I'm not usually up and working at 5 AM, and
you are correct in guessing that it would take something special to get
me out of bed at this hour.
And – Wow! Here indeed is something
very special, and also very time sensitive. A $399 round-trip
airfare from Los Angeles or San Francisco to Auckland New Zealand (add
about another $85 for taxes and fees).
In the 25 years I have lived in the US and
been traveling regularly back to my home country of New Zealand, I have
never seen an airfare this low.
Air New Zealand is offering this fare, but
only for a very limited time. You must book your travel no later
than 11.59 PM Pacific time on Friday 14 May. Assuming that space
remains (and you can be certain that the seats will be snapped up very
quickly indeed), you can fly to New Zealand between 21 May – 30 May,
with return travel back to the US any time between 28 May and 6 June.
Air New Zealand is a generally high quality
airline offering good service and reasonably comfortable coach class
seats for the 12 ½ hour flight. BUT BUT BUT (update to this blog post) talking about the long flight,
bad news about the frequent flier miles – with a fare this low, Air NZ decided not to award you the 13,000 miles credit you would otherwise get. That's a bit of a downer – with miles generally considered to be worth 2c each, that is $260 worth of miles not included. So if the miles would have value to you, this fare is equivalent to a $660 regular fare, and that's only $17 less than you can buy a fare on Qantas for.
It is true that late May and early June is
not the finest time of year to be in New Zealand. It is probably
too early for skiing, but definitely too late for sunning yourself on
the beach (remember the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere
so it is going into their winter). But you're not likely to be
troubled by snow or other weather extremes, and much of the beauty of
New Zealand is weather independent. So, if you can take advantage
of this short notice amazing deal, by all means head down under.
There is a multipage section on the website
all about traveling to New Zealand. That might help you in
your planning.
To book this incredible fare, visit
www.airnewzealand.com/hot-deal-to-new-zealand. And, seriously,
do hurry. I've seen how quickly great value fares to Australia and
New Zealand sell out before. So I am sending this message out at
the exact minute (5 AM Pacific time) that the fare is being officially
announced and if you are quick, you should be able to find the
availability on your choice of dates.
