movingtonewzealand

I wasn't aware of the extra baggage with Air NZ - good idea

movingtonewzealand

Yes I've heard of the US security & what a pain that is!

LauraNotts

I prefer to fly going via Hong Kong/Shanghai (Air NZ still did a route this way the last two times I've flown with them) I've never done a stop over and just prefer to dash straight through and get it over with but my parents did and appreciated it.

Jetlag - yeah what other people have said. Best way to do it is to fly late out of Heathrow and that way you land early afternoon in NZ. Stay up (sample our wonderful coffee??) and then sleep earlyish on your first night and you should be fine. I have done that 3/4 times that I have done this flight.

When I officially emigrated I ended up on a flight that landed in Chch at 8am. I was exhausted and told my friend I was staying with to wake me up after a couple of hours. She didn't and I was jetlagged for weeks after. (groan)

As for how long you'll need - a week minimum but probably no more than two weeks depending on how much you need to get sorted when you get here.

MrsFychan

they do suggest you start altering your body clock close before you travel, so go to bed earlier and raise earlier slowly over a few weeks before you leave. That makes it easier for your body to align to the new time zone.

escapedtonz

It was 5 days from us landing in Wellington to me starting work in the CBD which was sufficient. My employer left it up to me when I started.
We had already arranged a place to stay and a hire car through my new employer so didn't have to rush doing anything when we arrived other than collect ATM cards from the bank and set up an NZ PO box at the post office.
I also started mid week as you'll never be chucked in at the deep end mid week so those initial few days in the office were taken up walking round meeting people, saying hi, getting to know the building, sorting out security cards and building my profile on the desktop/sorting out email account etc etc. Was a pretty breezy few days and every man and his dog wanting to chat over a coffee.

Travelling economy is fine. Just make sure you select/book your own seats online early on. Maybe even pay that little bit extra to get extra legroom seats or seats in front of a bulkhead etc and close to a toilet. May only cost an extra $50 each but well worth it for the extra comfort it'll give you on a 14hr or so flight.

We came across with Emirates all the way who were fine MANC-DUBAI-SYDNEY-WELLINGTON.
We've also used KLM/Air France/Air NZ MANC-PARIS or AMSTERDAM-HK or KUALA LUMPUR-AUK and no issues with any of them to be honest. I'd say out of all of them the nicest most polite staff were KLM and the comfiest plane Air NZ as it had an awesome entertainment system.
We tended to disregard costs to a degree when considering flights and instead concentrate on flights which give you the least lay over in between so you aren't hanging around getting tired or aimlessly traipsing round the airports en route spending money on stuff you don't need. Layovers aren't good when you have children. The least time waiting and having to entertain them the better. You should only be in the air for 24 hrs ish in total UK to NZ but you can easily double the journey time if you pick the wrong flights with long overlays in between.

Where are you heading to and when ?

barnsleymat

We landed on the Saturday afternoon and started work on the Monday morning, it felt good getting stuck straight into in.

Justcol

I've made the journey 4 times now and never really suffer jet lag when traveling west to east.
Just go to bed at normal time on your first night and you'll be fine in the morning

Pom_Chch

I would echo the previous posts, but please be careful with caffeine! I had a little too much and when bed time rolled around I found it hard to sleep. Mix that in with the excitement of moving I was like a kid on Christmas eve We landed Weds and started work on Monday. It wasn't too bad, just felt tired around mid afternoon but it didn't take long to get past that. I would definitely give yourselves a few days to sort bank accounts, IRD numbers and just finding your way around.

Esme61

We booked AirNZ from Manchester via Munich (you don't get off) then Singapore to Auckland, all good except we missed the connection in Singapore due to fog at Munich (Dec15) so instead of 1hr10 in Singapore we had 12 hrs but they sent us downtown to a hotel, paid for taxi , had room and food. Was good as it broke the journey but we then had to fly via Melbourne and Virgin Australia flight to Auckland was "basic". I seem to be ok after a couple of days but then I'm on holiday- 2 weeks should help you get sorted. Just waiting to sell the house then that will be us.

Charismatic

Never understood why people complain about jet lag, just stay awake for about 36 hours or whatever then when you fall asleep all goes back to normal . It takes some planning to make sure you get a little more sleep than usual but beats using a gently-gently approach.

fiddler

I will be visiting nz for the first time next week to meet couple of my prospective employers. London-hongkong-akl and then back after 3 days. Hope they can make some sense out of the jet lagged me.

Munchkjn

I did that last month! I managed to get permission to stay for 8 days though. 3 days thats a bit rough!!! Any chance you can extend it for a quick look round while you are there?

fiddler

I can extend no probs but it will be the missus back home left to manage our 6 month old and 4 year old will not be too happy. We have whittled it down to 2 from 4 with Christchurch and invercargill ruled out. Will be most likely Auckland but thought will check out Wellington as well as the health board have given me 3 job options of being based in cbd in Wellington, porirua or paraparamu on kapiti coast.

LittleGreyCat

Shudder!

If I was capable of staying awake for 36 hours I might try that but I can fall asleep almost anywhere and at almost any time so there is very little chance of managing even 24 hours awake. I suppose if you don't sleep at all on the two legs of the flight you might manage 36 hours including travel at both ends.

The worst flights I have had are when there is one over large person in the middle of three rows of seats. Impossible to settle down and be comfortable for any length of time.

Flying Economy we generally need a break between flights of at least a day to recover enough to face the second leg.

We have decided that if at all possible we will fly Premium Economy in future (although we haven't done this yet) just to guarantee the extra space and bigger seat.

Last trip, on short notice, we ended up flying Business Class with Malaysian as their special offer deal was almost the same as Premium Economy with Air NZ. Now ruined for normal travel! If you can stretch out and sleep you can do the whole trip without a break in the middle to recover.

Jet lag seems worse coming back to the UK, but I think one reason this time was that the days were short and dark so there wasn't much chance for the brain to adjust. Took us about a week, and probably 2-3 days going out.

It is always easier if you have something you MUST do as it pushes you along. Easier working than if you are on holiday.

Having said that, a 3 day trip sounds like a nightmare!
Almost impossible to form any real impression.

MrsFychan

oh you head up to Kapiti give me a shout if you have time for a coffee