How to get to | New Zealand

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.




New Zealand

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As an island nation, New Zealand can be reached by cruise ship (mostly Australia and nearby South Pacific islands) or by air. Almost all visitors arrive by air. The options to fly to New Zealand (mostly to Auckland) include:

• Star Alliance - Air New Zealand, Singapore (to Auckland and Christchurch), Thai
• Oneworld - Cathay Pacific, LAN (from Sydney and Santiago), Qantas (from Australia and Los Angeles)
• Skyteam - Korean
• Other selected - Aerolineas Argentinas (from Sydney and Buenos Aires), Emirates (to Auckland and Christchurch from Dubai via Australia), Royal Brunei (from Bandar Seri Begawan via Brisbane), and most South Pacific Airlines

There are no low-cost carriers on longhaul routes to New Zealand, thus there is a greater need to take advantage of sales, low-season fares or other cheap fares.

TIP around the world fares on Oneworld or Star Alliance can be very cost-effective for the longhaul flights to and from New Zealand and Trans-Tasman travel.

TIP fares on the main Trans-Tasman routes (Auckland to Brisbane/Gold Coast, Sydney or Melbourne and Christchurch to Sydney) are highly competitive. There are a suprising number of airlines operating - for example Auckland to Sydney has 7 airlines, Auckland to Brisbane/Gold Coast 6, Auckland to Melbourne 4 and Christchurch to Sydney 4. From some travellers it may be cheaper to fly to Australia and on to New Zealand on a separate ticket (or vice versa as fares from New Zealand tend to be cheaper than from Australia).

TIP fares to/from Asia and Europe are cheaper than from North America due to more competition through Asia compared with trans-Pacific.

TIP book awards as early as possible, especially to/from North or South America. These seats often go within a few days of being released.

TIP New Zealand is a good jumping off point for travel to Australia and many South Pacific islands. Flights are short, reasonably frequent and relatively inexpensive.