Monday Feb 27, 2023 Dallas to Auckland NZ

So 3 hours of sleep and a shuttle back to the airport, we re-boarded the big 787. These are the latest greatest planes and they are big guys with all the electronic bells and whistles. We were already acquainted ourselves with the folks we had spent time with the night before, the young newlyweds, the young nurse from Boston, the retired Civil Engineer, etc. Good bonding last night.

So over 15 hours with New Zealand 20 hours ahead of us (hurts my head) you have no idea what time it is or if it’s breakfast time or dinner time. American Airlines serves two meals over that time plus some snacks and lots of drinks. And lots and lots of movies, TV series, and video games. I watched a few movies and read my book. So 787 bathroom tip ( I report the important stuff), the one in the front right side, up near first class, is big and roomy.

So we thought we had plenty of time to get our final and rescheduled connection from Auckland (North Island) to Christchurch (South Island), but baggage claim took forever and it’s a 10 minute walk from the main international terminal to the domestic terminal. We got to the gate at 8 pm and the flight left at 8:10, so we just missed it. There were a lot of other folks in the same boat. We found out that just before the Dallas plane landed, they sent Deb a text saying they were changing us from the 8:10 JetStar flight to an 8:30 Air NZ flight, but she had no cell plan yet and we never got it.

Speaking of mobile plans, I switched to a Google Fi Flexible service which is international and Deb is going to get a SIM card for her phone so we can compare. Stay tuned.

So we got on Expedia and got the last hotel room with a shuttle service in Auckland. So another extra night in a motel that we'll be asking American Airlines to reimburse. Exhausted....