Flights to New Zealand - who are the best airlines to use?

[Chrisvh]

Check prices flying from Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt and Munich. Connecting flights cost very little. Flights are much cheaper than UK. Use Google Flights to search for flights and use the price graph to show the cheapest flights in a month. Tuesdays tend to be cheapest. Join the frequent flier programs of airlines you may use. You get preference in sales.
Recently flew Dublin to Cape Town, business class with Qatar ( probably best ). £1400 cheaper than flying from anywhere in the UK.
Best prices currently seem to be from Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm. Cheap to get to and very pleasant for an overnight stay prior to a flight. An hour or two searching the alternatives can be well worthwhile.
Last time we visited NZ we flew a combination of Virgin, Air NZ and Cathay Pacific. Virgin and Air NZ seem to have fantastic cabin crew. Only downside on the whole journey was arriving back at Heathrow. What a dump!

 

[Beltie]

It's not a recomend from me but it's one to avoid. We've just returned from NZ using China Southern. On our previous visits we've used Korean - excellent. Quantas - mediocre and BA. - poor with terrible leg room.
China Southern are probably the cheapest at the moment. But it's the old adage 'you get what you pay for'. 7 or 8 hour layover in Guangzou which is very modern, but is abysmal with nothing to do and not even a bar to while away the time till reboarding. The food on the a/c is some of the worst we've ever had the misfortune to be served. Ps. we like Chinese food, but this is beyond description. Oh and don't expect a decent drink. It doesn't exist on these flights. Air NZ don't fly to UK anymore. And they have very strict baggage weight restrictions on internal flights once you get to NZ. Air Chathams are good, but much more expensive

If Air NZ don't fly to UK anymore, they never told the people who produce their timetables and website!

 

[tonyl]

In 2023, we went with AirNZ, though it was Virgin from LHR to SFO and then back from LAX, as AirNZ codeshares with various airlines from Heathrow but has no flights of its own. We went Premium Economy. Food was better on AirNZ legs and the wine was in a different league. They had several wines poured from the bottle on AirNZ by knowledgeable staff, whereas wine was served from individual tins on Virgin - unbelievable! New Zealand as a whole is proud of its wines and the airline reflects that.

We went all the way through with only short layovers in SFO and LAX. I probably wouldn't do that again but it made sense not to leave the airport when we booked it soon after Covid. The disadvantage of going via the US is that you have to retrieve your luggage for US customs.

A friend who has a house in NZ and travels regularly was caught out by a delay at Heathrow, leading to a missed connection on a codeshared flight and an overnight stop in SFO which meant he had to get official Covid tests done again at his cost. He now flies Malaysian because he says it's the only airline he trusts which does the complete London to Auckland run.

 

[Foo Fighter]

If Air NZ don't fly to UK anymore, they never told the people who produce their timetables and website!

They definitely don't. I guess they are getting around the timetables by using code share partners flights

 

[starquake]

They definitely don't. I guess they are getting around the timetables by using code share partners flights

Think the option they preference is via LA on Virgin or Delta (partners) then onto Air New Zealand metal in LA and onto Auckland.
It's not too dissimilar to when they flew their own planes to Los Angeles, refuelled then continued to Heathrow.

Alternative is via Singapore ... but I'd personally go via LA if wanting to fly Air New Zealand themselves, as Virgin or Delta are usually nicer in the back than Singapore.

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[ShiftZZ]

I have used Turkish Airlines and Eva Air, both business class.

Eva air was really excellent.
Turkish Air business class, not that impressed.

Eva Air staff were brilliant..

 

[The general]

Wonder who thought of the code share way of flying ??? I couldn’t understand on one of my around the world trips . I wanted to route thru uk / rio /auckland /oz /uk . It was cheaper for me to fly to rio do a city break then fly back to uk and go down under flying thru asia. ?? The route rio. to Auckland cost wise was crazy .

 

[starquake]

Wonder who thought of the code share way of flying ??? I couldn’t understand on one of my around the world trips . I wanted to route thru uk / rio /auckland /oz /uk . It was cheaper for me to fly to rio do a city break then fly back to uk and go down under flying thru asia. ?? The route rio. to Auckland cost wise was crazy .

