Hi, I know some of you travel to NZ quite a bit so wanted to see if you have any thoughts on airfare. We're looking to go in mid February, flying from San Francisco to Christchurch. Flights right now are $1700 per person for that time. Does that sound about typical or should I wait for them to go down? Thanks for any insight!!

My brother recently flew from Colorado to Queenstown via LAX and Auckland for $1,642. I'd monitored the fares for months beforehand, and that was the best I could do. I booked three months in advance, and continued to watch fares, which didn't drop after we booked.

February is high season, so it stands to reason that fares might be a bit higher.

I suggest you sign up for the Air NZ promotions - you'll receive promotions via e-mail and you might get a better deal.

Thank you! I have signed up but it looks like all the deals are for November are March as of now. Thanks!

Yes, typical.

I bought tickets last January returning in February (2013) and because it was around three weeks out it turned out to be around $2400 so I think thats a deal!

I flew ORD to LAX to Auckland with additional segment from Christhurch back to Auckland.I used a travel agency in Seattle that specializes in NZ and Australia and they actually came in cheaper than the actual Air New Zealand site.

It's a good price for February, you can get a lot cheaper in August/September but that is winter here in NZ.

Thanks for this! I bought the tickets and now I don't feel so bad about the price.