MY NEW BLOG: The Ciudadista: Life in the City

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Cheaper fares from New Zealand to Manila+

I have done a little experiment in finding the best deal for Filipinos or travelers wanting to visit the Philippines from New Zealand.

The approach is simple. Instead of buying your ticket from travel agencies in New Zealand it can be bought from websites of airlines and Australian based online travel agencies. All you need is a credit card and an Australian transit or tourist visa (if required or if you want to stay longer in Sydney).

This is how it could be done (make sure the dates and flight times you choose connect to the NZ to Sydney and Sydney to Manila legs of your journey):

1. Buy an e-ticket from Air New Zealand, Qantas, Pacific Blue or Freedom Air from any New Zealand city to Sydney, Australia. It usually costs from NZD 400* for return tickets from say Auckland-Sydney-Auckland.

2. Buy an e-ticket from an Australian online travel agent like Yahoo! Travel A&NZ or Travel.com.au from Sydney to Manila. As of today, a return ticket from Sydney to Manila is about AUD 831.00* or NZD 884.00** flying Royal Brunei Airlines.

3. Print and present your e-tickets when you depart.

*without taxes and charges
**NZD 1 = AUD 0.9405 exchange rate from the National Bank of New Zealand website as at 31 October 6:31 PM

+Disclaimer: This is only a tip for finding cheaper fares and is not guarenteed to work for anyone or any date. The author is not in anyway connected or receives income from the companies hyperlinked.