Travel days can be hectic and stressful…read more.. Since this was our first time arriving in Sydney, Australia, and departing from New Zealand, we arranged our pre- and post-cruise air and land transportation through Oceania Cruises. We were more than impressed with the itineraries that they scheduled for our foursome. Our New Zealand driver picked us up from our hotel, Sudima Auckland City, at precisely at 5;30 PM, allowing us an uninterrupted 30-minute drive or 24 miles to Auckland Airport (AKL). Along the way, our driver informed us that Auckland Airport (international) is this nation's busiest and largest airport, yet it has only two terminals. One terminal handles international airline connections through Air New Zealand, Qantas, Emirates, and Cathay Pacific, among others, while the other handles domestic airlines such as Virgin Australia and Airwork. He also advised us on navigating the three levels of the International Terminal, since we were unfamiliar with the airport's layout, which helped to make our departure less stressful. From the Air New Zealand drop-off point, we proceeded to the ground-floor check-in kiosks since we needed bag tags for our checked luggage, even though we had checked in for our flight on the app 24 hours in advance. Check-in was very easy, and a friendly agent was available at the kiosks to assist everyone if needed. After attaching our tags, we took our bags over to the agents to weigh and associate them with our flight tickets. We then passed through to the first-floor retail shops, highly efficient immigration and security, and duty-free vendors before reaching the second floor, where the departure gates were located. We also were impressed by the comfortable modern and Māori-inspired designed décor. While negotiating the crowds and making our way to our departure gate, we had allowed for a 3-hour cushion so we calm down and grab something light to eat pre-flight. We couldn't think of purchasing more souvenirs since we had spent the past 20 days in Australia and New Zealand and everything was packed in either our checked-in or carry-on luggage. So, our appetites were diverted to several food vendors, which, amazingly, offered tasty food and beverage options along with quick, friendly service. Before we knew it, time seemed to fly by and we were ready to board our flight home. We boarded stress-free to our selected seats and promptly fell asleep on a smooth and quiet flight thanks to Air New Zealand.

Never in my life have I reviewed an airport but there is a first time for everything!! For context;…read moreI travel frequently internationally and this is hands doubt the most disorganized airport I have ever experienced, for reasons I will go into detail below. TLDR; you NEED a THREE - FOUR HOUR layover here if you are arriving internationally to be able to safely make your transfer domestically within NZ or to another international destination!!!! Arrival: Came direct from LAX and our flight arrived an hour early! Unfortunately; our jet bridge couldn't connect to the plane so we had to sit in the plane for 45 mins until they decided to tow the plane to another part of the airport; add in a ramp for us to step off the plane, and then take a bus to the international terminal to go through customs/immigration. Customs/Immigration: You need the NZETA visa prior to arrival (if you're coming from the US). We had this and had applied for this months in advance. I've done this for other nations and though it would be as seamless as before. We had 2.5 hrs before our domestic flight which I thought would be enough time, this was so wrong. We of course had to go through the standard facial scan + passport scan international checkin, but then we had to go through FOUR separate immigration lines even though we repeatedly confirmed (including on NZETA) that we had nothing to declare. The lines were filled with people declaring nothing and we were stuck here for 2 hrs. I understand needing to confirm people didn't bring anything they shouldn't, but why not just use the scent tracking dogs they used once instead of having everyone go through the four separate checks and repeat that they aren't declaring anything?? Airport itself: The international terminal is approx 0.5 miles away from the domestic terminal and while yes there is a free bus that comes every 15 minutes,,, please see the above which left us frantically ordering an uber to get us there asap as our flight had begun boarding while we were still in this massive immigration line for 2 straight hours. We were the last people to be able to get onto our flight and we were covered in sweat and panic as we were barely able to make this transfer. Rental Car Situation: There are 2 terminals for rental car pickup, domestic and international. If you book online; please reach out to them to see which counter YOU should go to because twice we had to change which pickup we need to head to as a result. We also did not get the car we requested and the employees were unhelpful with directions.

Although we arrived at the international terminal from the US, we flew out of the domestic terminal…read moreto Queenstown on Jetstar a few days later. We took an Uber from Hilton Auckland to the domestic terminal. It was clean and organized but it was hard to find a water fountain. There were a few food options to grab a bite. Security was incredibly efficient. Compared to the US, the process was smooth and the staff were friendly and welcoming. The signage was clear, and getting through security took less than five minutes. In the US, we're used to arriving at least two hours early for domestic flights, but in New Zealand we were told to be there one hour beforehand and even that felt generous given how quick everything was.

The Domestic side of the Auckland Airport is smaller because it's just basically Air New Zealand…read moreand Jetstar. Everywhere was clean, organized, and spacious. Check in was easy and efficient with self service machines. Airport staff were friendly, and works fast. Gates were spread out with a decent amount of seats. Not too many options for shopping and food, but you don't need to be spending a lot of time here anyway since checking in is so quick. This terminal has self service luggage lockers you can use while the international terminal does not. Will definitely be returning to this terminal on my next New Zealand adventure!

We heard about aeroparks from a friend who travels a lot and uses it all the time. He raved about…read moreit so we thought we'd try it out. And we were so stoked with it too. Now we've been raving about it to everyone we know. It was so easy. You just book online, drive there, park and then they take care of the rest. They park your car and then take you on the shuttle to the airport. And it is so cheap, only $9 a day. This is cheaper than most inner city day car parks so we were amazed at how cheap it was. When we arrived pack we just sent them and text and they came straight away to pick us up. It's such a good service and totally takes the pressure off the beginning of your trip. I will use them every time now.

Don't use Aeroparks! What aeroparks fail to tell you in…read morethere hidden terms is the fact that they move the cars etc to another car this other car is down the public road people and it puts 3kms on your car! My vehicle also has a new dent which they clam didn't happen in the car park yes maybe it didn't but they are driving down the road which nobody has any control over the driver could be picking up his lunch for all we know! I also tried phoning them apon pick up after I sent the auto text still waiting? Phoned 3 times nobody picked up when I got to the carpark office after waiting for pick up 2 staff where sitting there next to the phones doing nothing! What a un professional company hiding behind very very lose terms! In fact it's scamming terms. Come on Aeroparks stop bullshitting your customers.