During our recent French Polynesian adventure, ramen noodles weren’t the only cost cutting measure we had to take.  Sometimes transit times between Australia and the Pacific Islands can be terrible, even requiring an overnight stay.  Lounges close around midnight and reopen for the first international flight of the morning, around 5am-ish.  So no matter what class you are traveling in, you will be kicked out for a few hours in any case.

Depending on how long the layover is, you could go to a hotel in the airport vicinity and maybe have a morning of sightseeing.  Be aware that not all airport hotels have free courtesy shuttles.  My usual go-to brand, IHG charges $6 one way on top of the cash or points for the room so that’s $24 round trip+  for a couple.  That may not sound like a fortune, but it’s a savings if you need to get the budget down a bit.

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I did have a look through Trip Advisor and saw quite a few reports about people having pre-booked airport hotels and then the shuttle didn’t show up or they had to fork out for a taxi.

Fortunately the Auckland airport is safe and comfortable if you want to just stay airside overnight.  If your flight arrives after 11pm, the transit security probably won’t be manned so you have to use a phone near the door to call them down to let you in.  Don’t bring any duty-free or lags as they will take them away.

There are couches where you can stretch out on the lower shopping level and various options for food ranging from Burger King to various cafes and bars.  They keep the lights on all night but I used a sarong wrapped around my head to block the light and my backpack as a pillow.

You can get 30 minutes of free internet per device.  I tried deleting the cookies and using a different email, it didn’t work so it still manages to keep you limited unless you want to pay for more minutes.  I had downloaded some movies and books so I had plenty to do while waiting.  This isn’t the first time we did this, we usually get stuck overnight when traveling to Rarotonga or Papeete but this was the first time we didn’t have lounge access since I got heavily into the miles and points game.  Air New Zealand used to be more generous with J class award seats.

It may not be the most comfortable night you will ever spend but overnighting in Auckland on the cheap is definitely survivable!