Air New Zealand Air Points - Domestic Fares and Flying kiwi[s]!

First, just curious if these one way fares are about as good as one may expect:

$176 Rotorua to Queenstown
$72 Nelson to Christchurch

Travel is for early and mid January on NZ. Will be building in a bit of "beverage time" in WLG on the NSN to CHC flights ;)

The rest is OT:

Second, I am about to buy a Flying Kiwi Wild West pass (Queenstown to Picton) www.flyingkiwi.com and was wondering if anyone may have heard of any opinions about them (or even has personal experiences). I am into adventure and not really a big fan of commerical touring so it seems to be a good compromise.

Lastly, my time is tight as I arrive in NZ and I will be missing Auckland altogether and renting a Budget car one way from AKL to ROT and leaving AKL about midnite and driving to Waitomo - any problems with this? How is this drive as far as the road in concerned? (my body clock will be on East coast OZ time).

Thanks for any help you folks might be able to offer!

Altaflyer
Edmonton, Canada

Fares seem ballpark okay. You will be paying more going NSN-WLG-CHC over the direct NSN-CHC though (due to sector-based levies).

WLG is a good lounge stop ^ Edited to add: You will of course need *G or get someone to invite you as a guest to get in.

Unfortunately cant help you on Flying Kiwi - never heard of it. I have however heard good things of Kiwi Connection - backpacker tour bus that has an adventure/fun activity type focus. If you're into adventure be sure to spend some time around Queenstown - heaps of stuff to do there (bunjy, flybywire, parapenting, canyon swing, jetboat, rafting, skiing, etc, etc). Actually less well known but there are adventure activities in many places, although Queenstown has the greatest concentration. Try zorbing while in Rotorua (as seen on The Amazing Race).

Even though there is not much time difference so no jet lag to contend with, I wouldnt recommend driving to Waitomo after arriving around midnight. Sorry I couldnt open up the drive times for some reason but think it is around 3 hours. By the time you clear customs, get bags, pick up car it could easily be more an hour after arrival. While the first stretch is motorway it is 2 lanes (one each direction) most of the way and there are extensive ongoing roadworks in Waikato region. I'd find somewhere accessible to the motorway to stay the night, and then drive down in the morning. If you stay in say Manukau or Pukekohe then you wont have to contend much with rush hour traffic as you'll be heading the opposite direction. Sorry I have a mental block - are you used to driving on the left? Other than short motorway sections our roads are not separated - so you dont want to be driving while tired and forget and end up on the wrong side facing oncoming traffic.

Driving on the left is no problem and arrival is actually 11pm so I figured an hour to get out of the airport. I will look into staying somewhere not far from AKL.

On the fares, actually if you use the multi-city option on the .co.nz site you can pick whatever sectors you wish and if the right class is open on both it will price out at the throughfare (actually even leaving 7am and then "connecting" at 5pm!) I am only staying in the Lounge for 2 hours and yes I have *G (not in profile as I got it matched, not earned). I think I will bite on the fare after I look at the tour option you have mentioned. It is a Friday and it is close to New Year's and I have no flexibility - kinda a no brained really.

Thanks for the comments and others still welcome!

PS - note you didn't have a reaction to missing Auckland ;)

for opinions on flying kiwi, you might want to try the thorntree forums over on lonelyplanet.com

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

I am traveling to NZ in mid-November and wanted to do one of the flying kiwi tours, however their depature dates did not match up with mine, so I will be going with The Magic Bus instead.

There is also the Kiwi Experience, but I've heard that can get pretty bad with lots of 18-20 year olds that want to do nothing but drink.

I don't mind a party every now and then...but since NZ is so far away, I want to make the most of my time..don't want to be hung over all the time, heh.

PS - note you didn't have a reaction to missing Auckland ;)

No reaction 'coz like most folk in Auckland I am transplanted from elsewhere. Really there isnt that much here to keep a tourist occupied more than a couple of days anyway, so you arent missing too much. Kinda like me skipping Ottawa when visiting Canada.

Concur with the view that the drive to Waitomo on your first night could better wait until the following morning.

Regarding tour options, Flying Kiwi is a tour company, Kiwi Experience and the Magic Bus are transport services. i.e. FL provides tent accommodation each night and once you get on at the start point you travel with the group for the duration and get off together at the end. KE and MB are 'hop-on-hop-off 'services that stop in each town at pre-arranged hostels and the like.

Any of these options will have their share of 18-30 binge drinkers.

Fares seem ballpark okay. You will be paying more going NSN-WLG-CHC over the direct NSN-CHC though (due to sector-based levies).


Just ticketed this on the .co.nz site at $72 NZD for NSN/WLG/CHC. The next challenge is to drink and eat $72 worth of provisions in the lounges :D

ROT-ZQN may go to QF as the schedule is a bit better (1.5 hrs later) and supposedly they serve Lunch to CHC and Dinner to ZQN :eek: Possible? Also NZ flights would not include any lounges as ROT does not have one, or so it seems, and the flight is Direct via CHC. QF is $10 more.

he he he...just realized I might fit into the binge drinkers category mentioned above :D Missed the age group by 4 years!

Any of these options will have their share of 18-30 binge drinkers.

he he he...just realized I might fit into the binge drinkers category mentioned above :D Missed the age group by 4 years!

You're not allowed to buy alcohol in New Zealand if you're only 14 . . .

;) :D

ROT-ZQN may go to QF as the schedule is a bit better (1.5 hrs later) and supposedly they serve Lunch to CHC and Dinner to ZQN :eek: Possible? Also NZ flights would not include any lounges as ROT does not have one, or so it seems, and the flight is Direct via CHC. QF is $10 more.


No meal on QF. Both NZ & QF serve a small biscuit/muffin and hot drink. Thats it.

No lounges at ROT QF or NZ. No QF lounge at ZQN but there is a NZ lounge. At CHC both QF and NZ lounge.

More flights on NZ so more options to break up the trip with a decent lounge visit if that appeals (QF you are probably limited to one or at most two options).