Sitting here in our quarantine hotel room, cup of coffee next to my laptop. It’s 4:52 pm and 14 degree celsius outside. The room is warm, but I’m in 3 layers. My black t-shirt, my 50% off H&M pink jumper, and my awesome blue Uniqlo down jacket. Climatising, it’s called. Maybe I’ll be in shorts and t-shirts by the end of the 14 days.
So, in case you are taking the same flight as us from Dubai to Auckland, here’s a quick rundown of our experience 😉
The big question. How was the flight with 3 kids?
It wasn’t actually as painful as I had anticipated. I mean, I was exhausted by the end of it as I probably slept 2 hours of out of the 18 but hey, it is 2! Not 0 🙂 And we didn’t lose any kids on the way.
The good thing about flying during covid times is the space you get. A B777 which typically carries 300+ over people, had less than 60 when we flew. So by the time it was sleeping time, the 5 year old and 3 year old could take two of the central 4-seats. The baby and I took another of the central 4-seats as well. And if the husband wanted to sleep, or could sleep, he could have easily taken another.
To be mentioned that we booked for the centre bassinet seats (4-seats), not knowing how it was going to be like in the plane and stayed there for most of the “awake” time.
No, Emirates did not allow us to use the FlyTot.
Did check-in ask for PCR test results?
Yes they did.
We all got tested at King’s Marina two days before departure. Booked and got tested around 2pm, results came out for all by 11pm that night. 150 AED each – so that’s mummy, daddy, the 3 and 5 year old, the baby didn’t have to do one. For the kids it was throat swab. Results need to be valid 72 hours before departure.
And they ask for your MIQ confirmation too?
Yes.
Here’s the link to New Zealand’s MIQ website.
Back on the flight. Should I book a seat for my under 2-year old ?
I don’t know how busy your flight will be, but if you are taking EK448 which departs at 8:45am Dubai time, I would say you probably don’t have to as your little one will likely have one or four seats all by themselves. You probably don’t even need to use a bassinet.
Was it busy at check-in?
I would recommend you drop your luggages off the day before if you are travelling with kids, just so it’s not so rushed in the morning. With Emirates you are allowed to drop-off your luggages 48 hours before departure, the same time you check in. Didn’t know that, did you? 😉 It helps, as it was very busy in the morning when we flew. We could go straight in with our boarding passes.
Did they serve food and drinks onboard?
Yes, and it was pretty good too. Child meals, adult meals. Juice, water. Rum and coke. It felt like how it was pre covid when it came to food.
How was the covid precautions onboard?
I was holding my orange juice and I put it down for a second, when the air-hostess walked pass. She told me to put my face mask back on (not knowing I was still having a drink). So yes, it is very strict. Basically if you are not eating or drinking, masks on.
Do you have to get off the plane when it transits in KL?
Nope. You stay onboard. You can walk around, use the bathroom. Stretch your legs. At one point they’ll ask you to take your handcarry off the compartment above and I assume it was standard procedure. Then you put it back up.
Can I go online on the flight?
For 20 USD you get unlimited wifi for the entire flight. But that’s for the Dubai-KL leg, then you’ll have to purchase it again for the KL-Auckland leg. Couldn’t do video calling though, hehe.
No you can’t ‘share’ it and use it simultaneously between friends or you and your partner, it’ll automatically disconnect you on your device when they log on. The good thing is you can take turns using it, so say husband is sleeping, you can log onto the WiFi on your phone, vice versa.
What happens after you land?
It’s quite straight forward. There’s tons of check-points and yes they do ask for your PCR test so make sure it’s printed. Then you get ushered to a bus and you find out where you will spend the next 14 days 😉 Just to get you excited, this was the welcome snack pack we got at our hotel!
I’ll probably be doing some writing of how the hotel is like while we’re here. I mean, there’s not much you can do when you’re in quarantine right, haha. Any queries, feel free to ask. Wish us luck, we will need it. Day 2, 12 more to go! First flight since November 2019 – it’s been awhile…