Our Airbnb host ghosted morning of check-in in New Zealand and somehow we ended up in Bora Bora.

😅 Checkout was in an hour, it was pouring rain, and we had to figure out where four people and six bags were going before noon.

Here’s what actually happens when your Airbnb host ghosts you. Airbnb contacts them directly, gives them 30 minutes to respond, and if they don’t they refund you in full. They also offered us a $25 travel credit to rebook which sounds nice until you realize peak season rates are 4-5x what you originally paid. They do offer a rebooking credit to “help” bridge the gap but for us the math just wasn’t mathing and honestly we were ready to get out of Auckland anyway. So we checked flights instead and it was only $400 extra to bump up to French Polynesia. Decision made itself.

What followed was two hours on the Auckland airport floor redistributing weight across six bags because Air New Zealand’s carry on limits are wild. You can only get up to 7kg carry on and upgrading wasn’t even an option for us, which is exactly how my Target tote ended up as a checked bag with the interior cut out (it’s not white anymore 🥲). First time flying them and between that, the flight attendants and the meal service I was not impressed. Free wine though, so. 🍷

Heads up if you have Priority Pass through Chase Sapphire Reserve. Auckland Airport only lets you through security 3 hours before departure so you’ll be waiting in the main terminal first. Once we got in though it absolutely saved us for that 1AM flight delay thanks to the Air New Zealand strike.

The flight itself had me convinced we were about to be on the next episode of Lost but we pulled into Tahiti at 7AM to the most beautiful sunrise and I forgot about everything.
And if you’re wondering… we landed with no plan, no sleep, and another 24 hours of travel still ahead of us. 👀

#airbnb #newzealand #familytravel #tahiti #frenchpolynesia

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