Flying Cheaply to Australia & New Zealand on Same Trip

By Don Nadeau, on May 3, 2009, in Airfares, Travel

Okay, you have thoroughly researched USA to Australia fares and you’re impressed. There’s an airfare war going on. Not only have prices gone down, but also you can now stay up to nearly a year on the lowest fare (considerably longer by the way than the maximum stay per visit allowed Americans and Canadians on a regular Australian tourist visa). Nevertheless, you found that you cannot stopover in New Zealand when traveling to Australia at the least expensive price. As of today, that is on Delta (as of tomorrow who knows), and you really want that New Zealand stop. Happily, fares to New Zealand have also been going down. They are not yet as cheap as ones to Australia, but they’re in the same budget range. If you’ve willing to pay a New Zealand low fare price--or perhaps even less--you can include both countries. There are two ways to do this.

New Zealand on a separate ticket

Currently, it costs nearly nothing to add New Zealand to an Australian itinerary. The Sydney to Auckland route is extraordinarily competitive, one of the most competitive in the world. Not only do Air New Zealand and Qantas have frequent flights, but Aerolineas Argentinas, Emirates, LAN Chile, and Pacific Blue (Virgin) also serve this route. Here's how you'll set up your trip in the least expensive way. First, buy the cheapest USA to Australia fare once you've verified that you can buy a cheap New Zealand ticket for the dates you need. Then buy the roundtrip from Australia to New Zealand. If you're having problems finding low fares, adjust your travel dates. A quick check of roundtrip fares for June showed a U.S. $88 roundtrip fare, including tax, on Pacific Blue from Sydney. Pacific Blue also serves Auckland from numerous other Australian cities. Besides Pacific Blue, I found a $174 fare (all these are in U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate and include tax) on Aerolineas. LAN Chile, which has a dreadful 5:30 a.m. departure from Auckland, came in at $210. Last year, I used Emirates, which also does Brisbane and Melbourne to Auckland. Believe me, these airlines won't let their planes fly empty. Again, a far from comprehensive check of fares showed $234 roundtrip from Sydney to Christchurch on Air New Zealand and Qantas. In addition, both Emirates and Pacific Blue serve this route. Pacific Blue had a $89 roundtrip fare from Sydney to Wellington, a wonderful place to arrive in New Zealand. You can also “open jaw” your trip by flying into Auckland and out of Christchurch or Wellington or vice versa. NOTE: Do not schedule same day connections between your two tickets. This is very important. If fact, on your way to New Zealand, you should spend at least two nights in Australia. The reason for this is that if you miss your outbound connection to your trans-Pacific flight in Los Angeles or wherever, you'll almost certainly arrive in Australia at least nearly 24 hours late or longer. In that case, because you didn't show up for your New Zealand flight, you may lose the value of this second ticket.

New Zealand as a stopover on same ticket

Second, as an alternative, you don’t have to backtrack to Australia before heading home, unless you want to. For example, as of today, the cheapest fare from LAX to Sydney on Qantas is around $90 more than Delta. Qantas allows a stop in Auckland for an additional $150, which makes the total extra cost around $240, still within the range of buying a fare to New Zealand only. Although its Sydney fare is somewhat higher, Air New Zealand allows free stops in Auckland and places like Rarotonga. Because stops are free, the grand total is not much different than using Qantas. Using Travelocity.com provides great way to compare fares and airfare rules from the U.S. Instead of imputing dates, select its “Flexible dates” feature. When the price page comes up, click on “Rules” on the right. You don’t have to read every fare rule detail. Focus on validity dates, minimum and maximum stays, and stopovers. You can usually assume the cheapest fares are nonrefundable, but fees to change your ticket vary. Note that some airlines like Delta may allow stopovers in their rules, but neither they nor their partners fly between Australia and New Zealand.

Also consider

Although we expect this airfare war to continue with some intensity this year, fares and rules can and do change instantly. And, although you may not be planning to go to Australia until next North American winter, note that “low season” fares may continue well into December. Try to plan a departure before these expire. If you wait to long to book those last dates before low season fares expire though, you may have to pay more, as they may sell out.