After we walked over to the international terminal at Auckland, we stopped at baggage storage to pick up our extra wedding suitcase and then headed to Delta check-in. The check-in was handled by third party staff from Swissport, but even so, she tagged our bags all the way through to Las Vegas. While we obviously still had to get our bags at LAX, the process of re-checking them was sped up by having them already tagged with the LAX-Las Vegas flight information. Note that American Airlines will not do this on separate tickets even when they are both booked on American.

From there, we quickly got through security, although we waived goodbye to the cherry jam we had picked up in Geraldine as we forgot it was in my wife’s backpack and we could not bring it through security. We walked over to the Strata Lounge, which is the contract lounge used by many airlines. Air New Zealand, Qantas and Emirates all have lounges here, but as a SkyTeam airline, Delta is relegated to the contract lounge. This lounge is also available if you have Priority Pass.

This lounge has a bit of a bad reputation, but honestly, it was fine. The biggest negative was a lack of power outlets to charge your devices except at a few seating areas near the front of the lounge. We managed to sit near one of these.

There is a buffet with hot and cold food. The hot food didn’t look all that great so I stuck to the cold sandwiches and veggies. There was a good variety of options as it was replenished often.

Drinks were self-serve and there was sparkline wine as well. Soft drinks and coffee were available in a different area.

We sat and snacked for a bit while our iPads charged and waited for our boarding time. The lounge also had barista-made coffees so I had a final New Zealand flat white before we left the country.

One other downside is that this lounge doesn’t seem to have runway or taxiway views. The lounge overlooks the terminal below. As you can see, the lounge was busy but not full.

The bathrooms were individual, which seems to be the norm in New Zealand, even in many restaurants. The one I used was clean and well-stocked with paper products.

Soon it was time to head to our gate to board the flight to LAX. I didn’t think the Strata Lounge was as bad as some of the online reviews make it out to be. It’s not Emirates or Qantas lounge level, but for a contract lounge it’s not too bad and beats waiting at the gate.

Up Next: Delta One A350 AKL-LAX Review

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