I just assumed that we got lucky, that's why I've never posted anything about it here.
I don't do trip reports or keep up with times, etc. We're pretty laid back in our travels.
We were there in mid-December. I think we went on a Friday (not sure because we were planning for Tuesday, but DH got sick & we had to change our day). I think Mears picked us up at AKL around 7:30 am (not sure). I know that we got to the gate long before it was supposed to open. I got our tickets from the kiosk and got in line to the left. I had no idea it was the early entry line. The first person looked at our tickets and waved my on to the line. DH joined us (he had gone the other way) and asked me why I was in that line. We decided to stay in line and see what happened. When we got to the gate they asked for our room key. I told them we didn't have one. A couple of people looked at the tickets, said they were okay, and let us in.
Not sure WHY it happened, but really happy it did.