V-Flyer

I am planing a trip to visit family in New Zealand. There will be 4 of us travelling 2 adults 2 children aged approx 4 and 8 at time of travel.

I should have 180K miles x 2, plus 2 VCC companion tickets when I book.

I see the three main options as VA via Hong Kong and Sydney, SQ via Singapore and NZ via LA.
There would appear to be pros and cons to each route in terms of flight timings, Suite as opposed to Space Bed etc.
I am tempted by VA partly because I think it will be the easiest to book with 3 reward and 1 J ticket. Plus I would like to see HK and Sydney.

However SQ would be more direct and potentially cheaper as we could fly direct from Manchester. How easy it is to book reward flights with a partner airline and what do you predict availabilty will be like if I book at the 11th month window? Can I book cash tickets through FC as well as reward and book them all at the same time to ensure getting all the seats on the same flight?

Air New Zealand has its appeal because of the flight times, but apart from special offers the price does seem to be the most expensive.

Any advice and suggestions gratefully received.
David

Hi David, I have been trying to book a similar OZ/NZ trip as yourself and I think you need to be aware of a few of the following.

I should have 180K miles x 2, plus 2 VCC companion tickets when I book.

You cannot use 2x reward flights (G) with VCC companion tickets, you will have to buy 2x J tickets and use the VCC CT with them

I am tempted by VA partly because I think it will be the easiest to book with 3 reward and 1 J ticket.

Not enough points and see above.

When I spoke to FC 2 weeks ago I was told that revenue only had allocated 1 G seat on each flight to Sydney during Jan/Feb 07

You can check availability of SIA reward flights on http://www.expertflyer.com I doubt if they have more than 2 reward seats in Raffles on the same flight(there is only 1 reward seat in First on each flt).
Your best bet is to book 2xZ fares and try and get 2xG seats released.

Best of luck.

Mark

Thanks Mark.

I wondered if I was being overly optimistic about reward availability.

I figured that I had enough miles for 2 G seats, and then if I bought a J ticket the two companion tickets would apply for each leg. (My understanding from other posts was that a Gold companion ticket was good all the way but I would need two VCC).

2 Z and 2 G would work, but with a stop over in Hong Kong each way it works out £1700 more than a J with a companion.

Guess I need to save up a bit more. Thanks for your advice.
David

A note about NZ via LAX. If you want to break your journey in LA fine. If you want to fly straight to Auckland it is a real pain. All passengers have to get off the plane, clear immigration (an issue if you need US visas), pick up your bags, clear customs and recheck your bags in.

Since 9/11, the concept of transiting through any US airport has gone. You land in the US, deplane, re-check in and leave the US.

NZ are now looking at flying via HKG as a result of passenger difficulties and complaints.

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A note on SQ space beds. SQ space beds while flat are not horizontally flat. Only SQ space suites in F are horizontally flat. VS suties are horizontally flat. Also are VS suites have direct aisle access. SQ is 2-2 on the upper deck and 2-3-2 on the main deck.

Food on SQ beats VS hands down and you can pre-order meals via Book The Cook nad J and F. Kids have special Yummy Meals.

When are you going Dave?

NZ start a 2nd daily LHR-HKG-AKL on October 28th. They will still operate NZ1/2 via LAX.

Where do you want to fly into? CHC or AKL?

A number of options:

MAN-SIN-AKL/CHC on SQ/NZ or SQ

MAN-LHR-HKG-AKL on NZ

MAN-LHR-HKG-SYD-AKL/CHC/WLG on VS/NZ

MAN-LHR-LAX-AKL on NZ

Number of points:

-2 x weekly LAX-CHC starts OCt 28th
- daily LHR-HKG-AKL starts Oct 28th
- Transfer time between VS arriving in SYD and NZ departing to AKL/WLG/CHC is around 5 hours.

For NZ fares do try http://www.airnz.co.nz rather than the UK site- you can purchase tickets using a UK credit card.

Wow-even more choice.
So far I've found out that SQ have up to 2 J reward seats on any one flight to Australia or New Zealand (and only 150K miles compared with 180K for VS or NZ).
Thanks for the heads up on the website.