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Considering IM New Zealand 2014
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 2012-12-28 11:49 AM |
Expert  1544    Alexandria, MN |  Subject: Considering IM New Zealand 2014A friend of mine had mentioned possibly doing this race, so it got my wife and I to thinking as well about heading over there. Coincidentally the race is during the first weekend of the kids' spring break, so we decided we'd maybe head over for two weeks and the kids would only miss one week of school (1st grader and 5th grader next year, not the end of the world). Then I took a look at some airfares for similar dates this year, and a few other random dates as well, and leaving out of MSP it's running about $1600 each! Does anyone have any insight into this, will airfares to that part of the world generally run that much all the time? I figured maybe $1000 a piece, which would hurt alot but if we went for two weeks it would be worth it, especially for the kids' experience. At that $1600 rate it's just too much and we'll look elsewhere for a destination race/vacation. |
| 2012-12-28 12:06 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
Melon Presser 52116   | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 I'm headed out there in a few weeks for IMNZ. Airfare to NZ is expensive, period. It's a small country with a small population, not THAT much tourism (though the Tolkien book movies have seen a jump) and just not that many people fly in or out. $1600 RT from Duluth-Auckland (I assume?) is pretty good. You might be able to squeeze that down to $1400 if you were willing to book LAX-Auckland and do bid/budget carriers for the Duluth-LAX legs. Not sure if that kind of uncertainty is worth it, though, especially for an Ironman and on the outbound leg. How about Cozumel or Los Cabos? |
| 2012-12-28 1:27 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
Veteran 214 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 might be cheaper to fly to sydney then on to NZ |
| 2012-12-28 1:31 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
| Veteran 325 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 New Zealand is a stunning country but with only 2 weeks you may not do it justice , if you had more time you could hire a camper van and travel down to the South Island , some of the most stunning country in the world queenstown is truly special |
| 2012-12-29 8:22 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
| 114 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 Make sure you watch Lord of the Rings first  |
| 2013-01-01 2:43 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
Member 131 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 I am in NZ now (was born and raised here and am hear for the summer visiting my Mum) I am not sure where you are flying from but $1600 is about as good as it will get especially that time of the year. We paid $2K from Calgary on this trip and we were happy with that price. Remember it is summer here. Contrary to what people think NZ is very busy with tourism and dont let that small dot on the map fool you 2 weeks wouldn't even give you a glimpse. Factor in the jet lag which may or may not hit but usually takes you down about 2 days after you arrive. The drive from Auckland to Taupo is about 3 hours and driving on the left hand side of the road. Taupo is a great spot. The lake would usually be pretty calm. Temps between +15-25 It is a very outdoorsy spot so i am sure the race would be great. |
| 2013-01-01 3:03 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
Elite 4435 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 I've spectator Taupo in 17 hours of cold rain, Cairns hot and humid and Melbourne a chilly calm day. My pick is Taupo scenery is spectacular and great spot for vacation. I enjoyed the event more there. It's a destination for the sport the community is great etc. cairns second but it's hot great atmosphere and Macca a main draw card. Melbourne an urban event probably cheapest to get to. My pick though Taupo and a lake swim you can drink that water!! |
| 2013-01-01 3:57 PM in reply to: #4556611 |
Champion 10019 , Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 My experience with international flights lately is that's the going rate (and maybe even pretty good for a far away place like that). I am planning to pay about $1100 to Europe this spring and paid about $1500 to Taiwan last spring. So yeah, that's about how it goes. The international taxes and "carrier fees" are the problem. |
| 2013-01-02 12:52 AM in reply to: #4551827 |
Veteran 550 austin, Texas | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 It's min $2k from Chicago here to Melbourne and another $400 to NZ. I think that's a great fare. any destination IM is going to be expensive IMO. We paid $1k from ORD to Coz last year and that's the "closest" to us internationally aside from Canada. |
| 2013-01-04 8:57 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
Member 56 | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 Taupo is an amazing place and New Zealand is certainly worth a two week visit. Careful with the NZ IM though....they have had a few issues with weather and changing the event. It was delayed a day and turned into a half last year....couple years ago they cancelled the swim. |
| 2013-01-04 9:05 PM in reply to: #4551827 |
| Payson, AZ | Subject: RE: Considering IM New Zealand 2014 I can tell you that if you go to New Zealand for 2 weeks or less they give you a lot of special attention in immigration. We flew for $1000 in January. We went from LAX to Aus to NZ on Via Australia. Prices have gone up but check that option out. Note, we booked the flight to LAX separate but there were a ton of flights from Tucson to LAX and back so it wasn't a huge concern for us (and they are super cheap), although we really padded the time into LAX to make sure we had breathing room if we needed to do something stupid like drive or somethign Edited by bzgl40 2013-01-04 9:09 PM |
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