Chelle_256

Hi everybody,
I am planning an international trip for next year and have a few questions.
I currently live in New Zealand, and am planning a round trip that would mean i fly out of Auckland, New Zealand, then on to Paris for a week or two, then on to Utah for a few weeks (with the possiblility of other places in the U.S, depending on my budget).

What I would like to know is how much i should aim to set aside for flights, altogether? (NZD would be appreciated, but not necessary ). I'm planning on doing the normal type of flying (coach/economy...whichever is cheaper).

I have tried asking travel agents and looking for flight schedules online but neither are very clear. I know that i may end up in random destinations that aren't directly where i want to go (eg having to fly to san fransisco to get to utah). At this point, i'm not too fussed on the exact route i need to take, i am just looking at estimates for plane fare altogether?

Also, if anyone has any travel stories to any of these places, good or bad, i would love to hear them!

I am also and avid fan of the South Park cartoon and horror writer Stephen King and have heard that you can see Stephen Kings house on some kind of tour? Is there any type of tour for the S.P franchise? If anyone has reccomendations for these attractions, i'd love to hear about them!!

I will also be spending some time in las vegas, to see the m&ms store and maybe the coca cola 'tour', so reviews on that are also welcome!

Apologies if my flight questions are a little vague. I am very new to this, so not entirely sure what I am doing. at this point, i am still in saving mode, but would like to get estimates first, so i don't get nasty surprises further down the track!

Michael

Look at www.kayak.com to get an idea of air fares--you probably can insert any date within the year, but prices change according to demand.

DebitNM

I would try to fly into either Denver or Phoenix from Europe IF your first US stop will be in Utah. You can see if there are flights into Salt Lake City, but I don't think you can fly direct.

Gardyloo

I just did a little back-of-the-envelope calculating for various options. Airfares change with the seasons, so not knowing your proposed dates I had to shoot in the dark a little.

Anyway, the lowest price (and this may be beatable by travel agents in NZ who have access to fare sales - this happens pretty often in Australia/NZ) would be by purchasing two separate return tickets, one from NZ to Paris and back, then a second one from Paris to Salt Lake City and back, which you would "nest" inside the first one. Using March/April as guessing dates, and assuming a total trip time of around 45 days, the total came to just under NZ$3000. Now if your travel dates are later (northern summer) or you're staying longer, then the prices would probably go up. Conversely, if your dates are in the southern summer, around New Years, they would go up then, too, owing to heavy demand for overseas travel starting in Oz/NZ at that time of year.

An alternative that I'd talk to a good travel agent about would be a round-the-world ticket, called "RTWs." These are sold by members of the big airline alliances and in some cases put together by travel consolidators. You basically travel in one overall direction - east to west or v.v. - and cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans going the same direction.

The advantage RTWs have is that you pay one price for up to 16 flights, so in your case, for example, if you purchased the most popular RTW product, the Oneworld Explorer, you could could fly to Paris via Asia, or even via Africa if you chose, stopping in - where? - Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo...? or Cape Town? en route. Once in Europe, you could visit the UK, or Scandinavia, or even the Middle East (which is counted as Europe for airline purposes.)

Then you'd fly across the Atlantic to Utah, probably with a plane change in some place like Chicago or Dallas, or with separate stopovers in New York or Florida or San Francisco - your choice. Visit Las Vegas, then Los Angeles, then fly home to NZ.

A Oneworld Explorer bought in NZ and covering 16 flights (max) in 4 continents ("Southwest Pacific" meaning Oz/NZ/islands, Asia <i>or</i> Africa, Europe, and North America) would cost around NZ$3000 plus taxes and fees, so realistically closer to $3500. However that additional $500 would pay for any additional travel you'd want to make on top of the straight NZ - Paris - Utah - Paris - NZ itinerary described above. Alaska? Hawaii? An island in the Caribbean? All possible, all included in the price.

If you want to see North America beyond just Utah, or bounce around Europe beyond France a little, or maybe stop in Thailand, or India, or China en route, this might be worth investigating.

Talk to a big TA like STA, or Trailfinders, or have a look at www.oneworld.com where various RTW products are described (and you could actually book a 4-continent Oneworld Explorer like I've described online). Warning - RTWs are highly addictive.

eliztravels2

Chelle: Gardyloo is the resident expert here on air travel, so you can certainly rely on his advice. I've been obsessed with the idea of a RTW trip every since reading one of his posts a few months back. Maybe next year!