Two Tickets To New Zealand Please

The morning of my flight from Australia to New Zealand, I climbed on the train headed for the Sydney airport. About halfway to the airport, I had a small panic attack when I thought I’d left my plane ticket in my hostel room. I’d used points to get the free ticket which forced me to have a paper ticket that I had to remind myself to keep track of as I traveled after being so used to e-tickets for years. I’d managed to hang on to the ticket for the 10,000+ mile trip across the Pacific and I feared I’d just lost it on the home stretch. After digging through my bag for a few frantic moments, I found the ticket right where I put it in my pack that morning and pulled it out just to make sure.

A few minutes later, walking up to the Air New Zealand check-in counter, I had another panic attack when I realized that in my elation minutes earlier over not having left the ticket in my hostel, I’d managed to leave it on the train. It was now making a lonely trip south of the airport on the seat where I’d put it when I pulled it out of my bag. The situation didn’t seem to get any better when the Air New Zealand ticket agent advised that she couldn’t reissue the ticket because it came from Virgin. Not an auspicious start in the first few days my travels.

The Air New Zealand ticket agent thankfully made a quick call to the Virgin office in the airport who said they could reissue the ticket. But, I only had one minute to get to the office as it was closing so the staff could meet an incoming flight. So, I sprinted across the airport with my 40lb bag in tow, ran up an unusually long escalator and dashed down a long hallway into the Virgin office just as the last couple staffers were heading out. Luckily, the person who took the call stayed behind. I'm not sure if it was the wheezing or the sweating that motivated her, but within a few quick minutes I had a replacement ticket firmly in my grasp and made my way back to the Air New Zealand counter.

But, averting the first crisis of my trip came with a cost - literally. The fee to reissue the ticket, combined with the rush fee and taxes for the initial ticket, ended up making the total out-of-pocket spent on my 'free flight' equal to the prevailing paid fare for the trip. But, after spending a fantastic two weeks in New Zealand, I’d gladly have paid double.