Benefits of a monoply
 

Am planning a trip to the US at beginning of next month for a few days. Was looking at business class fares and note that AKL - LAX - AKL is ~$8100 NZD.

Have colleagues travelling from Australia. Air NZ has a fare SYD-AKL-LAX return for ~$5300 AUD travelling same dates. Even Perth - AKL - LAX return is $6500 AUD business class on same dates.

So I guess another case of a monopoly and lets gouge the locals while discounts abound in a competitive market in Oz. Similar action in the regional NZ market.

That's the reality. So why not grab a cheap hop across to SYD and join your friends? EK, VA, QF and many others fly the route. A cheap ticket runs about $220 USD and a night in a hotel or with friends easily keeps the price under 6k$.

They are only charging what the market is willing to pay, its not like NZ has any problems with filling seats in J on AKL-LAX.

Its pretty well know that NZ isn't interested in the price sensitive market, for that they have economy class.

That money could get you all the way to Europe in J with other Airlines.

Same reason its almost always cheaper to fly from NZ to the USA via Australia on QF or VA. And for Australians its usually cheaper to fly NZ via AKL than direct.

This.

Are NZ fill their BP cabins with their current pricing so there is no need to offer cheaper pricing.

It's like people who look at Jetstar and think it's great that their pricing is so much cheaper than Air NZ. From a purely business perspective it shows how poorly they are infact doing if they can only get $129 for same day seats when Air NZ is selling that same identical product for $299

Twice in some sales.

I'm taking the family (6pax) to LAX end of this month all flying economy and the price difference between AirNZ and Virgin Australia was extreme.

The difference will pay for hotels for 3 weeks and 4 day disney tickets for all of us.

The total fares CHC -> LAX -> CHC for 5 adults and 1 child was less than $7k. Stop-over in Sydney on the way over and Brisbane coming back. The Brisbane stop over is quite long so will allow us a day out to catch up with friends.

I haven't flown on the VA 773's but Y looks far more comfortable than Air NZ's. I can't the see the value of flying Air NZ, especially out of WLG/CHC when the total flight time is not much difference between the two and VA is 40% cheaper. In one trip you could save enough for Koru club for two years.

^
The only reason I booked Air NZ AKL-LAX for Novemeber was to use my RU's for a business upgrade. Paid $1600 return for 1, could have booked VA AKL-SYD-LAX-SYD-AKL on the exact same dates for $799 return.

You can also travel on an LH ticket on NZ metal to Europe via the US for a lot lower fare.

No one ever accuses airlines of common sense or long term thinking when setting fares!

It's more the case of the 'common sense' not being held by many NZ residents.

- that what make these fare 'monopolistic'.

A bit like fares for Qantas ex OZ have been over the years.

It make sense for companies (such as airlines) to charge what the market will pay.

(How much will a iPhone 6 cost puchased in NZ when compared with the relative cost of the same item purchased in the USA?)

Exactly like iPhone 6. You can get a better phone for cheaper, eg Sony Xperia Z3 or Samsung Note 4 but the majority will still go for the iPhone. I think NZ is enjoying similar status as Apple. It's almost become a cult for some people but I don't think it will last forever. Think Nokia.

Sure, but I was comparing apples with apples (:p :o).

Kiwi iPhone6 16GB list price is NZD999 (~USD816).
USA iPhone6 16GB list price is USD649 (~NZD794).

Cost of travel to lax
 

The difference is not always so great
I brought a flight to lax (for next month) and the difference between airnz and virgin was $49 return (airnz $1000 virgin $1049)
Managed to get the sectors upgraded to PE as A class was available