Auckland Airport

✅ Trip Verified | The best thing about this airport was the ease of drop off pick up and shuttle access. Now however that has "improved and changed". So signs tell you it is a 5-7 min walk to the new shuttle bay. A lot of this is not covered so would be awful in rain or covered by high roofs so awful in a strong wind. You go through a container part which is so noisy with trolleys and would be very slippery in the wet. The walk with my trolley took nearly 10 mins. Although there is some shelter for those taking taxis, there is none for those taking shuttles- or for the shuttle drivers. There is no place to leave your trolley which will cause damage in high winds. Who designed this crazy system? Why "fix" something that was not broken. It is awful for those who are elderly or less abled and my leg really hurt after this long walk. I know the shuttle drivers say it has really impacted their customers, all badly. To funnel people to a bus system that does not link with local bus hubs is equally crazy. What were you thinking?

Not Verified | Very modern but lacks eating venues and the place we chose from a choice of 2 was terrible. The vantage bar staff were poor, not the typical kiwi service. They all were on the phones and not engaged, the place was shut early because they wanted to go home but we had a midnight flight.

✅ Trip Verified |   We arrived at 530am this morning on time and now at 6:45 we are still waiting at the carousel for our bags, by the time I clear customs it would have taken me 2 hours just to exit this airport. This happens all the time. If it’s not waiting for bags, the lines through boarder security takes another 30minutes to an hour. Seriously worst international airport in NZ

Not Verified | This airport is disorganised, badly signposted and the new taxi pick up is legitimately as far away from the terminal as you could possibly get! Most airports try to make it inconvenient to drive yourself - not AKL! Drive yourself & You’ll save about 1km in walking to ride shares or taxi. All the new walkways also have big gaps in them which make wheeling luggage the most frustrating thing you’ll ever experience. It’s like the person that designed the whole thing has never used an airport before.

✅ Trip Verified | AKL is the worst airport I have been to. There is not adequate parking for pickups and drop-offs. It's always hot and humid in the airport terminal. Either there is no air conditioning or it doesn't work. It's more pleasant outside. The lines to get through security are atrocious. We have a child under the age of 12, so we were forced into the line that requires an agent to process your passports. Of the seven desks they have, only three were staffed. It took an hour to get through that part of the line, meanwhile the line for the automated passport inspections was much faster. While in line, numerous frantic passengers were pushing their way to the front in order to try and reach their gates on time. When we finally got to the front of the line, they paused the processing because the next line for the x-rays was full. Meanwhile, the automated processing continued to allow people through. This whole process is very tiring, frustrating, unfair and a huge waste of time. The entire operation is massively understaffed. Also, there are signs warning you of a $1,000 fine for the crime of using your phone while you're stuck in their stupid line! For some airlines it's a long and circuitous walk to get to the gate. You have to walk around a lot of duty-free stores on your way out. This airport has not been designed for travelers. Nobody cares about overpriced perfumes and I can't imagine many people would even have time to shop after the whole security nightmare. To top it all off, they have a sign warning passengers against being rude to their staff. I don't think anyone is being rude, we just want to get to the gate on time. This airport is a huge black mark on New Zealand.

Not Verified | Having to pass through this airport for both arrival from an International flight and departure from a flight within to International destination, this airport failed on both accounts. Their signage is very poor and ambiguous. We had to go through security 3 times upon arrival from Canada as we were completely lost as to which corridor to take ( which for some unknown reason is called the transit corridor, which evokes an actual bus or something, which it isn't). Even the staff who escorted me to where I needed to be were wrong, and so much time was wasted trying to figure out which floor and corridor to take. When you disembark an International flight and are greeted with a sign that says 'International passengers', would you not assume that it means you go that way? Apparently not. Long line-ups for security and customs. On our return flight, the bus that takes you from the domestic arrival gate to the International departure gate was nowhere to be seen. So, as an older woman, I had to walk at the fastest pace I could (took 15 min at least), only to have to wait in another long line up for security, etc. If it hadn't been for a passing airport shuttle that was taking another couple of passengers to their plane, we would have missed our connecting flight. In fact, our seats were already occupied when we arrived at our plane. Those passengers had to get off of the plane so that we could continue our flight. Worst airport experience of my life.

✅ Trip Verified | Extremely non-customer friendly organisation. No point arriving early if you have a morning flight because the security opens only 90 mins before the first flight. Which means that you need to wait in a small space with hardly anything to do and then everyone needs to enter at the same time. Standing in the queue for passport check took not less than 30 mins, then add extra 15 mins for the security itself. You end up having hardly enough time to get to your gate if it's far away. Oh yes, and no restaurants in direct proximity of the gate. You're already in a hurry because you just have a few minutes to spare after the long wait for security, so obviously you're not gonna do shopping or have a meal at a restaurant.

Not Verified | What's with the 45 minute queue through the transit gate - weren't you guys expecting any passengers? It is easier and quicker to enter Melbourne or Houston than what it is to go through your international transit gate. More screening points would hekp you know... Standing in the transit queue there is this rumbling hooboo-hooboo ongoing non-stop. Is this some Maori calling their god - do we really have to listen to that? Now, there is this thing called the Internet, and there is this thing called the wi-fi. Look, this is NZ so where does one start explaining not knowing what is known in this part of the world? Long and short is that wi-fi is used to connect to the Internet and, believe it nor not, in other countries they actually have FREE wi-fi at airports. Maybe send somebody overseas and get them trained up on the whole Internet/ wi-fi thing, it is quite popular in other countries.

Not Verified | Having just come through both Bangkok and Singapore Changi, Auckland airport always manages to be wholly underwhelming. 15 mins to get a disembarkation pier to the aircraft (did you know it was coming ?), gigantic bio queues and an especially nice touch after 18hrs travel, about a kilometer walk to the car park over uneven ground (for a roller case). Heck, I almost prefer arriving at Heathrow. Air NZ lounge is rather weak too. None of these are world class facilities.

Not Verified | Travelling from Christchurch to Melbourne with a transit in Auckland. Christchurch was fine and the arrival at Auckland Domestic terminal uneventful. Luggage was booked through so no experience of service there. Walk from Domestic to International Terminal is about ten minutes - there is a bus but only every 15 minutes so usually walk. The International terminal was very crowded and it was there that the problems started. From joining the queue to get to passport control and through security to emerging in the airside departure area took 65 minutes. First there was a queue to join the queue to get to the e-gates for passport control. They seem to have only about a third of the e-gates working and were letting batches of people through at a time to use them. This appeared to be a method of preventing security screening being overwhelmed. There were about eight security screening stations open but the whole process was painfully slow. Luckily we had a two hour connection so no danger of missing the flight to Melbourne but judging by the number of calls for missing passengers many were not so lucky. Definitely worst airport experience since transiting LA nearly 20 years ago.