Getting There

New Zealand is nearly 12000 miles from most of the UK – so obviously flying is the only option. Theres no plane that can go that far though, so you have the option of having a stopover in places like Bangkok or Hong Kong, or simply waiting in an airport for a couple of hours and getting a second plane the rest of the way.

Flight Times

Flights from London to AUckland take around 24 hours – usually via Bangkok or Hong Kong. Expact to be in the air for 10 – 12 hours each time and be sat around in the airport for a while at the change over. Also this method produces the maximum amount of jet lag!

Stopovers

A popular option (and the standard on the BUNAC flights) is to take a couple of days to see a city like Hong Kong. This means you will have two 12 hour flights and a couple of days to recover in between, plus you get to see somewhere else – Hong Kong and Bangkok are not places that you would usually take a weekend break to!

Flight Costs

These are a random sample of the cheaper flights that I could find for Mid January 2006:

Heathrow to Auckland mid week – £480 to £680

£500 should get you there if you book in advance.

BUNAC offer a group flight for £899, which includes 2 nights in Hong Kong, a meal, some tours etc – but this is only open to people who have paid the £450 for the support program.