kmh7

I think I am closing in on dates for my upcoming trip To New Zealand. I found $983.00 today on Quantas direct from LAX-AKL. Is this about as good as it gets for travel mid Nov.-early Dec? Should I hold out a little longer? And do most people prefer Quantas or Air New Zealand? Thank you again for all the help. I dont know how anyone planned travel before this forum!

mlgb

I like Air New Zealand, if you can match that fare I would go with ANZ. I think I've paid as little as $798 RT but perhaps not in that time frame.

If you are planning on visiting the South Island you might look into traveling either R/T or "open jaw" for the same airfare. It will save you the domestic airfares.

DalaiLlama

Looks like an xlnt fare - I'd grab it! And yes, see if an open-jaw "Multi-City" ticket is possible - even if it costs a little more, it probably will still save you a bundle (and precious vacation time) if you don't have to double back to Auckland just to go catch a flight.

kiwi_rob

If I have the option, I will choose AirNZ over Qantas every time, and even pay a little bit more to go with AirNZ if I have to. But then, maybe I'm a bit biased. I can only stand so many renditions of "I still call Australia home".
Rob.

kmh7

That is great advice, may just wait out a couple of weeks to see if they put on a fall sale..Thanks Kim

ElendilPickle

I've only flown Air New Zealand, but we were pleased with the seat pitch (Mr. Pickle is 6'2" and appreciated the extra leg room), the food, the New Zealand wines, and the chairback entertainment system.

Lee Ann

Geordie

As other people have mentioned, if your going to
South Island then try and get a return ticket to say Christchurch that also allows a stopover in Auckland if you want to see the North Island

As far as I know there are no airlines flying from the South Isand to the US, therefore you will have to back to Auckland.

Geordie

kiwi_rob

Geordie is correct. No airline flies from the South Island to the US. Air NZ did from Christchurch for a while, but stopped that direct flight a few years ago.
Rob.

Geordie

"I can only stand so many renditions of "I still call Australia home".

Kiwi_Rob, funny you should say that, everytime I fly Air NZ I can't get that "You are the Pride of the Pacific" to Bette Midler's "Wind beneath my wings" out of my head. It probably hasn't been used for quite a while, but it was obviously effective in my case

Incidently, I've always found Air NZ to be an excellent airline, ditto for Qantas

Geordie

LABruin

I've only flown w/ both once & would choose Quantas in a heartbeat. My Air NZ flight out of LAX to Christchurch via Auckland was a nightmare. Our flight turned back b/c of faulty a/c so we were all put up at the LAX Hilton for the night. Our flight departed the next day at ~2pm which put us in Auckland close to midnight which meant another night in a hotel except that the brilliant ground crew didn't book enough hotel rooms so at about 2am the rest of us w/o rooms "slept" in the hotel lobby or at the intl terminal of Auckland airport. I re-booked my flight to Christchurch to the earliest 6am flight (rather than the 8am flight Air NZ rebooked me on). Thankfully, my NZ tour didn't start until the next day but I still lost a day in Christchurch.

kmh7

Thanks all for the info, I found an Air New Zealand flight out of SFO,(closer to hometown) direct to Auckland, then Auckland-Queenstown,Queenstown-Sydney,Sydney-SFO. for 1300.00 that seems pretty reasonable to me. Less than flying to Auckland and to south island on jetstar. Any thoughts beyond LABruin's experience which I hope was just a flook!

annw

I flew Air NZ SFO-AUK, did several internal flights for touring and to get to a conference, and then back AUK-SFO. I got premium economy and thought that (at $850 about 2 years ago) it was well worth it -- I got first row in the section, with FC adjacent/front, and so had terrific leg room, which is always my main concern. No other particular perqs (a cheese plate, maybe). Both flights were on time and uneventful. I would fly with them again.

DalaiLlama

"...Air New Zealand flight out of SFO,(closer to hometown) direct to Auckland, then Auckland-Queenstown,Queenstown-Sydney,Sydney-SFO. for 1300.00 that seems pretty reasonable..."

To me, too, I'd go for it.

What LABruin describes can happen anytime on any airline, it doesn't set a precedent, so ignore it. I could tell you a dozen such stories that I was in, from various incidents with various reputable airlines, but what for?

You're better off flying out of SFO anyway, it's less of a zoo on the night of the departure than LAX.

mlgb

Actually flying ANZ out of LAX is a snap, since they are in Terminal 2, and usually pretty dead in the middle of the night when the main ANZ flight leaves.

They are showing Air NZ at $898 RT from LA or SFO commencing 23 Oct - 12 Nov 10 and with a connecting trip to the SI for $998 plus taxes. I think that is about as good as I would expect.

They are also showing Sydney at $938 RT.
It seems quite a premium to pay another $400 for the stopover.
http://www.airnewzealand.com/terrifi...to-new-zealand

LABruin

I agree. If I had flown on the flight one hour earlier, I would've made it to Christchurch for my b-day. You can't beat ANZ prices.

Karen246

Would only go Qantas, have flown with Air NZ and also United and would not even consider them - Qantas by far the best