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I was collecting a list of NZ based, flight booking services
Can you see if I have missed any? Or suggest one
https://helloworld.co.nz
https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz
https://flights.webjet.co.nz
https://www.mixandmatch.co.nz
https://www.flightcentre.co.nz
https://www.houseoftravel.co.nz
https://www.flightcentre.co.nz
https://www.statravel.co.nzNot quite sure where google fits?
Google flights directs you to other booking services like expedia or directly to the airline so doesn’t fit the same category.
Out of curiosity why are you gathering this list?
I have a trip this year back to UK Now I am on a fixed income and I actually have to pay full price (worked AIRNZ) I tend to be frugal in the purchase. There not being a pricespy so to speak for airline fares. I was just creating a bookmark list (semi retired always looking for something to “create” to pass the time) to make it easier to search.
I don’t have any recent experience booking via a travel agent.
Are you looking to fly direct stop in Asia / US etc?
Last year Qatar had a sale for $1600 return economy and New Years went down to 1400 something. They’re bound to have another sale at some point.
BA is having a sale but I think they’re releasing the cities on the day but if you could get tickets from Singapore that would be great. https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/offers/sale/sale-100
Emirates had prices from Singapore to Europe for SGD 888 return in economy.
Getting to Singapore should be easy enough.
There are also certain cities that seem to have better pricing than others. I played around with google flights a fair bit and think its pretty good at finding decent pricing. Here’s a guide using them effectively https://www.godsavethepoints.com/2018/11/25/google-flights-tips-tricks/ Think of google flights as your price spy. I like checking on momondo.co.nz (but I would only book through a reputable 3rd party), then there is kiwi.com https://www.kiwi.com/us/which includes some low cost carriers.
Also consider flying out of Australia. There are flights in Feb for 1261/1500 NZD return to London. You can find a cheap flight to Oz to tag on.
Some Auckland departures for 1728 return. Potentially cheaper flying through Los Angeles (if you can put up with a bit of hassle). You could always call a travel agent to compare. Also there are some promo codes that float around from time to time.
If you post your rough travel dates from A to B, whether you have a few days flexibility, if you want a stopover and airlines you’d avoid, if I come across a good fare I can post back here.
And China Southern for around nzd1250 return in May – June for Auckland – Manchester, Edinburgh. Never used them and I think the transit through CAN can be a bit of an eye opener from reviews I’ve seen.
Quick follow up Got a booking with Flight centre akl-man lhr-akl biz class etihad /air/nz $6200 seemed a good deal
$6200 is a pretty good price for LHR return.
I thought so considering last time I went with etihad back in 2016 or was it 2017 ? anyway it was $7700 for the same trip. Flying into Manchester makes it a couple hundred cheaper. Nice of my daughter to choose Sheffield Uni to be at 🙂
It’s good for current pricing. Saw Etihad for 5,500 earlier in the month from NZ to UK. Tasman legs on either VA or NZ.
I saw a website https://www.roundabouttravel.com.au/deals/?deal_search_submitted=1&deal_search_class=118&deal_search_airline=0&deal_search_sort=price_asc
Basically decided I shouldn’t pay any more than ~6k for UK business class travel. They’re Australia based but it’s easy enough to start from there as well. No good deals at the moment.
There’s another website http://www.flightfinderau.com.
Also Oz based but sometimes you get some amazing deals. Anyway, I’d go with what you’ve got for now.
You are quite correct there were and are some great prices I found and was offered several at 5500 5700 either Korean air or etihad. If you dont mind flying into gatwick there are some lower prices but my sister lives 10 minutes from heathrow so…. Also if you fly into and out of Manchester its cheaper. I believe it you like to live life on the edge there are some Chinese carriers that are sub 5000 but they usually route through china.
There are definitely some cheap city pairs for certain airlines. Being a bit of a geek I drew up a list of groupings of departure and arrival cities to type into google flights for several preferred airlines (many cities the same anyway) and it’s interesting to see the pricing. I figure there’s also going to be some city they need to stimulate a sale from. Just need to figure out if it’s one I’m happy to stopover / transit. Never been to Jakarta but some good fares out of there also. Figure the day flights up to Singapore in premium economy with NZ/SQ are good, then it’s a short hop in economy to Jakarta with Singapore airlines. Looked at the airport and surrounding hotels on google maps. There’s also a train to pop into the city. However I haven’t done it and haven’t read enough reviews on the airport to see if it’s worthwhile. Oman air apparently have good business class fares out of there as well as some other airlines. Looking at the reviews it’s a product I’d fly. Gulf Air have the same apex business suite but I’m a bit more hesitant about Bahrain to transit. Saw some decent fares out of Manilla as well but I read it’s a bit of a hell hole. A friend travels there and the stories aren’t good. There are other cities as well, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur etc.
If you are going to be travelling annually or more often have you looked into buying fares from the UK to NZ?
Saw some sales mentioned for ~ nzd3100-3345 return in business class with Qatar. Just need to look at cost to change dates if you’re unsure of dates, and if there are any maximum or minimum stay conditions. Travel agent should be able to book those.
The other way is buying American Airline miles. You’d be looking at ~ nzd4100 + taxes return. Main issue is generally availability, however Auckland is one of those lower demand cities like Adelaide so availability is pretty good on Qatar. They have a tonne of destinations in Europe but connect with BA short haul to get to your final destination if needed and it’s all on the one ticket. I’ve only redeemed with AA once and it was easy. This is all bookable online as well. No travel agent needed. Just a bit of flexibility on travel dates and maybe reading up on how the system works. You can do that before you commit to buying miles. There are also other cities to fly out of in Australia and other good uses for the miles for kiwis.
I haven’t ventured over to the Chinese carriers to date but would happily fly the Taiwanese carriers like EVA and China Airlines, along with few other Asian carriers.
Will you credit your flights to a particular programme?
Thats a comprehensive reply! When I am booking passage I take into account several factors
The airline, the transit, the cost, not particularly in any order. Sometimes the best price isnt the best deal Plus I am now an old fart who sometimes just cant be bothered for a couple of hundred dollars on a 6 grand ticket.
I avoid Airnz as the main carrier as they seem to always be more expensive. However I try to book with an airline who code-shares with airnz, to get that quality and also I use to work for them so I still have mates if I need them. I avoid a lot of the asian countries as the horror stories seem to be on the increase same with the china mob, the last thing you want is to have to enter china then get out again. At present I try to avoid america on a some silly principle that trump is a dick! But then I fly the middle east ones who well…… “They are very nice airlines”
I am a illogical paranoid traveler
A perfect example was when I was in OZ I always flew Qantas as at the time as they had never had a major air incident. Then someone pointed out that as they had not had a major air incident the statistical likely hood of them having one increased daily!!
Summary
Book the best airline at the best deal through the safest locations.
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