Overnight AKL airport

[david870mdg]

Have a connection from CHC arriving just before midnight, then the 5am LAN redeye special. Check in opens 3am, wondering if there's much to do to fill the gap between these times. Will facilities be open, is it possible to sleep or do they shut the place down?
Cheers
David

 

[serfty]

AKL international terminal is open all night.

I have slept there many times over the years; most recently last Friday night.

It's a 10 minute walk between the domestic and the international terminals. Look for a set of lifts around the middle of the international terminal ground floor (near the *A premium check-in) and head to level two. There are plenty of bench seats up there to sleep on - especially out past the Spinnaker bar (by then shut for the night) and around to the left, further up past the coin operated games and toward the observation deck.

Take your eye-mask - you won't need ear plugs as the announcements cease from around Midnight until 4am - by that time you'll need to be checking in.

(Note that 3am is 1am Melbourne time)

 

[anat0l]

There are places to sleep in AKL International; as serfty said, go up to the second floor (i.e. take the escalators up from the check-in level and then another set up from the departures level). You'll find some (soft) benches close to the stairs going to the observation deck. Don't be surprised if others have already rugged up there; it's a popular spot. Note that you can't sleep up at the Sky Deck.

The only distraction you might have is the sounds of the video arcade room nearby. Some people resort to sleeping near the arrivals spill-out area on the ground floor, although that's necessarily noisier and in a much more open area, so sleep there at your own risk.

As for facilities, the toilets remain open and there's a video arcade if you feel like belting out a bit of energy. I think the McDonalds on the ground floor is open all the time, as is the tourist shop nearby (where you can pick up inexpensive curios and supplies at expensive prices ). The Auckland i-Site (tourist information) is also open all the time; apart from providing advice about travel in AKL and New Zealand, they also have a left luggage service (for a fee).