When you go to New Zealand, you can definitely take a plane, but when traveling abroad, everyone knows that air tickets are generally very expensive. Sometimes the price difference between a flight ticket is too far. If you want to go out for fun, you can save money on air tickets. How to buy

① It is not recommended to go from May to August

New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere, and the season is exactly opposite to ours. The peak tourist season is from October to February of the following year. It is not recommended to go from May to August because the weather is changeable. Therefore, New Zealand air tickets are the cheapest and have the most promotions from May to August. This is the domestic summer vacation, and many parents fall into this trap...

②The cheapest air ticket may not be the best

For long-distance routes such as flying to Australia and New Zealand, the cost-effectiveness of air tickets depends more on the quality of the airline and whether it is a direct flight. For example, AirAsia flies from Beijing to Auckland for 1k7, but it does not include luggage and meals (which are essential for long-distance flights) and the layover in Kuala Lumpur is 15 hours. In the same period, the traditional airline China Eastern Airlines costs 500 more, but the layover is only 1 to 5 hours. , the time cost plus luggage, catering and flight services are worth far more than 500.

③Whether the travel date is a holiday, whether the travel destination is in peak season, etc. are also important factors that affect the cost-effectiveness of the air ticket. For example, during major holidays such as National Day, Spring Festival, and Christmas, the starting price is already very good.

④Explanation of nouns: How to buy cheap tickets

As an "old driver" who has traveled abroad many times, buying cheap air tickets is an essential skill to save money. After roughly deciding on a travel month, pay attention to the promotions of major airlines several months in advance, and search online when you have time. The probability of encountering special discounts is quite high.

(1) International air tickets

I saw special air tickets for Auckland pre-sold on "Qionyou.com". It costs about 2,900 yuan to fly to Auckland from all over the country. Later I found out that this was a new route of Hainan Airlines. Buy it directly on the official website, the air ticket is 980 yuan, including tax, which is about 2,700 yuan. Then search on "Fliggy Travel" and you will find that the website's promotional specials are cheaper than the official website. There are various ticket agencies on it, as well as the HNA flagship store. The cheapest self-operated special price of "Fliggy Travel" is 2,500 yuan. The price on the website changes slightly every day. We chose an agent with a good reputation. The ticket refund, change and rebooking policies are consistent with the official website. The price is 2,615 yuan including tax. At that time, there was an event of 30 yuan off every hour, and the actual payment was 2,585 yuan. "Fliggy Travel" often offers discounts ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan, but these are limited to real-name authenticated individuals who purchase tickets. I can't enjoy the discount on the air tickets I bought for my friends. If you are traveling with more than one person, you may wish to agree on a time and purchase tickets at the same time.

Hainan Airlines’ direct flight from Shenzhen to Auckland is very suitable for travelers in the Pearl River Delta region. It takes off at 16:50 in the afternoon and goes to Shenzhen on the same day. We arrived in Auckland at 8:30 the next morning and got some sleep during the flight. The return trip is at 10:30 in the morning, arriving in Shenzhen at 18:35 in the afternoon, and you can get home that night.

(2) Domestic air tickets

Air tickets direct from domestic to New Zealand’s South Island are more expensive. A friend bought a special ticket from China Southern Airlines for a round-trip trip to Christchurch from Guangzhou at the end of February, which cost more than 5,000 yuan including tax. If you want to save money, you can only choose to fly to Auckland first and then transfer to Christchurch. So I spent the past two months paying attention to New Zealand’s domestic air ticket promotions.

New Zealand domestic airlines usually choose these two: Air New Zealand (/nz/en/home). Generally, there will be special air tickets between Auckland and Christchurch about two months in advance, but it may not necessarily happen on any day.

