I’m toying with the idea of taking a trip later to New Zealand this month, but I have to wonder whether it is worth the effort…or even plausible considering the razor-thin connection time in both Christchurch and Auckland.
Foolish? Tight Flight Connections In New Zealand
It has been years since I have been to New Zealand and I’d love to spend weeks (perhaps months) there. But life is far too busy in Southern California for that and even a few days away before the holidays is really pushing it.
United will start service from San Francisco to Christchurch later this month and I am thinking about taking the inaugural flight. The cost of the flight aside, I’ve got a big problem: I would have to leave on Friday and be back in LA early on Sunday morning.
Looking at the flight options, I see only one possible combination of three flights that would theoretically get me home in time:
The United flight to Christchurch:
Then Air New Zealand to Auckland:
(I could gamble and try to book an 11:00 am, betting on an early arrival, but that seems risky)
Then Delta back to Los Angeles:
It would be a shame not to spend time in New Zealand, but this would be a fun trip…and I even considered doing the AKL-LAX flight in economy class since I have never flown Delta on a longhaul flight behind the curtain.
The first connection in CHC would be “legal” (I’d have 1 hour, 25 minutes and the minimum connect time is 1 hour, 20 minutes):
But the connection in Auckland is more problematic. I’d have 1 hour, 25 minutes there too with a 1 hour, 15 minute minimum connect time. Sounds good, right?
Well, it has been a decade since I have been to New Zealand and I have never taken a domestic flight in New Zealand before. My understanding is that the domestic terminal in Auckland is a 10-minute walk or bus ride to the international terminal. That would cut it quite close…
I’m game for tight connections, but the reasonable part of me thinks this is disaster waiting to happen and that I should not bother to go at all.
But I thought I’d put it out to you…is there something I am missing? Is there a better way home?
Let me know your thoughts.
Without even reading: No lol
After reading… still no, unless there’s a backup after the Delta flight that would work
And don’t forget to fill out the NZ eTa if you do go!
I was in NZ November 2022. I changed both in AKL and in CHC. Your planned itinerary is just too tight.
Depends upon the consequences of missing the connection both in monetary terms, and of arriving a day or two late back home if you misconnect and need to rebook, but you already know that.
Quite right. I really need to be back in LA by 6am on Sunday for an obligation so important I’m willing to fly Delta coach for it!
Yolo. enjoy!
There must be easier ways of getting from San Francisco to Los Angeles?
8% chance will misconnect. Go for it.
I wouldn’t recommend it to any infrequent flyer on separate record locators but you should be fine if it’s tight & you hustle. May want to take note of any other international wide body arrivals for immigration in case it gets squirrely.
The Australian flights into CHC wouldn’t arrive until after noon I believe, so you’d just have to check SQ at the moment? Maybe some random Mainland Chinese carrier chose to restart the route since I last checked…
For many real Americans like me who work for a corporation and have limited PTO… I can’t take that risk personally. Flew 6 flights the past 1.5 weeks outside the US, and 4 of them were delayed from 30 min to 2 hrs.
As someone who had to deal with a similar situation at SCL over the weekend involuntarily (I’m going to write about it this weekend), my advice is…don’t. I don’t think the CHC-AKL connection is as problematic as the D/I connection in AKL. Let’s assume you’re flying up front on the domestic flight:
-5 minutes to get off the plane
-10 minutes to walk out of the domestic terminal (maybe 15 if you’re unlucky and end up at the farthest gate in the terminal)
– 10 minutes to walk from D to I
-30 minutes to get through passport control and security
– 10 minutes to run to your gate (or more if Murphy’s Law hits and you’re at the far end of the concourse)
If everything goes 100% perfectly, that whole process will take 65-70 minutes, which brings you to the gate for your DL flight just as the door is closing. Doesn’t seem like very good odds to me. And you’re screwed if you for some reason you can’t get your DL boarding pass on the app before that process closes (I think 4 hours before departure, so you’d have to hope the WiFi onboard works).
The 1:25 D-I connection time in Auckland is feasible. Outbound security and passport control is efficient (inbound, very slow at the moment in Auckland). The walk is quick and easy, 5 minutes for a fit person without luggage.
Christchurch doesn’t have that many international flights, and the UA flight will probably arrive without others arriving. All one terminal.
Your back-up option if you miss the Delta flight is the 3:50 UA916 to SFO.
Nothing like adding to the rising CO2 levels for a pointless, useless trip. What a hypocrite
This schedule has no time to shower between flights ???
Shower between flights? I’ll change in United’s PJs on the SFO-CHC flight and throw them away upon landing.
Why not go to Queenstown instead of trying to make that connection?
Because I have to get home.
But my strong desire to visit Queenstown is one reason I am thinking twice about this flight.
Queenstown is an International Airport as is Christchurch and both contained on same site unlike Auckland. So if you think you can make it work..why not ? Good Luck.
I’ve transferred AKL domestic to international many times. The walk is fine if weather is ok but the shuttle takes longer, even if you don’t have to wait for it. If you have no luggage, your timings are very tight and you would be lucky to make the connection. If you have luggage, don’t bother.
