Flying from Auckland to Nuku'alofa aboard Air New Zealand

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Tracey Cooper flies aboard NZ974 from Auckland to Nuku'alofa.

The plane: A320.

Airport experience: The self-service check-in and bag dump was a doddle.

Seat: I was in 25C, an aisle seat.

Price: We got cheap tickets months ahead so about $400 return.

On time: We pulled away from the terminal a few minutes ahead of schedule and landed in the dark with light rain falling in Nuku'alofa a little under three hours later. There was a bit of a hold up disembarking when they couldn't get the back door open and that put us at the back of the queue at Immigration.

Luggage: By the time we got through our bags were waiting for us.

Fellow passengers: Plenty of them. Not an empty seat to be seen. Mostly Tongans with a smattering of Palangi holidaymakers.

Service: It was a totally Pasifika flight crew, befitting a flight to the place Cook labelled the Friendly Islands back in 1773. They did a superb job shuffling the carry-on bags and duty-free booze to fit everything in the overhead lockers.

Food and drink: Lamb or chicken for the full service passengers. The rest of us — Seat+Bag only — survived on water and coffee. Helpfully, one of my travelling companions pulled out a lovely cheeseboard and a miniature whisky to help us through the tough times.

Entertainment: There's surely something for everyone on the entertainment system, certainly for relatively short flights like this one.

Bathroom: Make sure you go before you board. The A320 isn't the biggest plane in the sky and when flight crew and other passengers are moving around, it's just easier to hold it in until you get there.

The bottom line: Quicker than a trip across the Ditch and a much more interesting destination.