Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Air Fares within NZ

Starting to research for my trip in February, and have been to bus and rail sites for the South Island, and now I'm looking at airfares. I arrive in Christchurch.

Qantas has "red e-deal" fares of $NZ97 one way Christchurch-Queenstown (either direction), which is about $US68 at current exchange rates. Is that about rock bottom on that route when these deals come along?

QF also has a $NZ83 fare Christchurch-Wellington on Thursday, March 2 (day before the Wellington Do). Backup plan would probably be bus or train to Picton and ferry across from there. As that's less than $US60, imagine it's as low as I'd see it already (just have limited flights to choose from, but I can work with that).

Another option could be to fly from Queenstown to Wellington, but it's a little higher at $NZ155 (might be worthwhile, though, as I don't have to double back to Christchurch). Just depends how I route myself on the ground and where I end up.

Would appreciate advice from anyone familiar with these routes. Thanks.

The prices you got so far are about as low as they can get apart from the occasional sales. CHC-WLG may go down to NZD$63 in a sale, for instance...

Watch out for sales after Christmas.

The NZD is also losing value, so it may work slightly better for you still.

... (just have limited flights to choose from, but I can work with that).If you're ever frustrated by the sparse QF schedules for a particular sector, it'll be worth going to the Air New Zealand site to see if they can do anything better as far as schedules are concerned (although you're unlikely to do much better, if at all, on fares). You may find that giving up the OW earning on a QF flight may be more than made up for by much more practical NZ flight times.

If you're ever frustrated by the sparse QF schedules for a particular sector, it'll be worth going to the Air New Zealand site to see if they can do anything better as far as schedules are concerned (although you're unlikely to do much better, if at all, on fares). You may find that giving up the OW earning on a QF flight may be more than made up for by much more practical NZ flight times.

Yes, true. Just a couple of things to note:

- NZ tend to have a sale first, then QF will match a couple of days later.
- The cheapest NZ fare may not earn miles on your program. It doesn't earn miles on the NZ program.

Tom - unless you've heaps of time, I'd fly. Coming from CHC to WLG by land will take a whole day of travel, probably 12+ hours.

I looked at the NZ site last night, and again today. Looks like fares are pretty comparable ($2-3 difference at most). The only advantage I can see of a QF booking is lounge access at CHC, as the other airports I'd use don't have lounges, so NZ is a possibility, particularly with different flight times.

Is the dollar getting stronger? It was down around 50 cents my last visit there, so everything looks more expensive to me at 67 cents today. I tend to follow the euro and British pound, but I'll need to start tracking the NZ dollar as I get closer to travel dates.

Still sorting out "where" I want to be among my 8 days on the South Island. When I look at some of the bus schedules, and add in a ferry, you're right that 12 hours of transit doesn't sound fun compared to a quick flight.

Currently the NZ $ is falling relative to US $ (did get up to mid 70s for a while) and is widely tipped to continue to do so through 2006. Of course there's no guarantees.

I agree with leumas and globaliser advice above. If you're okay with the price now I'd buy it while there is still availability in the cheap fare buckets. You wont save a lot by waiting and could miss out.

If you are thinking of driving some of the trip and flying some, I strongly recommend flying into Queenstown and driving (or flying) out. The approach IN to Queenstown is one of the most spectacular routes anywhere in the world - the flight path OUT, while nice, is nowhere near as spectacular. Try to get a window seat!

The flight between Queenstown and Milford Sound is also amazing (no points on this as only local airlines, single prop a/c) if you can make this.

Boxing Day Sale on now - CHC-WLG for $69 all inclusive.

In addition to airnewzealand.co.nz and qantas.co.nz there is also Orgin Pacific (http://www.originpacific.co.nz/Home)

For one car rentals try Standby cars (http://www.standbycars.com.au/) and click thru to $1 specials in NZ http://www.standbycars.com.au/oneways.aspx?cid=2

Link for NZ Rail (Toll) (http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/)

I'm not a big fan of renting cars, so you'll likely find me on local transit or doing day tours.

I did book my tickets here on Christmas Eve (all on QF--flight times worked out OK), before the sale was announced. I checked my itineraries today (CHC-ZQN, ZQN-WLG) and the total price only went down $NZ8 (about $US5), so I don't feel too bad about it (damages could have been a lot worse). Thanks for the heads up.

I've spent some time on both the rail and bus sites the last few days. I decided to do a day trip by rail from Christchurch up to Arthur's Pass, and spend a few hours hiking up there before coming back down to Christchurch, rather than racing through by rail and getting a bus to Franz Josef. Looks like it is cheaper to book that on arrival to get a backpackers discount.

I also looked at Franz Josef coming in from the other direction, but it's 8 hours out of Queenstown by bus, with a late afternoon arrival, and the same back, so that wasn't going to work, at least for this trip. I can easily see budgeting time for that on a later trip (I've done 11 trips to Australia, and only 2 to New Zealand, so expect to be back in NZ a number of times). I only have 6 available nights before the 5pm flight to Wellington on the 7th day.