Do you know what happens if you miss your flight in one of your favourite travel destinations? I will tell you my story that (un) fortunately happened at the Queenstown Airport in New Zealand. It was not that bad experience as well as I was fortunate to see the first day of snowfall in Queenstown. For me the snowfall turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I believe you’d prefer to see more pics of the snowfall, not the airport. So I am attaching snowfall pics here! 🙂
Queenstown airport
The airport is located some 8 km from the Queenstown CBD. It’s not a very big international airport. However, there are international flights connecting some of the selected cities of Australia (including Melbourne).
My airline
I was flying from Queenstown to Melbourne with Jetstar Airways. I had extensively used Jetstar services across New Zealand, and overall, it was a pleasant experience so far.
My destination
I was flying to Melbourne to resume my Australian trip. Everything was so far so good. I was obviously looking forward to explore Melbourne, the cultural capital of Australia.
Flight delays
My flight was initially delayed and rescheduled quite a few times. Nevertheless, although late, we expected to fly to Melbourne the same night. Moreover, since it was getting late; I was also trying to figure the mode of late night transports from the Melbourne Airport to downtown.
Flight cancellation
An international traveller would understand that the flight delays can happen owing to the bad weather situation. But we had already cleared the immigration, and were waiting in the boarding lounge for a couple of hours. In fact, we were sitting just in fort of the boarding gate at the departure terminal.
It was just some 30 minutes before the boarding time that we heard the memorable announcement – basically, the Jetstar flight to Melbourne was cancelled.
It was not just my flight; some other flights going elsewhere also got cancelled. The weather was getting out of control. 🙂
Jetstar New Zealand contact
I found the Jetstar New Zealand contact, and asked them about the accommodation, flights, etc. The staff were very informative, and answered all the queries bombarded by the frustrated passengers.
Our Flight got rescheduled
Soon, we learned that the flight had been rescheduled. However, we had to fly only the very next morning, at 11am. We were advised to collect the check in baggage.
No overnight stay at the Queenstown airport
We were, however, told that the airport gates would be closing soon and overnight stay inside the airport was not allowed. We could have probably waited outside the airport.
Queenstown accommodation
The passengers were obviously not happy with all the unexpected developments. I didn’t know if I should go back to the city or wait the whole night outside the airport, as we had to come in the morning to catch the rescheduled flight. But it was a cold winter’s night. It would have been painful waiting outside the airport. Basically, the passengers had no other option than to come back to the city.
I immediately booked an overnight accommodation online. Anyways, finding a Queenstown accommodation was not a trouble.
We got the last bus to the downtown
By the time we decided to get back, it was quite late – clock with about to hit 11pm. Most of the people hired taxis to get back to the downtown.
I had almost finished all my New Zealand dollars. Hiring a taxi looked a bit expensive and would have forced me to arrange more local currency in the adventurous night.
I came to the airport bus stop and found a few more people waiting for the bus. Finally, the bus came after 20 minutes of waiting. It was the last bus from the airport to downtown. As such, I reached to my Queenstown accommodation safely.
Flight delay refund
We didn’t get any flight delay refund. Our flight was rescheduled to the next morning, and thankfully there was no extra fee.
Check in again
The very next day we had to check in again. The baggage drop queue was quite long. While waiting in the queue we heard several announcements about some of the flights being cancelled. We were worried about our own fate. 🙂
Flight delay compensation
Yeah, we were provided flight delay compensation! Guess what? An airport voucher worth NZ $10! We got this voucher at the check in counter – on the next day. The crazy voucher could only be used at the Queenstown Airport! That too only to buy some selected items. For example, I couldn’t buy sandwiches and water bottles at the airport supermarket.
New Zealand immigration
All the passengers had to clear the immigration twice at the Queenstown airport. First time immigration was before the unfortunate cancellation of the flight. There was no immigration to come back to the city after flight was cancelled on the first day.
The second immigration was on the next morning before the actual departure to Melbourne. However, the New Zealand immigration process was overall very smooth.
First day of snowfall
Next morning our flight was scheduled to depart at 11.00 AM, so we had to start early from the CBD. The snowfall had started. It was the first day of snowfall in Queenstown. We soon got into the airport bus again. As the bus started moving to the airport, the snowfall was gradually picking up the momentum. Soon, it was snow all over! Wherever we could see, it was full of snow. The mountains also looked covered under thick layers of snow.
Took lots of photos, videos
It was snowing everywhere in Queenstown. But the scenery looked absolutely great. The flights were delayed again, which gave me an unprecedented opportunity to capture snowfall photos and videos around the airport. Here is a video that I captured the same fine morning!
Finally, took off to Melbourne
Then came the much awaited moment – we heard the announcements asking us to board the Jetstar flight to Melbourne. Soon, we were flying high in the sky! The memorable New Zealand trip had just ended. 🙁
So, what happens if you miss your flight?
Well, the answer can be very subjective. It depends on your fate – our experiences may vary. My experience was overall okay as I loved the snowfall. I wish I had more time to attend the Queenstown ski season.
In summary, I would love to get back to Queenstown – the beautiful scenic resort town.
That’s all for this post!
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Happy wandering!
Last updated: Sunday, September 24, 2017