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GETTING THERE |
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Getting there from Britain and Ireland
Over a dozen airlines compete to fly you from Britain to New Zealand for
as little as £450-1000, remarkably cheap considering the distances
involved but prices depend upon the time of year and rocket around
Christmas. Going for the cheapest flight typically means sacrificing
some comfort, which you may regret, given that your journey will last at
least 24 hours, longer if your flight makes more than the obligatory
refuelling stop. There are no direct flights to New Zealand from Ireland,
and prices are proportionately higher, since the short hop to London (around
£75 return) has to be added on to the fare.
No matter how keen you are to arrive in New Zealand, it makes sense to
break the journey, and most scheduled flights allow multiple stopovers
either in North America and the Pacific, or Asia and Australia. The vast
majority of direct scheduled flights to New Zealand depart from London's
Heathrow, though Garuda Indonesia fly from London Gatwick (1 weekly),
and Singapore Airlines use Manchester (5 weekly) as well as Heathrow.
There are few overseas flights into Wellington, so the only real choice
is between the main international airport at Auckland , in the north of
the North Island, and the second airport at Christchurch , midway down
the South Island. Christchurch receives fewer direct flights, but most
scheduled airlines have a code-share shuttle from Auckland at no extra
cost The most desirable option, an open-jaw ticket (flying into one and
out of the other), usually costs no more than an ordinary return and
means not retracing your steps to get out of the country.
Charter flights to Auckland and Christchurch from London Gatwick with
Britannia are currently suspended, but may subsequently be reinstated.
Contact Austravel for latest details.
If you are planning on doing a lot of travelling within New Zealand ,
especially between the North and South islands, it may be worth looking
into air passes offered by both Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia .
In addition, if you are combining Australia and New Zealand , there are
handy airpasses covering internal travel in each country and the joining
flight. Qantas's Boomerang Pass is available to all international
travellers (not just Qantas ticket holders), and comprises between two
and ten coupons, each valid for a flight within Australasia: a one-zone
coupon to fly within New Zealand or short hops in Oz costs £100, a two-zone
trans-Tasman coupon costs £125. Air New Zealand/Ansett's G'day Pass is
fundamentally the same, but has a larger number of travel zones and a
wider range of prices: within single zones in New Zealand and Australia,
£95; multi zones, £120; and mega zones (New Zealand to Perth or Cairns),
£215.
Getting there from the USA and Canada
Auckland is the only city in New Zealand that has direct, non-stop
flights from North America. From there you will find several connections
a day to the two other major airports, Wellington and Christchurch. The
flying time from Los Angeles to Auckland is approximately 12 hours 45
minutes.
The low season for fares is currently April 17 to August 23; shoulder
season runs from August 24 to December 8 and through most of March and
April; high season is December 9 to March 5
Getting there from Australia
Australia-New Zealand routes are busy and competition is fierce,
resulting in an ever-changing range of deals and special offers; your
best bet is to check the latest with a specialist travel agent . It's a
relatively short hop across the Tasman: flying time from Sydney to
Auckland is around 3 hours.
All the fares quoted below are for travel during low or shoulder seasons;
flying at peak times (primarily December to mid-January) can add
substantially to these prices. Ultimately, the price you pay for your
flight will depend on how much flexibility you want; many of the
cheapest deals are hedged with restrictions - typically a maximum stay
of thirty days, and an advance-purchase requirement. Qantas and Air New
Zealand each have daily direct flights from most Australian cities to
Auckland. Flights from the eastern states cost around A$550, while
flights from Perth start at A$949; flying to Wellington or Christchurch
can add an extra A$150-200, though Qantas and Air New Zealand don't add
any premium. Look out for occasional promotional fares , which can bring
down prices to as low as A$379 for a 30-day return from Sydney to
Auckland.
Open-jaw tickets - which let you fly into one city and out of another,
making your own way between - can save a lot of backtracking, and don't
add hugely to the total fare, if at all. For example, flying from
eastern Australia into Auckland and out of Christchurch, or vice versa,
with Qantas or Air New Zealand costs from A$699. There are also various
air passes for internal flights available .
Cruise ships do pass through the Pacific between November and January,
but not on a regular basis; travel agents should be able to advise on
which vessels are operating each season.
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