Air New Zealand has 18 flights every day between Auckland and Christchurch, and the price difference between different flights is several times. The cheapest one is 45 New Zealand dollars, and the most expensive one is more than 200 New Zealand dollars. There are usually one or two flights every day priced at 69 or 79 New Zealand dollars. You can bring one piece of baggage on the plane with a weight of less than 7 kilograms. If you add a piece of checked baggage with a weight of less than 23 kilograms, you will pay an additional $10. If you can change the flight time on the same day, add 20 New Zealand dollars. If you want to change the flight date, add 20 New Zealand dollars. There are also paid meals on board available. Air New Zealand’s official website has a Chinese option, but the RMB price seen on the Chinese website is obviously much more expensive than the New Zealand dollar equivalent, so it is not recommended.

I saw on February 16th that Air New Zealand had cheap air tickets from Auckland to Christchurch in April, priced at NZ$49 one-way. Although it is slightly more expensive than the lowest price I have seen before, which is 45 New Zealand dollars, it is still considered the second best price. So we chose a flight that was suitable for our connecting flight on April 11, plus a 23kg luggage ticket of 10 New Zealand dollars and a credit card payment fee of 4 New Zealand dollars, for a total of 63 New Zealand dollars. At that time, there were also special air tickets from Christchurch to Auckland in late April. The price was the same, but we didn’t buy it for some reason. There were no special prices for that time period the next day. In a week or two, the special tickets will be available for the May period.

Jetstar Airways is a low-cost airline with 6 flights a day between Auckland and Christchurch. The fare is usually tens of New Zealand dollars, and you can also bring one piece of luggage under 7 kilograms on the plane. There are several options for checked luggage based on weight. His credit card payment processing fee is NZ$5.

After missing Air New Zealand’s Christchurch to Auckland promotion in April, I checked these two websites every day for more than half a month. Just when I was about to give up hope on the special air tickets, on March 8, I suddenly saw that Jetstar Airlines had a promotion! I immediately placed an order: April 25, Christchurch to Auckland, one way 29 New Zealand dollars, 15 kg baggage allowance 10 New Zealand dollars, 20 kilograms is 11 New Zealand dollars. I chose 20 kilograms, plus a 5 New Zealand dollar credit card fee, it’s 45 New Zealand dollars!

The return trip is 108 New Zealand dollars, about 522 yuan, plus The international air ticket is only 3107 yuan. It’s cheap!

The flight time between Auckland and Christchurch is 1 and a half hours. Comparing the two airlines, both are medium-sized aircraft with the same seat space and self-service boarding. For both special fares, Air New Zealand provides free mineral water, cookies, fruit candies and other snacks on board. Jetstar offers nothing, and the former is $18 more expensive. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it is more cost-effective to buy Jetstar's special air tickets for both return journeys.

The following experiences are summarized:

1. Both airlines have irregular promotions for domestic flights. Air New Zealand may offer promotions about two months in advance, and Jetstar may offer promotions about two months in advance. About one and a half months in advance. After setting the flight date, start two months in advance and check two websites every day. As long as you are patient, you can basically buy special tickets at the price I mentioned above.

2. The lowest prices for flights departing every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are generally lower than those from Friday to Monday. This pattern also applies to international flights. So our departure and return trips are basically from Tuesday to Thursday.

3. At the bottom of the homepage on the Air New Zealand website (https://grabaseat.co.nz/, note: not the official website), you can set the low-cost flights you are interested in. After selecting your departure and arrival cities, the lowest daily prices for a month or so starting from that day will be displayed. In the middle of the page, there is promotional information on flights between various cities in the next one and a half to two and a half months. You can usually tell if there is a sale on the date you selected by looking at the home page.

4. There is also promotional information on the home page of Jetstar Airlines’ website, but the date is vague. It is recommended to enter the date you want to fly every day to search. It will take a few minutes longer than looking at Air New Zealand.

5. "Fliggy Travel" also has special tickets from Air New Zealand and Jetstar. The prices are slightly cheaper than the official website, but they may not include luggage tickets, and it is difficult to confirm ticket issuance through the official website customer service hotline. Don't dare to buy.