Cheap flights - not going direct?

johna999

Hi

Looking to fly to NZ for a wedding later this year. and so far looking at around £850-£900. I've tried travel supermarket etc.

I've heard there are better websites? Which are best?

Also, I have heard you can get massive savings by taking a short flight to another destination like paris/amsterdam then flying on to NZ? Which websites are best for these types of booking?

thanks

J

richardw

Where do you want to go to Auckland or Christchurch?

Do you want to stop over in the far east or USA?

Do you live near London or prefer to fly from a regional airport?

Do you want to visit Paris or Amsterdam?

Sam_Bee

johna999 wrote: »

Also, I have heard you can get massive savings by taking a short flight to another destination like paris/amsterdam then flying on to NZ? Which websites are best for these types of booking?

Unless someone proves otherwise, they mean cheapest if you use Air France / KLM or indirect carriers, or flying out there to use BA who are cheaper indirect.

Flights from Europe tend to be a lot more as they are not at all as competitive than the UK. You won't have a fraction of the airlines flying to Oz/Nz as you do from the UK.

There are sometimes exceptions - i.e. a friend flew from Stockholm to Bangkok on Thai as it was cheaper than flying the same dates from London because it was a school holiday here and not there, so the demand and thus price wasn't as high from Stockholm. But rule of thumb is that you will get cheaper flights here.

You should post your dates, and someone will have a look for you.

jcorbygas

Try searching on www.momondo.com or www.kayak.co.uk who both give a lot of results.

johna999

Thanks for the replies!!!

Live in berkshire, so ideally london airports, however other half has family in scotland so we can go from glasgow/edinburgh.

Looking to go around 18th October and come back 1st November.

thanks

moonrakerz

johna999 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies!!!

Live in berkshire, so ideally london airports, however other half has family in scotland so we can go from glasgow/edinburgh.

Looking to go around 18th October and come back 1st November.

thanks

Investigate going from Southampton with KLM or Air France, via Amsterdam or Paris.

Sam_Bee

OK, i've had a look. A couple of things jump out at me - namely a couple of airlines had taxes & surcharges in excess of £380 for this route. Therefore, I will say that £800 is the new £600! Don't compare with prices you have had in the past.

Secondly, speak to people - don't purely rely on the internet, a really annoying false economy sometimes (compare yes, but don't give up on human beings!).

For example I can see better prices on Royal Brunei & Malaysia Airlines, however with big stopovers in both directions. However, that might work well for you to break up such a horrendous journey, so you could add an airport hotel. This won't show up on online searches.

Also, Cathay Pacific & Thai have IT Fares to Auckland that are considerably cheaper than their seat only fares. However, unless you speak to someone about this you won't find out about it.

All the cheapest fares are from London by the way. Try the usual suspects of reputable travel companies that specialise in flights to these regions.

richardw

Sam_Bee wrote: »

Thai have IT Fares to Auckland that are considerably cheaper than their seat only fares. However, unless you speak to someone about this you won't find out about it.

I travelled to Aus and NZ on a Thai 'inclusive tour' fare and stopped off in Bangkok, it was an excellent trip and a very good deal, well worth talking to travel agents to find them.

mrposhman

try malaysia airlines. Its a really comfortable flight, they serve you well and have great entertainment facilities plus they are usually quite cheap. Emirates are also quite good too. You could always try and fly into Sydney and fly back out with one of the regional airlines for Oz?

johna999

Thanks all. I'll talk to some travel agents as well!!!!