New Zealand fare deals

BANGKOK, 17 August 2012: New Zealand is usually just a dream destination for Thais due to  expensive fares, but Malaysia Airlines and THAI are both selling discounted fares to boost travel this September.

Malaysia Airlines pegs its fare bargain at Bt32,930 and THAI at Bt32,045.

Between Thailand and New Zealand, there are only two airlines operating nonstop services; Thai Airways International, five times a week to Auckland on the North Island and Emirates, daily to Christchurch on the South Island.

THAI sells the lowest fares under  its 52nd Anniversary online promotion good for departure ex-Bangkok until 30 September at Bt32,045, economy class and Bt86,675, business class. For departures after that the fares start from Bt36,550 and Bt112,645 respectively.

Emirates sells Christchurch fares from Bt37,400 for an economy seat and Bt138,160 for a business seat.

Although it requires a change of aircraft in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines offers a thrice-weekly service to Auckland which has almost seamless connections of one and a half hours for both sectors.

The lowest fare is now Bt32,930 for bookings only until 22 August for travel ex-Bangkok by 30 September. After that, the fares move up to around Bt38,000. Its business class fare is Bt127,970.

Qantas serves Wellington and Queenstown in addition to Auckland and Christchurch. The carrier has a sales campaign running until 31 August, while departures ex-Bangkok are open until 30 November. The downside is the long connecting times in Sydney that make the overall journey twice as long as it should be.

One exception could be the Auckland promotional fare quoted at Bt33,365 with two hours downtime in Sydney on the outbound sector and four hours inbound.The business class fare to New Zealand’s capital is Bt94,475.

The rest are not so appealing. Christchurch with nine hours downtime on the outbound journey and six hours on inbound sells at Bt33,125 while Wellington with about six hours downtime costs Bt33,925 and Queenstown at about four hours downtime, costs Bt33,695.

The business class fare to Wellington is  Bt94,475 and Bt176,200 to Christchurch.

If travelling as a couple, Singapore Airlines has a good connection. It is selling 2toGo fare at Bt34,345 per person, also until end of August for Christchurch and for departure by 15 December. Meanwhile Auckland’s 2ToGo fare, Bt34,585 each, is running until 30 September for travel until 31 March next year. Individual fares start from Bt37,585 and Bt37,345 to Christchurch.

Business class to Auckland costs Bt141,930 and Bt141,690 to Christchurch

Operating daily, the connecting  time in Singapore is around two to three hours for Auckland and only 50 minutes for Christchurch.

Auckland fares on Cathay Pacific Airways via  Hong Kong are relatively high at Bt38,105 in economy class. Although passengers have to fly two hours north before heading south again, the downtime of just one hour could make up time when compared with other one-stop services and it offers a daily service. The business class fare is very expensive at Bt147,105.

The low-cost choice, Jetstar flying four times a week is not very cheap outside of its discount campaigns. The fares could be from Bt29,000, but this is without meals  and only 10 kg of  carry-on luggage. Based on this fare, when adding up extra for checked baggage and meals, it would increase to Bt36,345. Downtime in Singapore is 2.5 hours, Auckland –bound and 1.5 hour, Bangkok-bound.

All fares are inclusive of taxes and surcharges and are subject to availability and to currency fluctuations.