New Zealand/OZ

jonnyblue

Hi

Im looking at travelling on my own to New Zealand next February for around 4 weeks and also visit Sydney for a week, can anyone recommend any good deals or websites that offer cheap flights ?

Ive checked the usual ones like Qantas buy they are coming up with over a £1000

The thing is, there are several sites that do multi-stop tickets i.e. the great escapade do one for £850 + taxes. They are set to 29000 miles max, but a brief look at this showed that i could go:
London - Hong Kong - Syndney - Auckland - San Francisco - London

Just an example but the thing is, i cant really get any more time off work than 5 weeks. so not sure id make the most of a ticket like this by having a couple of 3 day stopovers in Hong Kong/San Francisco/Singapore etc and around a week less in NZ

Has anyone done anything similar? is it better to buy the RTW ticket and just use it for NZ/Oz ? or am i just looking in the wrong place for flights ?

Joannaclaire

Not sure how useful this is, but Qantas usually offer specials (advertised from around Dec) to Oz with departures from Jan to 30 June for around £550 or so. You could then maybe get a cheapie flight to NZ from there?

I generally go through austravel.co.uk (or .com?), travelbag or ebookers for AU flights, so assume they may be good for NZ deals as well.

jonnyblue

Thanks Joannaclaire, i will take a look at your suggestions and possibly hang on til nearer the time. i had a quick look at flights from NZ/Oz and they were about £100 (ish!) so that would be better if i could get a deal for that price

I quite fancy the 3 day stopovers, but im not sure whether its worth only spending 3 days somewhere as your not going to see much of it and i suppose on a 5 week trip then 4 countries may be a bit knackering. Trying to decide whether a couple of stopovers is better or having an extra week in NZ?

Joannaclaire

I'm an aussie and I fly back once a year, no stopovers.

Mainly coz I'm not a big fan of Asian countires as they are generally really hot and humid, and also because I just want to get there and spend more time there, and jet lag wipes me out for a few days, so I'd rather still be there in Oz, but sleep in a bit more and start visiting people etc, than have shopping in Hong Kong or whatever, but that's just my preference. Also stopovers mean more visas, accommodation, departure taxes etc which can add up.

For what it's worth I don't get jetlag coming back to the UK, so generally am at work the next day, much to the horror of workmates. Most people here in the UK seem fine going to Oz though and get jetlag when they come home to the UK. Maybe my antipodean blood goes the other way, like water does when going down a plughole in fidderent hemispheres?

Also there are a few budget airlines in Oz now - jetstar and virgin i think, maybe others, am not sure if they go to NZ from Sydney, but they may well do...

A good website for internal and ex-Oz flights (ie from Sydney to NZ) is https://www.bestflights.com.au They also very very occasionally have specials on UK departures, so if you sign up to their weekly newsletter you can keep an eye out for their earlybird oversead departure specials.

richardw

No frills airlines in Aus/NZ include https://www.jetstar.com.au https://www.freedomair.co.nz https://www.virgin-blue.com.au https://www.flypacificblue.com

Internal flights in NZ on https://www.qantas.co.nz can be very good value.

Gulf Air through agents such as https://www.trailfinders.com have offerred excellent deals in the past.

Emirates are offering many destinations in Aus/NZ via Dubai.

https://www.australianairlines.com.au

balt

Malaysian are the cheapest at the moment, internal cheap flights are easier to check with http://www.skyscanner.net/gbp/?fromcy=au& shows a chart so easy to pick dates and price.

alison74

I wanted to fly to just NZ last year and the flight was £850. I ended up getting a RTW flight for cheaper with free stopover in Bangkok on way, Sydney, to Auckland, out of Wellington, to Brisbane, to Singapore, to Edinburgh (£50 less than return fare to NZ !!)

The to Edinburgh bit from London added on £80 ! So there are bargains out there to be had.

Work out how you are going to travel around NZ i.e car, tour group, then work out your time scale.

Personally, a week in Sydney is more than I would allow. I was there for 6 days, but spent 3 days visiting friends and going to the Tattoo of all things ! You can do harbour, opera house etc in a couple of days and get the feeling that you have 'done' Sydney.

If not included in your ticket, you can get cheap deals to NZ on Air New Zealand as well as ones others mentioned

I would stop off in Singapore on way home to break up journey (esp it it was free), again 2 days is enough to see main sights.

I never felt so glad as to be getting off the plane in Bangkok and not getting back on it, unlike all the others going straight to Australia.

It depends if you want to see ALL of New Zealand, or admit defeat and realise you won't see all of it in 4 weeks and may need to go back sometime.

it's def one of my fave places in the world.

Try forums on www.tripadvisor.com aswell.

GUPPY2444

Personally I'd tried to keep the stopovers to a minimum and spend as much of your time in NZ as you can. I had limited time too and went for 5 weeks, with only 2 hour stopovers there and back. Its enough time to get off the plane, stretch, explore the airport and then board the next plane. I've done 3-day stopovers before (on the way to Oz) in Malaysia, KL and personally prefer the shorter, direct flights. I flew with Malaysian Airlines, which were by far the cheapest at the time, and booked through https://www.statravel.co.uk. If you have a branch near you they are very helpful and worth a visit. Flew into Auckland, with a connecting flight to Christchurch, and then travelled around using the Kiwi Experience and Greyhound. Its not for everyone but worth a look.

jonnyblue

Thankyou everyone for the responses youve given me loads to think about

I think given the timescale (damn this working for a living!!) then ill probably take maybe one stopover(maybe not), a month in NZ and 5/6 days in Sydney. The NZ part is the bit i really want to do so it would be a shame to rush it. Im planning on a solo trip but on the cheap, i will probably buy a deal from NZ YHA theyve a deal with hostel vouchers and also travel included on the "magic buses" for around £500 for a month i think, which seems pretty reasonable for travel/accomodation. That way i should meet plenty of people in the hostels too !

Scared but really looking forward to it. Thanks again

richardw

I've been to NZ, a month might be a bit too long, I'd do more in Australia.