USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

Hello!

Can anyone tell me where to start looking for the cheapest airfares available RT from USA to New Zealand (Wellington or Christchurch)? Flying from east coast probably early to mid-November, going for job interviews, need CHEAP - so if need to fly via Europe or anywhere else, no problem if major savings.

Our closest airports are Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, or Wash. D.C.

Thanks for any and all advice, websites and tips!

TA

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

On Fri, 11 Oct 2002 16:59:13 +0000, The American
wrote:

    >Hello!
    >Can anyone tell me where to start looking for the cheapest airfares
    >available RT from USA to New Zealand (Wellington or Christchurch)?
    >Flying from east coast probably early to mid-November, going for job
    >interviews, need CHEAP - so if need to fly via Europe or anywhere else,
    >no problem if major savings.
    >Our closest airports are Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, or Wash. D.C.
    >Thanks for any and all advice, websites and tips!
    >TA
How long do you need a ticket for ie: one week, two weeks, 30 days
etc.

Probably one of the best bets is to visit your local travel agent.
Find one that is a member of a recognised organisation such as ASTA.
ttp://www.astanet.com/

Check out web specials that may be available on :

www.qantas.com [they did have a special of US$978
for LAX/Australia ?
if any similar prices for NZ]

http:/-
/www.airnz.com/travel/index.jsp?cuid=170fd2%3Af0ce1f81ed%3A-6554

www.ual.com

Better still, phone the airlines directly as they are required by law
to advise you if there is a lower price available online.

Try www.orbitz.com or any of the others such as
expedia.com

Try the American carriers that service RDU/LCT/IAD/DCA [WAS]/ LAX eg:
AA for codeshare fares. Continental code share with Qantas; United
with Air NZ etc.

You could try the smaller jet services such as ATA/National for tix
to LAX/return then have second tix for the LAX/NZ sector however if
you do this be very aware of the checkin times/alllow yourself more
than sufficient time for changes at LAX.

Be careful of services to other LA area airports such as Jet Blue into
Long Beach - you would have to get a shuttle to LAX. I know they
often have darn good prices so looking at the cost of a ticket plus
shuttle is not to be entirely deleted.

Cath

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

I am sussing out airfares from Baltimore to Australia at the moment and I find that the cheapest way is to get a price for a flight from BWI/DC to London and then a separate price from London to OZ. The sites I use are Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, Innovative Airfares and Travelogia. You can log on to these sitea and compare all the different routes/prices to get there.

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

On Fri, 11 Oct 2002 16:59:13 +0000, The American
wrote:

    >Hello!
    >Can anyone tell me where to start looking for the cheapest airfares
    >available RT from USA to New Zealand (Wellington or Christchurch)?
    >Flying from east coast probably early to mid-November, going for job
    >interviews, need CHEAP - so if need to fly via Europe or anywhere else,
    >no problem if major savings.
    >Our closest airports are Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, or Wash. D.C.

Don't know if any help.... Usually when one airline does this,
Qantas and United follow suit.


LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 2002--Take the turkey out of
the oven and put the shrimp on the 'barbie,' because Air New Zealand
is encouraging Americans to spend Thanksgiving Down Under. A new
roundtrip fare of $799, valid for travel on select dates around the
Thanksgiving holiday, is available for purchase now through October
28, 2002. This fare represents a savings of almost 35 percent off
regular advertised fares.

Los Angeles to Sydney travel must be on either November 24, 25 or 26.
Return travel from Sydney to Los Angeles must be on December 2 or 3.

"November is an excellent time to visit Australia, and the
Thanksgiving four-day weekend in the United States provides a good
opportunity to enjoy a week-long holiday without using a full week's
worth of vacation days," said Peter Walsh, Vice President - The
Americas, Air New Zealand. "Combined with this incredible low fare, a
holiday in Australia is something to be thankful for."

In Australia, visitors will experience Australia's exquisite food,
wine, scenery and heritage. North Americans are warmly welcomed Down
Under, and with the current exchange rate very favorable to the U.S.
dollar, visitors find that their money goes twice as far.

Children's fares are not available with this special, however,
frequent flyer mileage can be earned on this fare. Fares are based on
availability and other restrictions may apply. Please call Air New
Zealand for further information and to check availability at
1-800-369-6867. Visit www.airnewzealand.com to book online and to
check out other web specials.

Rated among the world's best international airlines by the readers of
both Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazines, Air New
Zealand offers more direct flights to the South Pacific than any other
airline, including a double daily service from Los Angeles to
Auckland, New Zealand. Air New Zealand passengers earn mileage credit
in the United Airlines MileagePlus© Program on select flights.

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

Cath

You're a jewel!!! Thanks for this info! Unfortunately, saw your message too late (3 hours before end of 22 Oct deadline) to take advantage of the amazing $775 roundtrip LAX to Auckland deal on Air New Zealand for travel from Nov 2-5, but even the $1025 in effect from Nov 5 is pretty good.

If you hear of any other deals in next few days, please let us know. Now we just have to figure out how to get a good deal from Raleigh/Durham to LAX.

THANKS AGAIN!!

TA

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

On Wed, 23 Oct 2002 04:41:10 +0000, The American
wrote:

    >Cath
    >You're a jewel!!! Thanks for this info! Unfortunately, saw your
    >message too late (3 hours before end of 22 Oct deadline) to take
    >advantage of the amazing $775 roundtrip LAX to Auckland deal on Air
    >New Zealand for travel from Nov 2-5, but even the $1025 in effect from
    >Nov 5 is pretty good.
    >If you hear of any other deals in next few days, please let us know.
    >Now we just have to figure out how to get a good deal from
    >Raleigh/Durham to LAX.
    >THANKS AGAIN!!
    >TA

I'd be inclined to call NZ and see 'if' you could score..
Other than that is the one you have stated but be aware that has a
sales period ending 11-01.

Do you have any frequent flier miles you could use for domestic
travel?

FF miles are a good thing to look at if you think you may do some
trans-pac trips. United does not charge for membership and you can
gain miles on Air NZ as part of their code share. However, you
cannot use UA ff miles to upgrade on NZ. However, UA requires IIRC
40K miles for a domestic ticket v CO's off peak 20.

I have both UA and Continental - CO code share with Qantas but you
need 80K for a tix LAX-NZ. Still it's often cheaper to pay for a
transpac ticket and use the miles for domestic travel considering some
of the prices.

I have emailed a friend out at LAX who has a very close personal
friend who is very high in Qantas to see if he can pick up on any QF
deals that may be coming up in the next couple of weeks...

Cath

Re: USA to NZ - Cheapest airfares?
 

Cath,

Thanks! We don't have any frequent flier miles because we never fly (too poor!) Hope that will change soon, but we do realize that we need to take advantage of the expensive air tickets to NZ to start collecting miles.

BTW, I find searching the internet for good fares really time-consuming and mostly useless - all these so-called 'discount' sites never seem to come up with any of the special fares I've seen advertised on the airline sites, for instance. How did you know about the special deal to NZ?

What I really need probably is a super-good travel agent who really knows/understands how to search out the best fares, anyone know a good agent like this?? Would be worth a lot to me!

THanks for all your help, and keep posting!!

TA