never entered an F lounge, it was perfect.
Also the camera taking the view of the banking left and right, while on the 380 is surreal.
Also with the 1K seat, you can see with the camera the runway number, 34 from MEL departures, and then turned right, cross the Vic coast and then to AKL, coming in over the CBD (like I said, I couldn't see it because of the clouds), then banking over the train line, and then coming in over Manukau to AKL airport.

 

[RichardMEL]

Sounds like the officer waving people through to the crew lane (or whatever) is more a flow control issue during peak times to clear up the area (A few times I have been through it's been pretty crazy, specially if a large number of inbound flights from certain locales have just landed)...

Anway as I said this last Monday afternoon it was pretty easyu just follow the signs for AU/NZ passport holders and zip out the door. Very similar to arriving home in MEL and it's usually a "exit thanks Richard" - last night I wished them a Happy New Year. he seemed to appreciate it.

 

[kermatu]

As long as you have the memories, don't worry about the photos! Very glad to her it was perfect.

 

[opusman]

Do they even make iPods any more?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Sorry, one last one.
During very busy times, this is after you come down the stairs/escalators, to ground level at AKL airport, with the Smartgate receipt, and passport in hand, you come to baggage reclaim.
Sometimes, with HLO, they do pick up for a chat.
But during busy times, there are girls in that downstairs zone, they wear the green t shirt with help on it, I think its to get the lane moving quicker, they can tell you which lane to go down.
If you look a bit lost, they will come to help.
This is not all the time, because when I got to AKL on my last trip, arr midnight, there were none of them around.
Upstairs, its only the NZ immi officers, and if a Smartgate original kiosk where you get the ticket first isn't operational, they upstairs can put you to another kiosk or through the staffed counter, where of course our passport is not stamped anymore.
F food was great, and filling enough, as is J food. My first DP 2003 rose (red) I had tried. Not my fav.
Loved that prawn and mango small cup they have in the J bar on the 380.
No vevue (or verve as she pronounced it) on the J class return to Au.
Ok, will keep answers short and sharp after this, on this thread.

 

[andye]

Do they even make iPods any more?

I bought one for Mstr andye2 for Christmas. Coupled with the cheapest mobile phone I could find (his electronic equipment has a very short half-life once it leaves the house)

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Lets see if this works.
Thanks again everyone for letting me learn how to add photos using the new way as on here.
My first good one if this works.
Cut and paste (prior attempts) never worked out.
2nd line, 4th block across up top.
Edit: this ipod would be 4 years old I think.
48 hours, and the QF points and QF SC were in my account.

 

[RichardMEL]

Do they even make iPods any more?

sure. I use one.. for music. it's old but it does the job just fine

 

[RichardMEL]

Sorry, one last one.
During very busy times, this is after you come down the stairs/escalators, to ground level at AKL airport, with the Smartgate receipt, and passport in hand, you come to baggage reclaim.
Sometimes, with HLO, they do pick up for a chat.
But during busy times, there are girls in that downstairs zone, they wear the green t shirt with help on it, I think its to get the lane moving quicker, they can tell you which lane to go down.
If you look a bit lost, they will come to help.
This is not all the time, because when I got to AKL on my last trip, arr midnight, there were none of them around.
Upstairs, its only the NZ immi officers, and if a Smartgate original kiosk where you get the ticket first isn't operational, they upstairs can put you to another kiosk or through the staffed counter, where of course our passport is not stamped anymore.
F food was great, and filling enough, as is J food. My first DP 2003 rose (red) I had tried. Not my fav.
Loved that prawn and mango small cup they have in the J bar on the 380.
No vevue (or verve as she pronounced it) on the J class return to Au.
Ok, will keep answers short and sharp after this, on this thread.

Once one has a smartgate ticket, you don't need your passport out beyond that point.

EK serve Moet inflight in J - as discussed earlier the Veuve (yellow label) is in the lounge in AKL (I think also in MEL but I never bother to go in there).

I enjoyed the DP 2003 Rose the other day on my flight back with the special canapes.. yum. It is an acquired taste - specially for those used to a sweet rose which seems to be more common in oz (I admit I was surprised myself, though on reflection I shouldn't have been). a brilliant drop anyway.

I also highly enjoyed the French and WA (Pierro) whites in F. Amazing drops. Highly recommended.

 

[RichardMEL]

Pooch re your boarding pass pictures - yes good you covered your name, but be aware that many boarding pass barcodes include personal information including FF# and other details. I would not post such things myself. Just a suggestion.

be reminded of the recent story of a woman posting on facebook her winning Melbourne Cup ticket which some "friend" then used to go to a TAB and scan the barcode (from her picture online) and grab the cash. Luckily they were caught but just be wary.

 

[Gaspode]

DO NOT USE AN IPOD for taking very important momentoes.
I did it on the ipod, and put the wire into my pc usb, it wiped all the pix from the ipod memory, everything is gone.

Hi Poochie,

If you have lost your photos and have not done too much with the iPod in an attempt to fix it, please try the following:

1. Put the iPod in disk mode: support dot apple dot com/en-au/HT201544
2. download Photorec: www dot cgsecurity dot org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
3. Follow this guide: www dot cgsecurity dot org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step

Replace dot with . obviously

However, generally photos will only be removed from a device once they are successfully copied to some location on the computer (Unless you told the computer is was a new device and it formatted it.) Try taking another photo with the iPod and plugging it into the computer, paying close attention to where the computer saves the photos. Hopefully you'll find your holiday snaps in there.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Ah, I remember that lady's case now.
And Gasoide will try that.
It's the iOS upgrade that did the act.
Didn't have the chance to actually transfer photos successfully.

 

[blackcat20]

Ah, I remember that lady's case now.
And Gasoide will try that.
It's the iOS upgrade that did the act.
Didn't have the chance to actually transfer photos successfully.

An iOS update shouldn't remove photos unless you've somehow formatted the iPod.

 

[JessicaTam]

An iOS update shouldn't remove photos unless you've somehow formatted the iPod.

Quite right, however I don't do any software updates whilst travelling unless I can do a full backup before hand - "just in case".

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Thanks all.
See, thats the big problem, I didn't do a backup save of the contents of the ipod.
I thought it was as easy as you know, putting a flatbed scanner, into the laptop usb, and pressing file transfer.
But it was that the ipod and laptop wanted to, to an ios update.
No backup, thats the big problem there.
If I had backed up the photos and notes on the ipod, then it would be easy to retrieve it.
Never mind, its all in my brain.
So, would I do the QF SYD F lounge visit on the next trip, SYD - CHC in EK first with a QF code, and do it with a digital camera, or maybe travel light, yes.
And would overnight in SYD too.
Anyone reading this, if you want to, at least try the MEL and SYD QF/EK F lounges visit at least once, if getting to other QF F overseas lounges is too expensive, the Au - NZ is the cheapest option.
For Gaspode: Safari cannot download the Rene e recovery prog, thanks for the tips though.
Lesson learnt!

 

[Gaspode]

What's "Rene e"?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Thats the name of the provider one of the programs, when I typed your linked website address.
It could have been Renee or similar.

 

[Gaspode]

That's doesn't sound right. Can you click on the link I sent via PM? Or just google "Photorec" and make sure you go to the cgsecurity link, and not any others that come up. Then download the correct version for your operating system and CPU.

Once you have it (assuming you haven't given up by now) you may find that Apple's stupid new security model will get in the way of you actually running the program.
If it says that the program is blocked or untrusted, you'll need to hold down the Left-Shift key wile right clicking on the program, then select "open" and release the shift key.