Air New Zealand Air Points - Need advice for AKL-NAN

I need your expert advices to get cheap RT ticket to NAN from AKL (or Australian cities). I used travel.co.nz to quote a fare but it comes out to be quite expensive (US$500+). Is there any way to get cheaper ticket for that route?

In the same token, could I use *RTW ex-AKL but go back to AKL for transit to Asian cities after visiting NAN? Basically could I do AKL(start)->NAN->AKL (pure transit)-> SIN w/ *RTW? I was confused about *RTW rules about transfer at AKL.

Thank you in advance for your expert advice!

Try calling Air NZ direct. The USA 24 hour reservations number is (800) 262 1234.

The prices on my fare display are well below US500. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif



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

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Atuchan:
In the same token, could I use *RTW ex-AKL but go back to AKL for transit to Asian cities after visiting NAN? Basically could I do AKL(start)-&gt;NAN-&gt;AKL (pure transit)-&gt; SIN w/ *RTW? I was confused about *RTW rules about transfer at AKL.
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Normally you can't return to your city of origin, so unless there are special rules for AKL it isn't allowed on a *RTW. But if you start in another city (WLG or CHC, for example), it would be allowed. So WLG-AKL-NAN-AKL-SIN is fine and probably doesn't change the fare. You can even do a stopover in AKL instead of a transit, if you wish.

While you can go to the same country twice on a RTW there are specific rules about your country of origin. I am failry sure once you leave your originating country you cannot return.I am not sure about AKL as a transit hub.

I also think that there would be some rule about once you head out east across the pacific you cannot backtrack all the way west again?

Mark

Thank you. I got the *RTW rules (below) at the Star forum and I was not sure what it meant.

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Originally posted by kempis:
...Transfers Not more than one international departure and not more than one international arrival is permitted in the country of origin except....

For travel originating in New Zealand -
Only one transfer outbound and one transfer inbound permitted in New Zealand.</font>

I will call NZ pffice to find out what they say. As for starting out from other NZ cities, I am not sure if it is possible as I am planning to fly into AKL from SIN w/ SQ.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Atuchan:
Thank you. I got the *RTW rules (below) at the Star forum and I was not sure what it meant.

I will call NZ pffice to find out what they say. As for starting out from other NZ cities, I am not sure if it is possible as I am planning to fly into AKL from SIN w/ SQ.

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WLG-AKL-NAN is the 1 transfer outbound and AKL-NAN-SIN is the 1 transfer inbound, as long as you complete the RTW as SIN-AKL (no transfer onward in NZ). I am sure this is 100% legal (but it is the issuing airline's interpretation that counts). You do need the transfer, so you can't do it without the xxx-AKL sector at the start (turning AKL into a transfer), and you can't have another transfer when you return to NZ at the end of the trip. The rule does say *transfer* instead of *departure* and *arrival* -- this is the key in understanding the intent of the rule.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
WLG-AKL-NAN is the 1 transfer outbound and AKL-NAN-SIN is the 1 transfer inbound, as long as you complete the RTW as SIN-AKL (no transfer onward in NZ). I am sure this is 100% legal (but it is the issuing airline's interpretation that counts). You do need the transfer, so you can't do it without the xxx-AKL sector at the start (turning AKL into a transfer), and you can't have another transfer when you return to NZ at the end of the trip. The rule does say *transfer* instead of *departure* and *arrival* -- this is the key in understanding the intent of the rule.
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Now I finally understood what they meant.. Thank you number_6 for enlightened me.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Atuchan:
Now I finally understood what they meant.. Thank you number_6 for enlightened me.

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You are welcome. The rule is there for a reason ... the airlines want you to use it; I suppose it encourages incremental business. Let us know how issuing the ticket for this routing works out (I think it will be routine).