Our excitement about going to Tibet was somewhat masked by a very routine wake-up. Our 1105 departure to Hong Kong meant that we got up and readied ourselves at a similar time to a normal work day.
Auckland airport was dead quiet and check-in was immediate. We had bought our Air New Zealand tickets to Hong Kong on a confirmed staff travel package rather than on standby. For that reason, the check-in staff were able to check our bags through to Bangkok and then Chengdu.
That would save us from waiting for our bags this evening in Hong Kong and carting them around during the nightstop and have the hassle of checking in again in the morning. However, they couldn’t issue boarding passes for anything except our flight this morning.