Air New Zealand Air Points - Buying domestic NZ tickets

I'm looking to fly AKL-ZQN.

I noticed that the cheapest fare for that route has the limitation that they can only be sold in Australia/New Zealand. The NZ website stated that it will only sell to those with an NZ delivery address.

I presume that it won't sell those flights are the lower fares to me being I'm in the US. Is that correct? Am I able to get the lower fares by calling internationally to NZ? Thanks.

Afraid not..

However, if you're looking to fly 3 or more sectors, an Explore New Zealand Airpass is great value - NZD515 for 3 sectors I believe.

Only visitors to NZ are allowed to buy those http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

unfortunately, the three sectors I had in mind is pricing out at only 350NZD.

Has anyone tried doing this without being in OZ/NZ?

But I guess the point is moot since I have relatives in Sydney.

AFAIK the website won't let you book without an NZ/AU 'billing' address? (or maybe just any NZ/AU address)

However, if you've got friends/relatives in Australia, they can buy it for you no problems, however, bear in mind that if you purchase a seperate non-airpass fare and misconnect for any reason, the airline isn't obligated to rebook you on the next international flight.

As long as that risk won't be a problem for you, go for it!



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*Any information given in the email is my personal opinion and not the opinion of my employer.

I probably should have also mentioned that with the online/apex fares, any date or time changes cost LOTS - and for Internet Only (Esaver fares) you can't change at all.

If you have to make even one date or time change, the total cost will be more than the airpass fare would've been - the airpass allows date changes free and routing changes @ NZD25.

I offer this info so you can make a truly informed decision as to the risk factor! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by airnzboy:
I probably should have also mentioned that with the online/apex fares, any date or time changes cost LOTS - and for Internet Only (Esaver fares) you can't change at all.
</font>

Air New Zealand won't even sell the original poster (or any other non-NZ resident) an "e.saver" fare so the fact that it's not changable is moot. Air NZ won't even sell e.savers to Australian residents.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I offer this info so you can make a truly informed decision as to the risk factor!</font>

To be truly informed, it should be noted that unlike on Air New Zealand, the cheapest fares on Qantas domestic NZ routes can be purchased by anyone. [even US residents http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ]

The Qantas "red e-deals" for travel on NZ trunk routes between AKL/WLG/CHC can be purchased for one-way or return travel and have an advance purchase requirement of only 4 hours.

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/nz/rededeals/detail?city=AKL

You might want to investigate the Qantas "red e-deals" if your travel plans include more than only an AKL-ZQN flight.



[This message has been edited by Quokka (edited 04-12-2002).]

Ah yes, and don't forget about Freedom Air, who offer a low budget operation on the trunk AKL-WLG-CHC routes.

If you choose QF, make sure you check very carefully what the equipment type is listed as, as some flights are operated with codeshare by Origin Pacific using planes you can't swing a cat in.

However, I should point out that there has been talk (unproven at this point) that QF is deliberately running their NZ operations at a loss in an attempt to put NZ out of business. An estimate of a 50 million a year loss on that part of the operation was talked about. Again I repeat that at this stage they're just allegations, but if they turn out to be fact, bear it in mind when you book your ticket!



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*Any information given in the email is my personal opinion and not the opinion of my employer.