Delta’s new Auckland-Los Angeles flights bring competition to Air NZ route
rnz.co.nz/news/business/482834/delta-s-new-au...Posted Jan 21, 2023, 12:00 AM UTC
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rnz.co.nz
Delta has a few hubs that dont overlap with existing US carriers that fly to AKL (American and United) including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City and Seattle, so connecting to one of those might get easier.
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Delta - Didn't Even Leave The Airport.
All those people complaining that Air NZ is a 'budget airline' nowadays, wait till they try Delta. :)
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Yeah…you can tell anyone that is excited about this has never flown delta 😂
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Shocking as the case may be, Delta is indeed one of the better than average American airline!
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Yeah seriously, compared to my time flying spirit or AA, Delta was a dream haha
Edit: I still hate them passionately as they never refunded my multiple cancelled flights due to covid.
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Will force air NZ to offer sharper pricing on that route, so will benefit those with no desire to fly delta.
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Right! Also, Delta is one of the better US airlines 😂
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It was always Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive when I was younger.
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Likely more relevant these days with bagmageddon in full swing.
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Prepare for the worst flight experience of your life
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This killed me hahaha
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I mean, better than the plane killing you
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Ever flown Delta?
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It's inevitable that once an airline starts to make a profit on a route, competitors will flood in to take a share. They will probably abandon the route just as quickly if the predicted economic downturn hits. Buying a ticket from them now, when they don't plan to fly until October, has a bit of risk imho.
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Competition in the free market!? Gasp, who'd have thought.
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Flew with Delta once in America. Never again. The RyanAir of USA.
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That would be Spirit
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And Frontier
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Delta is usually considered one of the nicer airlines in the US.
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Dear god
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Good
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Expect more. AA's new Dallas to Auckland direct flight is FULL 2 months in advance, including business class.
15 hours vs 33 is a big change.
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There is no way in hell I would land in LAX, if they do fort worth count me in.
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AA has AKL-DFW now.
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that is what I use.
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for the love of god the direct to south america route is where competition is worst. right now latam is the only option and it can be $14K return in economy.
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I love LA but I'd rather cut my fingers off with a butter knife than have to go through LAX customs.
LAX is one of the worst airports to go through customs.
Last time it took me 2 hours to get through the queue. I felt like I've aged 50 years.
I arrived back in Auckland Airport three days ago. It took me 2.5 hours to clear customs. Third world airport to welcome tourists to this country.
I missed a connecting domestic flight as it took me 3 and a half hours. Lucky Air NZ were cool about it.
People complain about US customs but I've never had any issues
Just tell security to get fucked and walk through. Works for convicted rapists.
me too four days ago - it’s the biosecurity and screening that can create a real bottleneck for passengers. gotta keep that food and fruit out.
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The one time I went there it was a very quick and good experience. I must be the exception.
It depends on the time you arrive.
First time was actually not bad. That's because it was early in the morning and not too many planes. I arrived via Virgin Aus.
On Air NZ. They arrive midday with the big A380s arriving at the same time. Oh lawdy me. Hate to think what it would have been like to transit on the same airline to London at LAX
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I haven't been through in a few years. But LAX was always significantly better than SF IMO. The SF immigration guy was a complete twat and the airport was awful to navigate.
At least there’s options to get through in under 5 minutes. New Zealand is 2-3 hours with 5% of the foot traffic.
Took me 2hrs to get through Auckland airport
I've been through LA a few times over the past 6 months. It's been ok on a couple of occasions but reasonably frustrating on the others.
I'm currently in Hawaii and it was an absolute breeze despite being full of tourists. Probably left the airport 10 mins after the aircraft door opened .If I have the time in the future I will again transit through here and catch a domestic flight to the US. It adds time & a little cost but it's been really great.
The good news is, there are now people out there with experience who can do that for you.
If you’re flying to the east coast, going through Vancouver B.C. Is amazing - US customs are in Canada, chill as fuck and when you arrive like we did at Logan, you just walk out and don’t have to deal with that mess states side.
I'd like to see competition in an Auckland to Vancouver route to bring down those prices as well.
Me too - also, Vancouver is the best west coast city imo
Vancouver is a much better airport to fly through but usually very $$$ to fly through.
Flew through YVR in august, and it was $2k cheaper then SF or LAX. Weird timing though with things opening up again, hence why I presume things were cheaper
San Fran was also ok - not sure if AirNZ still fly that route though
Should do - SF’s great because the BART station is in the airport. Leaving LAX is an ordeal in itself.
I flew by myself to LAX when I was about 12. My dad had been in the US on business and was picking me up at the airport. At immigration they asked “Who are you visiting?” and I said “I’m not visiting anyone, I’m here on holiday”. It wasn’t until I was in some scary back room that I realised they thought I just got on a plane and flew to the US with nobody to look after me. I tried to tell them it was fine, my dad was picking me up but by that point they were very suspicious and didn’t want to believe me.
Eventually they found my dad in the immigration system and verified he was still in the US and they let me go. I found my dad and had a bit of a cry, then we discovered the bastards hadn’t given me my passport back, so getting that back was a whole other drama. LAX is a horrible place and I never want to go back.
That plus the fact it's a shit airport. One of the worst I've been to.
NYC customs and Homeland nobs honorable mention for being absolute cocks.