5 things we learnt after travelling for 54 hours through 5 international airports

As a travel-loving Kiwi, I’m no stranger to long flights and layovers. But when I received the itinerary for my first post-pandemic trip abroad, my stomach dropped.

From Auckland, I’d fly to Fiji for a
5-hour layover, then on to Los Angeles for an overnight before heading to Miami, where I’d catch a tight connection to Ecuador.

From when I left home to Auckland airport, it would be a grueling 54 hours (over 2 days), before arriving at my destination. Ten days later, I would do it again in reverse.

The weeks before departure were a flurry of clarifying vaguely worded Covid-19 requirements, reading horror stories of stranded travelers and essentially preparing for the worst (ie rejected documents, canceled flights, missed connections).

You can imagine my surprise when, upon arriving at Auckland airport, I checked in within 10 minutes and breezed through customs to the gate. Apart from a 25-minute delay, Fiji to LA was just as seamless.

“Everything’s going really well,” I text my family, “it’s so good it’s almost making me nervous.”

To cut a long story short, the following two flights were just as uneventful. At 2pm, LAX was sweaty and crowded but no more chaotic than my last visit in 2019.

Arriving back at 6am for a morning flight, I sailed through check in and TSA security without hitting a single queue and while Miami was a little more crowded, things ran smoothly.

For friends who arrived via European airports, it had been another story. One that involved canceled flights, lost luggage and punishingly long queues. However, navigating five international airports without a single hitch didn’t happen without some forward planning.

1. Arrive early (no, earlier than that)

Personally, I would always rather wait at a gate than sprint to it; a habit that goats well for international flights (especially post-pandemic) for two reasons.

You’ll have time for little mistakes
Simply put, extra time makes issues inconvenient rather than catastrophic.

A prime example was my LA – Miami leg. Arriving to LAX at 5.30am, I headed to the self-service kiosk and wasted 8 minutes trying to check in before a staff member said that, because Ecuador was my final destination and required a Travelers Declaration, passengers had to check in manually.

By the time that was done, it was 6am, which would have been ruinous if I’d given myself 10 minutes to check in but was no problem because I’d allowed far more time than expected.

Today, travel is full of foreign processes and new systems that can trip us up (or the person ahead of us in line), especially if it’s been a while. Buffer time between each stage means our mistakes don’t become disasters.

Arrive early, get through quickly
Secondly, like commuter traffic, the earlier you leave, the faster you’ll get through. I love sleep as much as the next person, but for my 8.30am flight, I happily traded 30 minutes of extra dozing for a TSA line that took 5 minutes instead of the 45 it would have been at 7am. Even airports like LAX go quiet in the morning hours.

2. Don’t try to do it alone

Leading up to this trip, I accumulated an impressive number of questions that seemed simple but were near impossible to get a definitive answer for.

Questions like whether you can get from LAX Terminal 5 to Tom Brady International without passing customs and if the free Wi-Fi could support video calling for a remote RAT. I Fi how international long customs in Miami and took whether the ‘first international to New Zealand’ would take my international flight from Ecuador or LAX to New Zealand.

Help came in two forms I wish I had known about sooner: customer service emails and Facebook groups.

Facebook Groups
It’s one thing to read a press release stating pharmacy pre-departure RATs are accepted by NZ, it’s quite another to hear from Helen in Auckland that she used one from Life Pharmacy for her flight last week. For this reason, it’s no surprise Facebook groups have become hugely popular places for people to seek travel-related help.

Now, social media isn’t faultless (I’ve written about the risks before), but it can be a supportive, affirming place to hear others’ experiences. After posting some questions in a group, I was touched by the detailed and kind responses.

Customer Services (yes, really)
For more trustworthy information straight from the source, I went to the most unlikely of places; customer services.

Emailing a help address for major organizations like NZ’s Covid-19 group or LAX and Miami Airport felt akin to shouting into the void, especially when they claimed a reply could take 8-10 days.

Within 5 minutes, LAX had replied with a helpful response. The Covid-19 group responded just 30 minutes later. And the next morning, I had an answer from Miami Airport.

I was floored. Of course, I knew customer service was an important part of any people-facing association, but I doubted this actually meant people were on the other side of the email address, waiting to help.

The tactic wasn’t fool-proof (American Airlines stayed true to their 10-business-day warning) but if I had known emailings could get such swift, helpful replies, I would have contacted companies far sooner.

3. Invest in noise canceling headphones

As a light traveller, I often ignore unnecessary accessories but noise-cancelling headphones are one item I’ll never fly long-haul without again.

At the flick of a switch the thundering engine, crying children and fidgety seat neighbors were silenced by a sanity-saving blanket of quiet. In the airport, it was a blessing to temporarily mute the constant wash of announcements, chatter and machinery while waiting in a queue or at the gate.

4. Headache? Try changing up your mask

It was hour number six when my brain started to throb with a thick, sharp pain. Two hours later, after two bottles of water, it showed no signs of easing.

Then, during a layover, I removed my N95 mask and felt the pain ebb. Headaches caused by heavy-duty masks won’t be news to healthcare workers or N95-wearers but for me, it was an unexpected side effect. So, for the remaining flights, I swapped between a less intense surgical-grade mask and the N95.