Holiday in New Zealand: can I book flights separately? Any suggestions where to go?

ginvzt

Hi,

we are planing our honeymoon in New Zealand this winter (mid December, for 3 weeks). We want to set it up as a wedding list, so that guests can pay off parts of it and then we would pay the balance in the end. The wedding is in just over 3 months, so we need to set it up asap.

We had a look at the flights and they are quite expensive at the moment. at about £1100-£1200 per person return. Do the prices go down a bit closer to the day - for example at about 6 months before the date or so, as they do with european flights?

We thought about booking all the itinerary through the travel agent and the guests can contribute towards that, and we would get our flight separately later, when the prices possible go down a bit. Do you think it is wise? Is it a good idea?

We are planing to go for 3 weeks and we want to have 4-5 days in a quiet location by the lake or sea where we can just relax and rest before rushing back to UK and to work. Would you have any suggestions where to go and what to do? We want to visit both islands - we do know that we won't be able to see everything, but we want to 'taste' the country.

silvinho13

I was in NZ for 3 weeks last month... The flights you have choose there seem quite expensive, I booked in January with AirNZ and got return Belfast-Christchurch for about £900..(via L.A+Auckland)

I was mainly based in C'church (wonderful city, a few nights are worth it), Queenstown is also great, more tourist orientated, but its a great gateway to the real sights..Milford Sounds etc, plently of day trips etc to keep you busy!

I only got to Wellington in the North Island, but is another great city with great bars and restarunts..worth checking out.

Good luck with the wedding list, and I know you will love NZ.

eveyk

hi!

we got back from NZ yesterday! (still trying to work out what time of day it is!)
lucky you I wish we were still there. It is an amazing place we were there nearly 5 weeks and that wasn't long enough for us!!

we booked our flights in aug and paid £780 each with singapore airlines (who were excellent) we also took our daughter who turned 2 while we were over there she was £600 though!
Yours do sound a bit expensive I would wait a bit longer and have a good hunt around.
We only spent a week in north island as most people say the south island is nicer ( we agree wonderful scenery lakes mountains etc)
Coromandel was a lovely part in the north island lovely isolated beaches and still warm when we were there.
South island was amazing the scenery was so spectacular when you were driving you just wanted to stop and take pictures all the time.
I would agree with silvinho 13 Queenstown is on a beautiful lake but will prob be v busy when you are there it is still good to see. We stayed in Arrowtown which is nearby but quieter. Lake Tekapo near Mount Cook is amazing such a lovely colour.
The glaciers were good too we weren't able to go on the glaciers with our daughter but I had a go on an ice climbing wall in a new glacier centre at franz josef which was good fun!
If you could I would suggest looking into booking your own accommodation and trips. it is so easy to do on the internet and places like tripadvisor.com have reviews of loads of different accommodation.
The info centres (i sites) in NZ are great the can book all sorts of trips for you on the day or in advance and are really helpful

HTH (can you tell I liked in NZ!:T )
good luck with the wedding!

Evey

cundall

Look @ RTW tickets Travel mood will have them on offer for that time of year normally around 650-850 from London>LA>Auckland>HongKong>London

Done it before and had a great time...

thecheetah

I would echo all that the others have said especially about Milford Sound. I was in Queenstown in January last year and it wasn't too busy i thought. We hadn't planned to go on to glaciers but on the spur of the moment we did have a half day on Franz Josef. It was awesome and would recommend it and even look to do a full day.
Anywhere near Golden Bay and Abel Tasman NP would make a nice quiet last few days if you where only on the South Island.

On Travelmood they have flights for less than £600 at the minute for your time of year.

Sam_Bee

I know you said you wanted to book flights separately, but why not at least get a quote from a specialist like Bridge & Wickers? They have an inspirational brochure, very well travelled staff, specialise in Oz / Nz, and also run a wedding list scheme for you?

Just seems like it could save a lot of time, hassle. And potentially money. The worst you could do is say no to their quote.

