We don't go to New Zealand until mid November, come back to the US 2nd week of December. Do they usually have any sales for this time, or is it getting too close to summer season?
We usually book our flights about 6 months out, but don't know if New Zealand is different.

Yes, they have sales. I frequently get e-mail from them regarding sales - I suggest you sign up.

We generally book about 3-4 months out, regardless of where we're going, but we did book our Air NZ flights for May back in October, but only because we'd been watching fares and jumped when we spotted a good fare for Premium Economy.

Mel, don't know if you got my message, we're working on it, THANKS!

I did wrenwood, hope it works out.

I received an email from Air New Zealand on Jan 31 announcing flights on sale. Very good price and including inter-NZ flights.
Our friends, who have children that live in NZ, advised us to book premium economy seats. We'll see when we fly in March what those are like.

HTH

All flights booked! THANKS!