CHECKING IN
On September 11, months of planning and packing up finally came together when my parents dropped us off at @o.r_tambo_airport to board flight SQ479 to our new adventure. After a coffee with my parents we had a super emotional goodbye and it was time to check in. Our whole life was packed up in 2 small boxes, which we’ve sent over a few weeks ago already (with 7Seas) and one suitcase and one backpack each. So you can imagine how stressed we were with sticking to the 30kg limit on Singapore Air 😳 My bag came to 30,4kg, which they luckily allowed and Craig’s was just under the limit. We decided to wrap our bags, only because our essentials were in there (we normally don’t wrap). Passport control went surprisingly fast and we could head to our favourite @bidvestlounge to finally just chill! We got in on Craig’s credit card benefits, but you can pay just over R400 to access this lounge. We had delicious cappuccino’s, breaky and snacks, and just like that it was time to go to our boarding gate.
TIPS:
Be ready for a lot of tears, saying goodbye is harder than you think
Be early - to wrap your bags if you want, check in to make sure there aren't any issues with the weight of your suitcase, go through passport control and have enough time to relax in a lounge
Take an empty water bottle, buying one was quite expensive in the international section
JOBURG TO SINGAPORE
The first leg was a 10 hour flight from Johannesburg to Singapore. Something to note is that there is a 6 hour time difference, so we left in the afternoon and arrived just before sunrise the following morning 😅
The upside was that we were flying the Air Singapore Airbus A350-900. We have flown on this beast before when we went to Thailand for our honeymoon back in 2018. We knew the experience would amazing and the staff did not disappoint. There is a reason they are one of the best airlines in the world. From a wide variety of movies, series and even Skillshare courses, to the tasty food and friendly faces.
If there is any tip we can provide for this longhaul flight, it would be to book the the aisle and middle seat in the middle 3 seats of the 3, 3, 3 formation on the Singapore A350. By doing this you won't have to ask someone to get up to use the bathroom and nobody will ask you to get up to use the bathroom 😁😅. It's a win win!😁
TIPS:
Do a lot of research when looking for flights, you can even set a notification on Google Flights. Be flexible though!
If you don't want to be disturbed during your flight, sit in the middle 3 seats (we booked the middle and a side)
CHANGI AIRPORT (SINGAPORE)
Our favourite airport…@changiairport
The lowest airfare we could find between SA and NZ was with @singaporeair via Singapore. We did not complain 😅 because we love Singapore airlines and their airport. Unfortunately we only had a 2,5 hour layover, which meant we couldn’t go to see The Jewel (suggested that at least 5 hours are needed for this). But the time flew as we explored the cinema and the butterfly garden 🤗 the last time we made it to the sunflower garden as well. All these activities are free.
Our arrival and departure flights were in Terminal 3, so we didn’t need the skytrain this time 😢 We found it very straightforward to navigate…as there are big boards with all flight information, clearly stating which gate we needed to go to for our next flight. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes though, it was quite a long walk…which was quite nice though after sitting for 10 hours on the aeroplane.
We found the security check to be quite rushed, but managed to just keep calm and take our time…for obvious reasons we had a lot of hand luggage 😂 It was quite nice that there was a water fountain on the other side of security so that we could fill our water bottles.
The airport is really beautiful, so make sure to take it all in 🤗 unless you have a really short layover…then you should run 😂
TIPS:
Try and book a longer layover if you want to explore the airport, seeing The Jewel you'll need at least 5 hours
Take your time to explore :)
Don't rush! Criag forgot his expensive tangle-free earphones on an AirSeychelles flight
SINGAPORE TO NEW ZEALAND
Air New Zealand was a pleasant surprise. This was our first time flying with this airline and we loved how light and spacious it felt inside. The air hostesses were so friendly and the food was amazing. We even got a small tub of chocolate ice cream. The flight was about 9 hours from Singapore to New Zealand. I slept most of the time and even Craig took a few naps (he normally stays awake, because he loves to fly). Our seats were in the middle 3 again (middle and side), this way we don't get disturbed and don't have to ask someone to get up when we need to go to the bathroom.
A side note about the declaring items...we received a passenger arrival card and needed to fill in all our personal information. A common question is about medication, we were advised to declare any medication we had, so we did. Upon arrival we were asked what medication we had and we told them it was pain killers (Myprodol) and we went through. Here is a picture of some of the items on the list:
ARRIVING IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
There were quite a few checks to go through upon arrival. Luckily Craig is super organized and had all our documents in a folder. Immigration went quite fast, and so did everything else. People were extremely friendly :) We were really lucky to have had someone to pick us up from the airport and take us to an AirBnb.
TIPS:
Have all your documents on hand, keep it in a folder for ease of access
Even if you're tired, friendliness goes a long way :)