^^^ Air NZ, they had these on the plane, they handed out in C and to Elites in Y. Worked like a charm, not only do you get Express passport control (next to crew line), but you retain the voucher and get to use the same line as crew for customs, I did aircraft to train station in 15mins, and the other cues were BIG.

As an aside I got given one on my return as well... which I could not use, but handy to have in case I have any friends in need

Now if only Air NZ gave miles trans Tasman I would fly to AUS a lot more....

tht

 

Soo... I have been meaning to comment on this for a while. I fly ex-MEL to NZ (WLG and AKL) fairly regularly. We'll say about 25 times a year.

I've not once been offered the express pass departing MEL. I have had it offered (once), inbound on QF business, after asking.

I flew NZ6 MEL-AKL yesterday (21/12) in business as a Gold Elite; and according to the check-in staff, they had not had any express invitations for "a few days now".

As a result, I had to go through the very long Customs & Security queues; as did a number of other NZ6 pax - the flight was about 25 mins late departing due to people failing to board.

Side note: I also had to argue with the gate agent serving the flight to change my FFP from NZ to UA. Apparently just quoting the number to them isn't good enough - you have to have the actual card with you.

 

My Mum received an express pass from the very very lovely check-in agent this morning for the MEL-AKL flight in business with no status. Let me tell you the airport was busy busy busy and around 150-200 people waiting in the economy check-in queue, and we walked straight up to the business counter

As I said in another thread, she was happy at the surprise of business class!

The check-in agent was very very friendly and in fact gave me an express pass even though I was not travelling!!!

Also gave directions to the lounge and explained about the express pass etc etc

 

I presume you can also get these from the Koru clubs (seen a stash of them in the WLG international lounge). During the trial period i've only been through SYD and had no problems getting them either in or outbound. Recently been in C and they were offered on board (but I did not notice them being handed out to Y passengers with *G status)

Jeff

 

Airport was very busy yesterday as well (the MEL-CHC-RAR and MEL-AKL-LAX flights were checking in simultaneously; lines were out of the snake farm)... I think NZ6 was oversold (or close to it) as I had to waitlist to get on it, despite a C fare.

I'm glad that they have the express passes again. I guess I'm just unlucky!

 

Yep people everyone along with a HUGE line of Vietnamese checking in for that flight, they were queued out the door.

Was so nice to be able to walk straight up to the Business Check-In counter, and the agent did say that the flight was 100%+ full. Mum said the express pass was great and saved her a huge queue trying to get through security etc

My Mum also said the service on the plane was sensational, granted she hasn't flown in J since 2001 and that was on UA.

She said the lunch service took around 2 hours, table cloth service, outstanding food and lovely wine. She loved the lounge access as well and has some Salmon sandwiches and a glass of champas for breakfast

She was in seat 6K which I reserved for her back in August, but now apparently this forward J cabin on the 744 is only for customers with status !

She said the next J cabin back was alot louder and no-where near as nice as the forward cabin.

A nice Xmas pressie for her me thinks

 

Flying MEL-WLG tonight. Express pass was not offered on check-in, and had to ask for it specifically. Was told it was only offered to "premium" pax. Enquired what is more "premium" than a Gold Elite in Business. Received pass.

Didn't use pass as there were no lines, but it's nice to keep for... some other time, or to pass to statusless colleagues.

 

We got the express card outbound from BNE, but I don't think it saved any time at the security checkpoint.

Never saw an express card for arrival immigration/customs but both Aus and NZ had priority lines for families with infants ^ ^ Of course, you still have to wait for the checked bags....

 

It still isn't going as smoothly as it should. Crew today forgot about the express cards. When I asked for one the FA didn't know what I was talking about Fortunately one of the other crew knew and found them, handing them out just a couple of minutes before landing.

Once again no need to use the card at immigration (no queues anyway) but saved 20 minutes I'd estimate at x-ray. The main line seemed to be stationary!

 

I received one of these passes during my AKL-SYD leg in Biz in January but never ended up using it.

I was surprised that it carries no identifying airline/airport logos or T&Cs and was curious if anyone has ever tried to use this pass elsewhere?

 

Only SYD/MEL/BNE have express lanes. QF cards are very different and have their logo all over it. SQ and NZ have the same cards, but I noticed today Air NZ is now printed on it.

You can easily use on other airlines, although perhaps best not to at immigration desk where it will be obvious not for the right airline and thus may cause a problem.

 

ajnz - I think someone must have had a word. Today I got invited to check in at economy line because the business agents were busy (1 seeing to a couple and the other just chatting with her QF check in mate ). Not offered an invite though - annoying to have to ask. For the 2nd time in the past week it was useless - immigration had trouble processing me. Turns out the flight is entered in their computer with 2 leading zeroes and doesn't accept NZ6 (the previous time was on arrival when I got held up at customs because the immigration officer processed me incorrectly).

What is the point of having express cards if you don't save time? (Okay I'm just unlucky, but still.)

 

That's good news! I'm flying WLG-MEL tonight and MEL-WLG on Wednesday, so I will see whether the cards are offered in either direction.
Yes, it is a bit pointless. Luckily for me I very rarely have to travel through the airports at their peak times in Australia so there's usually no lines anyway.

I'd love to know what it is about my passport that causes problems with QF departures from MEL-AKL/WLG. Every time something happens and they have to get a supervisor to override the computer.

 

It isn't just you. About half the time I also have problems. Last week from SYD the transit desk couldn't process and it took a supervisor to come to first check in to override, yet the same problem a few weeks earlier was resolved with a phone call. (That time the agent asked do I have a visa for NZ ). A month ago AKL-MEL they even had to call someone in Canberra?!

Must be something in QF system - I don't have such issues on trans-tasman flights on NZ, EK or LA.

 

NZ753 tonight the crew handed out the express immigration cards - although due to a series of fail it didn't really work out so well for me.

It looked like they handed out A LOT in Economy - I wonder if they were handing out to *S and Koru as well? (Only 2 *E in economy).