Getting to New Zealand

Getting to New Zealand
New Zealand is a three and a half hour flight from Eastern Australia. From the West Coast of the United States, a direct flight to New Zealand is 12 hours. Other places on the Pacific Rim, like Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo, flights take around 10 hours.
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Flights - New Zealand

Author: David Collins

Every year, thousands of backpackers head down under each year to work and to travel.

However, an increasing number of travellers are choosing to visit New Zealand – home of the kiwi, the Lord Of The Rings films and the All Blacks rugby team, amongst other things.

Flights to New Zealand can vary in price depending on not only the length of your stay, but the time of year in which you choose to travel.

Cheap flights can usually be found during the off-peak midwinter season - which occurs from June to July and September – but expect to pay a little bit more if you are looking to spend Christmas down under.

When searching for flights to New Zealand, consider breaking some of the journey in parts in order to save money. Popular destinations en-route includes Singapore, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

Many travellers choose to start their excursions in the Northern Island capital Auckland, travelling down through sprawling national parks and on to the nation’s capital. Ferries from the bays around Wellington travel down through to the Southern Island, with its’ gleaming lakes and fjords.

Some companies offer the opportunity to buy ‘open jaw’ tickets – which allow you to fly into one city and out of another.

With an open jaw ticket, cross-country journeys are popular with many backpackers. So you could fly to a North Island city such as Auckland, travel and work for months at a time, before flying back home from a South Island such as Christchurch.

For travel within the country, you can get a good deal on domestic flights. However if you’d like to take in some of New Zealand’s spectacular scenery, bus services offer competitive prices – which vary during the various holiday seasons - on a range of routes, which offer door-to-door service and even a bit of driver commentary about areas of interest.

If you are looking to travel and work in New Zealand, you need to ensure that you have applied for a Working Holiday Scheme Visa (WHSV) which allows you to stay in the country for up to 23 months – with the option of working for one employer for at least 12 of those months.