American readers, please contrast this with your typical airport experience.
Arrived at Christchurch Airport at 7:25 for an 8:10 flight. Parked. Waved my phone at a kiosk, which printed my boarding pass. Got a coffee. Brought the coffee with me through security, where there was no particular queue because security agents here don't waste time molesting people. Walked to the gate and hopped on the plane.
My biggest delay was waiting for an excellent coffee.
Why haven't you emigrated yet? Do you like the ritual humiliation of American airports? Revealed preference says you must....
All of my family and the vast majority of my friends live in north america. As long as I stay on the continent, I have at least the option of driving to visit them. Were I to move to NZ, I'd have to fly instead, which means spending at least half of my time in American airports getting groped or pornographed by TSA agents, and/or in Canadian airports getting groped or pornographed by CATSA agents and possibly randomly murdered by RCMP officers. Preference clearly points to exploring twisty coastal roads in something light on summer tires.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad reason. We drove Winnipeg to dc partially to avoid TSA. Better: encourage them to visit you abroad!
ReplyDeleteOh, did I mention that nobody ever asked me for any kind of I.D.?
ReplyDeleteI'll raise you that both Air NZ and Jetstar (QANTAS budget) have systems where you can use your phone as your boarding pass and they scan the display as you walk onto the airbridge to the plane.
ReplyDeleteIf you have only carry-on then that is your first interaction with the airline that day.
You can also choose to print your own boarding pass at home, with the same effect.
c'mon. Being groped by a perfect stranger in public is an all-time fantasy for a significant proportion of the population. Now the taxpayer should pay for that ...
ReplyDeletetry to pull yourself together Eric, your mind is still in travel mode, you drank Christchurch airport coffee, what?? you thinking dude, we take you seriously maybe in later articles Eric, but it is good your wife and children are well, I know they are well because you are optimistic in a hopeless position.
ReplyDelete@Bruce: So I wasted precious seconds by going to the terminal to print when I could have just carried the phone to the gate? Awesome. Will remember for next time.
ReplyDelete@Sinclair: I'm sure that a friendly Australian police officer will be happy to help you out.