May 28, 2004 -- Americans seem to really be flocking to trips Down Under. Air New Zealand became the latest airline to add new flights with their San Francisco-Auckland nonstop, starting on June 30 with a currently unbeatable $748 roundtrip fare for travel this fall.
The $748 fare is good for flights from August 1 to Sept. 29; fares are $848 for flights in October and November. (That's all plus tax.)
Those rates compare very favorably to Qantas' current sale, where fares for those dates start at $1,030. Sure, it's not the $498 sale we saw early this May. But the $748 fare is still very good, and it's in line with what we'd expect from fare sales right now.
Air New Zealand is also undercutting Qantas with fares from Los Angeles to Auckland. Their rate is $865 from now through June 14 and from July 19 to September 30. For trips between June 15 and July 18, you pay $965. That compares to $898-$1,098 fares from Qantas.
Air New Zealand doesn't offer add-ons with these fares, so you're on your own to get from your US city to San Francisco and from Auckland to your final destination.
With a slew of US airlines slugging it out to offer low fares right now, finding a ticket to LA for $200 or so shouldn't be too difficult. Just remember to fly into LAX, not Long Beach, if you don't intend to spend a full day or more in LA before connecting.
On the New Zealand side, compare Air NZ's domestic fares to low-fare airline Origin Pacific (www.originpacific.co.nz). With 13 destinations across New Zealand, they'll take you from Auckland to Blenheim for NZ$224 ($140.20) roundtrip, to Christchurch for NZ$238 ($148.97) roundtrip and to Invercargill at the very southernmost tip of the South Island for NZ$330 ($207.74).
You must buy by May 31 to get Air New Zealand's fares. Buy online at www.airnz.com.