I wish I had the time to do such frivolous journeys – enjoy!
No luggage, that’s for sure!
Not worth it and too risky, NZ customs is way too strict and you would probably spend the entire connection time in CHC trying to get through customs. And then getting through customs again in Auckland is also another issue, but would be much faster than CHC.
If your Sunday plan was flexible I’d do it, but if you need to be back, not worth it.
I would do it just for the cookie time cookie on the domestic flight and a flat white in the Koru Club in AKL (if the connections were longer.
NZ 542 looks to arrive 10 minutes late as often as it arrives 10 minutes early. It might be worth booking the 11am flight to AKL, and hoping they put you on the 1200 if you need it. You could always have both booked in points and cancel the one you wind up not needing.
In my experience, inaugural flights always go late, and you’re often slow to get off. But hey, I’m sure if you go, you’ll find a way to get back in time.
With all due respect,
Possible typo: “The first connection in CHC would be “legal” (I’d have 1 hour, 25 minutes and the minimum connect time is 1 hour, 30 minutes):” Should it be “illegal” or “1 hour, 20 minutes”?
Landing at 6:00am is not synonymous with “back in LA by 6am”, do you mean “I need to land in LA by 6am”?
Re: “Shower … United’s PJs … and throw them away upon landing.”, not particularly environmentally friendly. It would be far better for the environment and not at all unhealthy or unhygienic to NOT shower for the ~32-48 hours you’ll be away.
It’s also incredibly economically wasteful to fly around the world and not spend any time, much more never leave the airports. Long flights, particularly in economy class, have higher risk of DVT (blood clot in legs which can travel to the lungs).
I realize it’s your business, but all things considered, perhaps mainly your need to be home at a very specific time within a very limited timeframe, it would be very foolish to gamble and fly to the (almost) antipode of Los Angeles. Certainly a rubber-duck or the equivalent given on an inaugural flight cannot THAT worthwhile.
Matthew,
If I were to reverse roles and ask you if I should take that trip and that the consequences of not getting back in time were to miss my daughter’s wedding, what would you advise?
Cheers
Denny
Hi Denny,
The obligation does not rise to a family wedding, but even so I don’t want to inconvenience anyone or fail to perform a commitment, as minor as it may be in the grand scheme of things, so I lean toward not going.
Too bad we can’t fly to Frankfurt together for some Kartoffelpuffer!
Too bad! Is right. Weihnachtsmarkt, kartoffelpuffer, and even a reasonable amount of gluhwein.
How important is the obligation? I couldn’t miss my daughters end of year dance performance last week so had to pass on another obligation interstate on the Saturday night (I didn’t want to catch a 6am flight home and not enjoy either obligation).
How about emirates from Christchurch to Sydney . Lots of upgradeble space. Could book biz and upgrade to first. Shower etc onboard :). Then syd to lax.
Do it a week later and take time. Inaugural flight not that exciting 🙂
I fly to and around NZ a lot. Even if everything is on time you’ll be running the whole way and if it goes south it’s game over. I’ve breezed through immigration and customs in about 20 min but on some occasions it’s taken an hour or more. Likewise transfers and getting through emigration and security can be done in 15 min plus walk time tothe gate but sometimes an hour or more. If you do it, lot of luck!!
I transited through AKL last Christmas (SYD-AKL-IAH) and the security lines were long (~30mins) and flights to the US have secondary screening so I’d say greater than 50% chance you miss one/both connections.
I love that you’re willing to do this for the experience and – for us – the review but IMO this is just too much. If you get unlucky on the return you would miss something urgent and you would have zero opportunity to enjoy even a couple of days in NZ. Your heart’s in the right place but I’d say pass.
As an NZ citizen at CHC I got from the gate of my NZ int’l flight to the gate of my NZ domestic flight in about 25 minutes (without bags). I think I probably got lucky, but it’s all in the same terminal and there’s not too much walking involved.
Also, if you’re not sure about 11am or 12pm CHC-AKL, you could look into Air NZ’s flexitime fare option which enables you to change flights same-day. Or book two tickets! But now that I see that there’s not one but two tight connections this looks nail-biting for sure.
Not sure if helpful but Air NZ has some flexibility in tickets, I think possibly for a small fee when booking, allowing you to switch on to earlier flights if available.
I used it to connect to Queensfown from Auckland. Booked the safe later flight but my long haul came in on time, everything went smooth and so switched on to the earlier
I personally wouldn’t do this trip because I hate the idea of so much flying with so little vacation. But I think you would be fine and if you aren’t you have some great content
Live and let fly!
The 10 minute walk is exactly that. Very do-able. And Christchurch airport is fairly small.
PS: I’d be wary about the connection if it were inbound to AKL, which has had long security lines sometimes this year. But Christchurch is much less busy….
I think it’s doable. Provided the flights are on time ofc! Just took the noon CHC-AKL flight last weekend. Made it to AKL ticket counter by 142pm. And lounge by 2pm. There was no security at the gate aside from a passport check.