Connecting flights/ luggage question

[NZBlue]

Question unrelated to your enquiry but why did your son decide upon such a convoluted means of getting to Oz? Did it work out significantly cheaper?

It's not actually that crazy. He's avoided any of the hellholes like Heathrow or LAX. Hong Kong is a nice airport to change at so it should make for a decent trip.
We once did NZ - China- Frankfurt- Manchester for the same reason. A little more time in the air but much less hassle and that was with Swiss