flying to New Zealand... advice wanted
 

I have a chance to go next year to NZ but because of health issues I need to break up the trip as its' so long ....I have done some calling and it seems Hawaii is not an option...Then I checked Tahiti connection and they dont go everyday and are codeshare with Air NZ. I want to leave from LAX...what should I consider? thanks

Is there a problem with Air New Zealand code share for you? My experience with them has been excellent.

But much as I love them their website follows the dictum that you know where you want to go and when. They are not the only ones and it drives me mad. Because what I often want to know is WHERE CAN I GO to and when.

As far as I know ANZ has the best range of stopping-off points when crossing the Pacific. I will admit to not having done this for a while, but when I booked my tix I had a choice of Fiji, Raratonga, Tapete, Hawaii.

You are right, they do not fly to them all every day.

So I'd call them and ask. Now if you were coming to Australia you could fly to Honolulu and hop on a daily Jetstar flight to Sydney.

Cheers.












dey;udak ;;what rt I

ANZ has many stops in the Pacific. You could book the round trip with stops on a Pacific island.

Or, you could go with http://www.airtahitinui-usa.com/((*))

If you fly Qantas from LA you can do what I am doing in a couple of weeks and that is - getting a Priceline cheap return ticket to Honolulu from the US mainland and then flying Honolulu to Australia. You could do that and then fly to NZ from Australia. Another way would be to combine Air Pacific from LA to Fiji and a flight from Fiji to NZ. I don't know the cost of the latter but the former should cost about $1400 return.

Air New Zealand is a good airline.

NZ is still a long way from the typical stops. When there used to be a Hawaii-Auckland flight, it was still 9 hours.

I think it's better just to do it all in one go. You'll just need to get up and walk around frequently. It's torture but worthwhile.

When push comes to shove I agree with mlgb. If you want to stop and look, enjoy, experience, Fiji or the Cooks or wherever, then fine. Otherwise grit your teeth and do the whole journey in one.

I'm not sure that advice to 'grit your teeth' is proper here, since there are 'health issues' that hypatia has that we don't know. Let us accept hypatia's premise at face value. ((*))

Well, I stopped in Rarotonga (Cook Islands) on my way back from Auckland to LAX, so that's a possible stop. You can also fly via Nadi, Fiji, which friends did before meeting me in NZ. If you fly one of the Star Alliance members (I guess United Airlines), you may be able to stop in Honolulu.

Here's Air NZ's route map, which gives you all your options

http://www.airnewzealand.com/traveli...es/default.htm

You should know that any stopover adds more time to your total flight, but each individual flight will be shorter than the LAX-AKL flight.

Also, I'm not sure if Air NZ flies all of these routes everyday, so you may need to spend 2 to 3 days in Rarotonga or Fiji (hardly a hardship).

We spent three days in Rarotonga, and its a wonderful island, with some good snorkeling and nice beachside villas.

Thank you...No I cant do "all in one go"....They told me if I need medical attention they will not stop. I am a bit claustrophobic as well..Have never gone more than 8 or so hours straight..I don't think I don't want to go to Australia first...thanks for the link

I think the only way you will find something is to fly to Honolulu and then try to get a series of connecting flights across the Pacific, You probably need to call Air New Zealand and see if they can put something together with Air Pacific.

Friends of ours went on airtahitinui from Auckland to LA with a stop in Papette. The flight from Papette to LAX is listed as 8hr, 15min. ((*))

Thanks jed I think that is the best option...half way to christchurch. and its cheaper too