London to NZ help please

[freenote]

Hi,

Wife and I are attending a wedding in NZ next Feb. I'm looking for the best way of doing this. I don't enjoy flying and would rather break both legs up into 2 x c12hr flights with at least a couple of days somewhere each way. Price is a major issue as this is an expensive trip whichever way we look at it.

Any help appreciated.

[grumbledoak]

LA is a dump, a stop-over in Hong Kong would be my recommendation. Book a hotel, taxi to and from the airport.

[nw28840]

Stopover in Singapore.
Or you could do a Dubai stopover, but this makes the second leg a long one.

[NNH]

grumbledoak said:

LA is a dump, a stop-over in Hong Kong would be my recommendation. Book a hotel, taxi to and from the airport.

Depends if you're doing LA right! I'm fond of both cities, so I'd look at going out via one and back via the other if Air NZ is doing a decent deal. Emirates seem to have good deals, but involves stopping in Oz too. Air Brunei (honest) often seem to have good fare sales to NZ, so long as you can stand an alcohol-free airline.

[Siscar]

If you want to do it in two flights then it's Far East (Singapore, KL, HK, maybe one or two more) or LA. It makes little difference time wise going east or west. But all long hauls end up in Auckland and if you are aiming at, say Wellington, you'd have to change in Auckland or you could go via Australia from where you can usually fly direct to other NZ cities.

Going west Air NZ would probably be the choice but a lot more choice going east.

[NNH]

Have you ever used ITA Matrix? It's a great way to try lots of flight options, and you can specify much more precisely than engines like Expedia.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

[steveo3002]

air new zealands space seat is a very nice way to travel if you can stump up a little extra ££ , can get them for a reasonble price if you dont wait till the last min

[Simon Brooks]

Did this journey a few years ago and found it worked well to get the outward trip done in one hit with a couple hours stopover in HK and then use the return journey to have a full blown stopover for a few days in HK

Stayed in the Gold Coast hotel just outside of the main city (short cab ride) overlooking a marina, excellent value and very comfortable

Off to NZ again next year with 2 school squads of senior rugby players for 3 weeks and just about to start looking at flights and routes, but pretty certain will end up doing the same combo again

Have fun NZ is an amazing place

[Kenty]

When we went to Auckland earlier this year we flew Emirates , A380 all the way (a bonus) and went straight down to Australia. We stayed in Melbourne and had a great time, little jet lag and plenty to do. Caught the A380 again from Melbourne 4 days later and a nice daytime hop across to Auckland fully refreshed and raring to go!
Emirates is a job to beat on price and is good value for money, we booked through Croxton, an Emirates agent and saved on the going direct to the Emirates site.

[Gren]

Always gone with Singapore airlines and had stopovers in Singapore. Whether it's for a few hours our a proper stopover its a good option. Flights are broken up into a 14hr and a 10hr

Flight Centre have got us some pretty decent deals as well. Flown into both Auckland and Christchurch with both times flying back from the opposite island

Edited by Gren on Tuesday 15th April 12:30

[benters]

parents came back from OZ & NZ last week, and confirmed what has already been said that Air NZ is the way to go. They have done the trip 3 times now, and if they do it again they would not go with anyone else.

[Simpo Two]

The cheapest route I used once was Korean Air via Seoul. Grim food but we got there.

[audidoody]

Apart from LAX and its surroundings being a complete dump, If you fly via LA or Honolulu and don't plan to stop over, you'll still have to clear US immigration and customs even thought you may only be in transit a couple of hours. It's a complete ball ache when you're dazed and confused by jet lag. Go East.