Idiots guide to NZ flights

[Allegrogirl]

My DB got engaged to his Kiwi girlfiend on Christmas Day, yay! This means our first ever trip down under with DDs who will be 3 and 6 by the time we travel.

I have over a year to save but the thought of it is making my eyes water. We are currently paying a loan and a longed for camper van so saving will be tough.

I know it's a long way off but I'm very excited and like to plan well ahead for trips. How long in advance should I be thinking about tickets and how best to buy them?

How does it work with stopovers? Can you do the trip in one go or do you have to/is it advisable to break the journey?

I'm sure I'll be back with lots of daft questions. I think I'm more excited than my DB! Mind you he's been to NZ lots of times before.

Hey lovely news for you! Well we're off to NZ in 2 weeks with a 16 month old (eek!) and did all our booking through Trailfinders. I did shop around online with the airlines directly and Trailfinders came in at about the same price so it was very pleasant to let someone else do the itinerary for us.

We booked 4 months in advance but as we are travelling in the high season, flights are still eye-wateringly expensive. We are travelling via LA - a 26 hour journey to get there but are breaking up the return trip with a few days in the Cook Islands. This I cannot wait for!

If you are flying air NZ, there is a choice of stopover in LA or HK. I believe you can fly Emirates to stop over the middle east too. But I've always only do air nz (as it's quite cheap and I'm patriotic :) I've always just check the price of air nz online to see when the deals are, and also check on local travel agents. At the moment, I can see air nz already has prices for the whole of 2010. I'll have a look at trailfinders, but I've found most online sites are rubbish in controlling the number of stop overs you have. For example, I wouldn't want to fly Qantas because I don't fancy another stopover in Sydney in addition to one in asia!

I avoid the US because I don't like the hassle of a LA transfer. They take your finger prints and make you sit in an enclosed lounge area. If you choose HK, there are showers and free wifi and shopping. But then I haven't done it since I have a baby so not sure what baby facilities are like .

We've done NZ with DD twice - once when she was about 5 months old, then in September this year, when she was 3. We generally go Qantas, because we're almost always stopping in Sydney too. OH is a Kiwi/Aussie hybrid. We didn't break the flights with stopovers this time, as we were very time limited, and to be honest, either way is grim. It's a day and a half travelling no matter which way you go, and to be honest, we just thought we'd suck it up. We're coming from Scotland, so it's 4 flights, which ever way we look at it.

DD was surprisingly good - we took her to a quiet bit of Bangkok airport on the way out, and let her run about as much as possible, which helped. She was out of sorts, but to be fair, so were we. We did have a seat for her this time, which really helped, as it meant we had the 3 together by the window, and could squirm/swap around as needed to.

Flights generally come out a year before (well 364 days) and I'd say that's often a good time to get a decent deal. If not, watch for the airline sales - we have had decent discounts in the past. We've used FlightCentre before, who are quite good, we've found. Also, we have frequent flyer cards with Qantas, and you can save up points for internal flights/car hire/etc.

You will have an amazing time, I'm sure! I could bore on for hours with our advice, but I won't here. If you think there's anything I can help with, please do feel free to PM me....
Enjoy!

Thanks for all your replies. I think we will avoid stopovers and build in some rest time at either end. And hopefully find a route avoiding LA. We've got a Trailfinders less than a mile away so I will go and make friends in there.

Now to get my head around some serious saving to get us there. And hope the happy couple set a date soonish so we can book up early.

Hong Kong Airport is much better than LAX - loads of shops, showers, food outlets and just follow the transfer signs - no finger printing. You just need to get rid of all your liquids in your hand luggage as they will rescan it and are quite thorough. There is also a children's play area. I would fly cathay - tis lovely!

Yes yes to HK and to Trailfinders.

If you route via SIngapore there is a hotel and swimming pool in the airport, along with loads of shops, cafes etc. The hotel rent out rooms in 6 hour slots so if you have a few hours to spend you can actually rest in a bed.

Again if you go via Singapore put the kids swimming things in your hand luggage.

Thanks for your help everyone one but looking at the figures we probably won't be going . Can't afford to get 4 of us there, particularly as it will be over Christmas.