Airfare strategy help
 

We're planning a trip to Oz/NZ in March and April, about 3 weeks total. We depart from Washington, DC, and then start in NZ, plan to mostly stay on the South Island, for about 10 days. Then 5 days in and around Sydney, and 5 days in and around Cairns. So, some questions:
1) I looked at the Quantas Aussie pass, but they don't handle NZ at all, is that right? We're only looking at 2 locations in Australia, so this is probably not a good option.
2) I looked at Air New Zealand, but when I tried their multiple destinations option, it kept telling me that it couldn't do my itinerary, but not why. Has anyone used that interface successfully?
3) I tried Travelocity, which put together something totaling around $2300, which I thought was okay. But the layover times are pretty awful, as are some of the flight times (very early a.m.).
4) Would I be better off planning everything from LA, and then worrying about the DC to LA part of the trip separately? There are tons of options there, and sales come up pretty frequently.
5) Do most flights from LA to New Zealand go to Aukland? Are there nonstop options to Christchurch, or anywhere else?
6) We'd like to use United, which I understand is a partner with Air New Zealand - but I was getting absurdly high prices from them. And ideas?
7) Finally, are there travel agents that specialize in putting together this type of itinerary? I'd be happy to pay a little to have someone chase down decent fares at decent times!

Thanks very much,
Alice

<i>We're planning a trip to Oz/NZ in March and April, about 3 weeks total. We depart from Washington, DC, and then start in NZ, plan to mostly stay on the South Island, for about 10 days. Then 5 days in and around Sydney, and 5 days in and around Cairns. So, some questions:

1) I looked at the Quantas Aussie pass, but they don't handle NZ at all, is that right? We're only looking at 2 locations in Australia, so this is probably not a good option.</i>

That's right, NZ is not included in the Airpass scheme. (And BTW there's no U in Qantas.)

<i>2) I looked at Air New Zealand, but when I tried their multiple destinations option, it kept telling me that it couldn't do my itinerary, but not why. Has anyone used that interface successfully?</i>

Because Air NZ doesn't fly internally within Australia (SYD-CNS). Their one time partner is livin' with the fishes, if you get my meaning.

<i>3) I tried Travelocity, which put together something totaling around $2300, which I thought was okay. But the layover times are pretty awful, as are some of the flight times (very early a.m.).</i>

Many transpacific routes leave late at night from the US, and/or arrive at strange hours at their destinations. Especially connecting from the east coast, it makes for very long travel times.

<i>4) Would I be better off planning everything from LA, and then worrying about the DC to LA part of the trip separately? There are tons of options there, and sales come up pretty frequently.</i>

Probably yes.

<i>5) Do most flights from LA to New Zealand go to Aukland? Are there nonstop options to Christchurch, or anywhere else?</i>

It's Auckland, and yes they go there. Not aware of any direct transpac flights to CHC.

<i>6) We'd like to use United, which I understand is a partner with Air New Zealand - but I was getting absurdly high prices from them. And ideas?</i>

Probably because of the Cairns issue.

<i>7) Finally, are there travel agents that specialize in putting together this type of itinerary? I'd be happy to pay a little to have someone chase down decent fares at decent times!</i>

Most TAs won't trouble with it because there are no commissions paid by the airlines any more. However some of us do these things and charge a fee.

I did find an interesting fare that's only available from Canada - a &quot;Circle Pacific&quot; fare that requires you to go via the North Pacific (say Japan) in one direction and via the South Pacific in the other. It allows two stopovers (you'd need 3) but additional stopovers can be added for $100. The fare is $2100 plus tax, so it might turn out a bit cheaper than straight round trips, but not all that much so. You'd need to travel to Canada in order to begin the trip, so that's an additional cost as well. Unfortunately the fare isn't available in the US.

Also look at http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-trave...your-itinerary If you set up an open-jaw with Qantas, Los Angeles to Christchurch, returning Cairns - Los Angeles, and then bought two of the Oneworld add-ons for A$345 each (around US$300) I get a total cost of around $2220; or from Washington via LAX in both directions, around $2650, so it might be cheaper to buy cheapo tickets from DC to LAX before the flight. You can price this by phoning either Qantas or American Airlines and ask about Oneworld itineraries.

