Hosting Overseas Guests
Since moving to New Zealand a year ago, we sometimes joke that we’re running a bed and breakfast. There has been a constant flow of visitors passing through. It is surprising who has come out of the woodwork and suddenly needs a place to stay now that we’re in Auckland. Now that we’re slowly settling into the new house, we’re gearing up for our next round of visitors, and I’ve been thinking about the tips and tricks we’ve learned over the past year that help our guests feel comfortable and keep all of us sane.
Go Account EFT-POS card - Everyone in New Zealand uses an EFT-POS card, and it is great for guests to be able to do the same. Overseas cards may charge hefty exchange rates or foreign service fees and may not have a chip that is readable in New Zealand. We set up a Go Account with our bank (ANZ) that is a separate account with its own debit card for guests to use. Our guests simply transfer US dollars to us using whichever method they prefer, we do the math, and put the corresponding amount of New Zealand dollars into the Go Account. At the end of the trip they either spend everything in the account or we transfer things back around. We hold on to the card and have it ready and waiting for our next guest. The most important thing about doing this is to write down the PIN for this card so you can pass on that information on.
Burner phone - We have a dedicated guest phone with a prepaid SIM card. Any time a guest arrives, they re-up the prepaid SIM card and have a phone to use while they are in New Zealand. It is a very basic, cheap phone that has my number and my husband’s number programmed into it and not much else, except Uber, which brings me to #3:
Uber for guests - While some guests rent cars, not all of them feel comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road and prefer to take Uber or taxis. We set up a guest Uber account on the burner phone so they don’t have to find a hotspot or be on an international plan on their usual phone to be able to access this service. This gives our guests a little bit more autonomy and helps take the burden off of us for transportation.
AT HOP card - Similarly, we have an extra AT HOP card for guests to reload so they don’t have to buy their own. Using an AT HOP card gives them discounted rates on public transportation. Guests can refill as needed either at machines or online.
NZeTA - Starting on October 1, 2019, tourists from visa waiver countries must get a NZeTA prior to entering the country. It is very helpful to remind incoming guests that they need to take care of this at least 72 hours before arrival. I go into more detail on this here.Make it easy for them and send them this link. Don’t have stranded guests!
Electronics - We have an extra New Zealand USB brick and phone cable available for our guests as well as a power converter. New Zealand uses 230/240 volt electricity and has 2 or 3 pronged angled “I” plugs. A simple converter is ok for many electronic things, but not things like hair dryers or flat irons. We have a small hair dryer on hand for guests to use so they don’t blow out their American ones.
Jet lag recovery - The time difference coming to New Zealand can be a recipe for jet lag disaster. To help guests recover, I keep a bottle of melatonin on hand. The kicker is that melatonin is not readily available in New Zealand, so bring some with you (or ask your first guest to bring a big bottle with them). It’s helpful to take right before bed time, or perhaps even in the middle of the night that first night or two when they find themselves awake at 1 am. Everyone has more fun when they’re well rested, and no one wants to spend their whole visit feeling gross and jet lagged.
Have you figured out any tricks that make the trip better to New Zealand? I feel like its such a big undertaking on our friends and family that we need to make the experience as incredible as possible so they will come back.