PS I know this looks like an advertorial but I don't work for them but I do know their reputation!!

ginvzt

Just checked travel mood - the cheapest flights for our dates are £1020 per person...

We have 10 days of holiday for this year and 5 for next year and where thinking to leave about December 15th and return January 6th.

Sam_Bee

ginvzt wrote: »

Just checked travel mood - the cheapest flights for our dates are £1020 per person...

We have 10 days of holiday for this year and 5 for next year and where thinking to leave about December 15th and return January 6th.

Ouch. Unfortunately you are travelling at THE peak times! Your flight prices are about right, and will only rise as the flights fill up even more.

Your flights will be sold out, and waiting any longer means you stand a chance of not getting to NZ, I would urge you to get your flights booked asap. Just remember you are coming back when everyone else needs to get back to the UK to get to work school.

One of the other advantages to using a Tour Operator is they have access to IT fares where you can pay a deposit now and the balance closer to the date (probably Sep / Oct). If you book your flights seperately now, that might not be the case.

ginvzt

Just got a quote from Bridge & Wickers - just over £6000. This includes flights at £1165 pp, but I just saw some on Expedia for £870. Emailed them back asking would they change to those.

They did a briliant job sorting us itinerary - we sent them a list were we would like to go and what to do and they sent as all list of where we would stay and when togo, etc. It looks really nice!!!

Sam_Bee

ginvzt wrote: »

Just got a quote from Bridge & Wickers - just over £6000. This includes flights at £1165 pp, but I just saw some on Expedia for £870. Emailed them back asking would they change to those.

They did a briliant job sorting us itinerary - we sent them a list were we would like to go and what to do and they sent as all list of where we would stay and when togo, etc. It looks really nice!!!

Thanks for the feedback ginvt. Glad to know my recommendations were positive! Have a fab honeymoon!

poochel

re flights: how about trying trailfinders or sta travel? trailfinders especially don't advertise on the net, they sort it out by phone and are brilliant for getting you good deals. they will probably be able to throw in internal flights for the price too. or alternatively you could look at getting cheap(ish) flights to australia and then connecting flights from there. jetstar and virginblue are the easyjet/ryanair equivalents so that might be worth doing?

re places to go: I second everything that has been written here. But don't forget Roturua and Waitomo caves on the north island!! and Wanaka near Queenstown where they have a hilarious place called Puzzling World which is well worth a visit. Rather than spending a few days in Christchurch as one of the posters suggested (I found it a little boring, like a twee Oxford) maybe spent some extra time in Queenstown area and explore the Lord of The Rings locations? or relaxing up in the bay of islands?

Are you planning to spend Christmas there? If so bear in mind that although restaurants open on christmas day they are by law not allowed to sell alcohol, so if you are planning to go for a nice dinner with a glass of wine you'll be unlucky!

My ex and I spent 4 weeks in NZ in December 3 years ago now. we had the most amazing time. We flew to Christchurch, rented a car and drove through the south island. then hopped from Christchurch to Auckland, rented another car, drove through north island then flew home from wellington. (you can also get the ferry between islands if you go for a longer rental option) We stayed in hostels, and before you turn your nose up at it the hostels over there are to an amazing standard, have so many mod cons and are dead cheap. i particularly remember one place which was a log cabin in a rainforest bit by Franz josef. All to ourselves with king size bed, personal kitchen and lounge area, also a spa and sauna which you could book privately, all for about £40 a night. Amazing

I would really REALLY recommend getting the Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand, obviously it has details of the whole country plus travel and accommodation options, plus you can get some great ideas of day trips or other specific activities which people can buy you as a wedding gift. (A few come to mind: heli-trip on the franz-josef glacier, zorbing in roturua, bungee in queenstown? but if not bungee then DEFINTELY jet-boating, floating in the underground glow-worm caves at waitomo?)

hope that helps and PM me if you want to know anything specific