Jetstar has just announced sale fares to Christchurch (return) during the ski season, which are even better than this deal 6 weeks ago. If I'm not wrong, these are the lowest return fares ex Melbourne ever. Plenty of seats available at time of posting. Happy travels :)
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Hire a car and drive down from Christchurch to Queenstown. It's a one day drive. There are some rental companies with really good rates :)
The cost, time and hassle of driving from Christchurch to Queenstown would eliminate the saving on the flights!
Depends how you value your time.
When I went in July last year we paid $400 ret to Christchurch and it cost about $50 each for a night's stay and the rental down to Queenstown.
A direct flight to Queenstown would have been $800 return
So maybe it's too much hassle for you, or not worth wasting a day on, but for me and my mates it was perfect.
Exactly we're flying straight into queenstown to stay for two weeks again. it's much better staying right there.
They have $30 domestic flights, which could make for a cheap connect to another city.
https://www.choicecheapies.co.nz/node/1368
Thanks for the replies!
I had a similar experience in August last year, except I flew from Melb to Queenstown and then left from Christchurch. I paid a total of $280. Best ski trip ever, and a beautiful drive from Queenstown to Christchurch!
If you are on a tight schedule I agree. However I did this 2 years ago and the drive (in a $1/day juicy relocation car). Turned out the be a major highlight of the trip, it is a very beautiful area.
Did a similar thing, flew in to Christchurch, road-tripped it to Queenstown. Mt Hutt isn't too far away from Christchurch if you want to stop along the way for a ski. There are also plenty of small ski fields you can visit on the way down to Queenstown too. The drive was amazing, would've missed out on so much if we just flew in and out of Queenstown ..each to their own though
Bags are $25-$60 per person per flight if you want more than a carry on. BTW… can drive easily to Tekapo and use a couple of club fields in the area. A lot less crowded than near the "big" cities.
Mount hutt. Goes alright
Mount Shut?
mount hutt is the only real option close to christchurch - it's nickname is mount shut due to the amount of times it has to close due to high winds, so be warned - dont expect 100% ski time if you head there.
it's not a bad resort when it's fully open and has good conditions, but i'd make sure you have a plan B :D
the drive to queenstown as others are suggesting is great, it's probably one of the best roadtrips i've ever done in my life and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to visit that part of the world, it's just simply some of the most beautiful countryside in the world and well worth the extra ~2 days (return) of transit time if you've got plenty of time to spare.
Thanks for the reply - Sounds like a good idea!
Completely agree with the roadtrip comment, it's one of the best I've done as well, genuinely stunning
12am to 4am flights to NZ only it seems. A little rough.. any other times? I couldnt find any.
Exactly what I'm seeing from Melb too… a little retarded! however the way back they aren't bad times (departing at 8pm odd)
Mt. Hutt & Porters are only 1 hour drive from the airport. Then there are about 5 small club resorts within 1-2 hours drive from the airport….take your pick.
I plan on boarding temple basin http://www.templebasin.co.nz/ which is about 2 hours from the airport.
camping out in the snow up on the mountain. If you can get a group of 4 together a Temple Basin seasons pass is only $135 pp….so you could do a weeks sking ex Melb for $335 (not including food/car hire)
Seems like jetstar sales to everywhere, http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/special-offers#/?from=&to=&date…
Yep - there's certain dates for Queenstown which are on sale!
I found return for ~$430 return ex. Melbourne ($488 inc 20kg luggage) in September. What are my chances of finding a better deal leading up to September?
What are my chances of finding a better deal leading up to September?
Easy. See here.
or PM IWantThatFlight, he may be able to find you a better deal… such as this.
I've never seen IWantthatFlight and TA in the same room at the same time
Thanks, TA. Booked a quick weekend away from 31/10 to 2/11 - Melbourne Cup weekend!
Anyone got any recommendations of close ski resorts near Christchurch?