&gt;&gt;4) Would I be better off planning everything from LA, and then worrying about the DC to LA part of the trip separately? There are tons of options there, and sales come up pretty frequently.&lt;&lt;

That's what I would do. You should be able to find an inexpensive fare from DC to LAX.

Lee Ann

Hi Alice,

The QANTAS Aussie airpass only covers Australia. And, if you're only going to two locations in Australia, it probably wouldn't be cost effective for you. There are specials on Air NZ, Virgin &amp; Qantas frequently between the two countries and internally. Virgin Blue has a daily &quot;Happy Hour&quot; sale noon - 1pm AEST. It's worthwhile joining all the on-line newsletters as you'll get advance notice of the specials.

The Air NZ website looks as if there's a direct flight into Christchurch, but I can't confirm it; probably idiot operator at this end, but I found their website a bit cumbersome, too.

One of the regular Fodors posters, wlzmatilida ([email protected])
is a travel agent in the US who does a lot of work in Aust &amp; NZ and, although she never posts her business email, would very likely be able to help you.

Enjoy your trip :)

Thank you everyone, this is very helpful. (and forgive my spelling, you can tell I'm just starting this planning, but I've got it now - Qantas and Auckland).

I will check some more and probably check with wlzmatilida and let you all know how I manage. Getting the airfare is the first part of the trip, once that's done, I can concentrate on the rest.

Alice

I am planning an Australian trip now. My travel agent got me a FIRST CLASS roundtrip ticket to Sydney from Tampa Florida for $4600. including insurance. I have to stop three times getting there (staying over night in Hawaii) and twice (staying over night in Phoenix) on the way back, but feel it's worth it for first class. I am taking USAIR and Hawaiian. What I understand from her is that Quantas is VERY expensive, JET STAR very cheap but really gross and uncomfortable even in first class. This is complicated enough that you should contact a New Zealand travel agent (NewZealand.com) or Australian travel agent (Australia.com). My agent is in Hawaii but specializes in Australia -dont know if she handles NZ [email protected].

United has some fairly decent fares to NZ via SYD that allow a stopover in SYD. (They are considerably cheaper than flights just to SYD). E.g., IAD-SFO-SYD stopover SYD-CHC destination CHC-SYD-SFO-IAD for $2,100 in March/April. You might be able to substitute AKL-LAX on Air NZ for one of the transpacific legs. A search engine based on ITA (e.g., www.kayak.com) is best for this kind of search.

These will be pretty brutal journeys in coach, though. The disadvantage of pricing the DC-west coast segments separately is you won't be protected if your connecting flight is late.

You will get United miles with Air New Zealand and MUCH better service.

Check out www.seatguru.com to see the difference.

Check flights out of San Francisco, too. United is big at SFO.

Consider buying the tickets in pieces.

Checking out SFO is a good suggestion, it doesn't matter to us. When we went to Korea/China a few years ago, we went out of SFO, I had forgotten about that. I'll look into that as well.

Thanks VERY much.
Alice

I think you'll find that most fares from SFO to Oz/NZ are $20 to $70 more than comparable fares from LAX.

From the east coast, don't overlook the possibility of going east instead of west. From JFK, for example, Etihad's fare to Sydney via Abu Dhabi is $100 less than Qantas' via LAX.

If you have enough miles to get to the UK, you can buy a round-the-world ticket in London using Virgin, Singapore and Air New Zealand that will cover your stops and then some. Or for a little more, you can buy a round-the-world ticket that would also give you 6 flights within N. America in addition to the international flights. Price if bought in the US is around $4K; if bought in England around $2200.

re 4)
Qantas has an add on fare Washington to LAX or SFX for about $360, If you go with the Qantas add on fare, they are responsible for any missed flights because of delays and will put you on their next available flight. If you do it separately you will be out of luck.
As a personal preference, I would go through San Francisco.