Air New Zealand Air Points - Booking Domestic NZ flights

Hello,

First thread, so apologies if this is in the wrong place. I'm in need of advice (obviously).

I'm heading out to New Zealand for a trip Nov-Dec.

I fly into and out of Auckland and then driving round both Islands.

Due to my tight timescales - I'm planning on cutting out some drive time by catching an internal flight from Christchurch (or maybe elsewhere on South Island) up to Auckland.

My question really is on availability, as I'm wanting to be flexible with my timing I'm not keen on booking early, however I don't want to stitch myself up and find myself forced into doing the drive. Also there is the price factor - do they tend to go up or down the later you leave it??

Any advice / comments welcome

Many thanks in advance

Rick

Welcome to Flyer Talk Rick Carr :)

The base fares do not vary much. The cheapest fares may be reduced temporarily during sales, and sell out.

All the main domestic airlines, www.airnz.co.nz www.qantas.co.nz www.flypacificblue.co.nz (starts mid November) show fares by category for all flights so you can assess for yourself the trade-off between buying now at cheap rate (with risk of moderate or high charge to change), buying now at flexible or semi-flexible rate, or waiting until closer to departure.

If your schedule is tight then I would caution that Pacific Blue has only 2 a/c which they run with short turnarounds all day - thus high potential for delays especially afternoon/evening. Qantas (jetconnect) has a few more a/c but also has a fairly poor on time performance.

Lastly, if you can make it to Queenstown 9-11 November you are more than welcome to attend a FT do (see link in my signature).