I'm looking at a flight to Queenstown the first week of April, and in economy it's ~$1000 vs. $2600 min from San Francisco. I'm having a tough time swallowing that price difference (and from LA, my 1st choice gateway, it's $1200 vs. $3000.
Coming out of my own pocket, I'm having a tough time justifying that difference. Am I missing anything?
CLG
2 things that might help:
1) Have you tried the Amex promo code AMEX500 that will take $250-$500 off premium economy bookings to NZ or Australia. Valid for bookings made by Jan 31, for travel until May 31. Can't be used on multistop bookings, unfortunately.
2) Special premium economy fares to Australia, which allow stopovers in NZ: e.g. $2198 to Sydney for travel from April 4th to August 10th - could work well if you have the time/inclination to include Australia on your trip. There are some nonstops from Queenstown to Sydney so it could be done fairly easily.
Unfortunately you can't combine both 1 and 2
Having said that, if the fare difference is huge then premium economy is arguably not worth it, especially on the ex-SFO flights if operated by a 777. Really your call for how much the additional space and much better service is worth to you...