This is common due to taxes. There are less taxes on connecting flights in UK than on ones originating IN UK, and they charge the same taxes if you book on one locator UK->Paris->US for example (which would be charged as same as UK->US as they ignore the taxes). However if you flew Paris -> UK-US you'd be charged the French taxes, which are much lower (assuming you paid in Euros at least, as a strange foible is if you pay in pounds sterling, the airline will still put the fare up). In effect it means you will pay more for London to US than Dublin -> London -> US even if the London -> US leg is on the same plane on the same fare class in both occasions. In Busines that difference is commonly £1000 or more.

It's all nuts, and as per above, cheapest fares are in general Tuesdays (both ways) if you have a minimum of two Saturdays away inbetween. If you EVER fly and do not include a Sat night in general all fares double (ie, Sunday to Friday is usually the most expensive flight on any airline).

Blame the current govenmern for the current (nuts) airline and airport taxation schemes (they tax both!). Noting that some of the EU countrys mentioned have zero or very low token Aviation taxes of 10 euro or so per flight.

 

[The general]

Blame the current govenmern for the current (nuts) airline and airport taxation schemes (they tax both!).

Wont concern me , My days of long haul long long gone , never regretted the money spent ,and enjoyed places i been to , with two pieces 31kg?? Free as well i cleaned out oz /nz /canada of my passion of vinyl records , no internet and no mobile phones

 

[The general]

I’m I’m just

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[Chrisvh]

Air New Zealand have the best safety briefing videos by a country mile. If you like Tolkien they are a must.

 

[KiwiKampers]

My brother flies back and forth between NZ and UK several times a year and he always uses Emirates. No stop-over. Admittedly, he flies Business Class, mainly because they send a limousine to take him to and from home and the airport.
We have used Malaysian Business Class, Singapore and Korean cattle class in the past.
Our lie-flat bed in business class on Malaysian would not recline at all. We had to sit bolt upright all the way. The crew offered us a $40 duty free voucher as compensation. We will not use them again.
Singapore were good and we enjoyed a stop over in Clark's Quay.
Korean had incredibly hard seats, I remember, but they were considerably cheaper than other airlines and included a stop-over in Seoul, except that the hotel was an hour's drive from the airport and in an industrial area. By the time we got to bed it was time to get up again and make our way back to the airport.
Next time I will go either Singapore or Emirates, though I'm not keen on Middle Eastern countries.
It's a shame Air New Zealand don't go to the UK. The airline has gone down hill in recent years. I blame Christopher Luxon, the former CEO, and now our Prime Minister. I hope he doesn't send the country into decline too!

 

[TwistNShout]

We flew with singapore Airways last year, specifically because we wanted to revisit singapore. Premium economy out, business class back. Really can't fault them, though my wife didn't really sleep - that is more that she struggles to sleep anywhere in a new bed. We will use them for our next trip as well.

My bil always tends to fly Emirates as he likes the service, he doesn't stay anywhere just a few hours stopover between flights. He only flies business or first now.

Personally I wouldn't fly economy on a long haul flight.

 

[TwistNShout]

Air New Zealand have the best safety briefing videos by a country mile. If you like Tolkien they are a must.

We've done internal NZ flights, including the Cook Islands, loved the service and flight safety briefings.

 

[TwistNShout]

For a “once in a lifetime “trip like this (well not for bobnick !) I would recommend using a company like Trailfinders to book everything. Should anything go wrong, there is one invoice to claim for on insurance and there is a very good helpline for queries and problems. They can suggest the best deals. We had everything on the one booking, international flights, internal NZ flight, hotels on stopover and on first / last night, MH hire and inter island ferry.

I agree in general, however when a cyclone hit they were no good. We were scheduled to change hotel and drive across the Northlands on the day that the cyclone was scheduled to hit. I had to chase them, I contacted the hotel we were booked with and (on their advice) found us somewhere else. Trailfinders had to be chased and told what to do.

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[Tantalus]

We are planning a trip to New Zealand early next year and are currently researching flights.

We are contemplating paying to upgrade to Premium Economy, to make the flight more comfortable.

Who have you flown with recently & been happy with and are there any airlines to avoid?

We've heard good reports about Emirates as an airline and also their Premium Economy but who else do you use, how does their Premium Economy compare & is it worth the extra cost?

Many thanks

We have been very happy with Cathay Pacific, Premium Economy, for years.
2 years ago, because of the China situation, we booked BA. It was awful. We find the connection times great on Cathay. I'd love to buy Air New Zealand but their routes and times don't suit us.