Australasia

These are some of the cheapest flights to NZ we've found...

Frankfurt

Germany

Auckland

New Zealand

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Jakarta

Indonesia

Paris

France

Auckland & Jakarta 🌿 in €510s-€670s rtn

Atlanta

United States

Portland

Seattle

Las Vegas

Dallas

Orlando

Austin

Boston

Tampa

Baltimore

New York

Salt Lake City

New Zealand 🥝 in $710s-$810s RT

Not sure where to go for your next holiday? Just take our quiz!

Dublin

Ireland

Brisbane

Australia

Auckland and Brisbane 🌊 in €810s-€860s rtn

This'll wake you up from your post-Xmas haze...

Luxembourg

Auckland, New Zealand 🌳 in €550s-€750s rtn

Glasgow

Scotland

Melbourne

Newcastle

England

London Gatwick

Edinburgh

Manchester

Bangkok

Thailand

Aberdeen

Inverness

Belfast City

Northern Ireland

Hong Kong

Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and more 🌏 in £310s-£670s rtn

London Heathrow

Sydney

Adelaide

Darwin

Perth

Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand ✨ in £500s-£870s rtn

We thought we&#39;d never be able to afford to go and visit my son in New Zealand but thanks to JFC we got the above deal, including baggage, meals and selected seats and what fantastic flights on comfy Dreamliner planes. Thought there would be &quot; some catch&quot; to it, being so cheap, but no catches and a DREAM come true. Thanks JFC!

Postcard from Pam and Rod

We wanted to go to New Zealand for our honeymoon but realised it was going to be far too much money to go any time soon. When we noticed the email come through in January, we booked immediately and worried about hotels later. We spend 2 weeks out there exploring caves, hobbit holes and seeing dolphins.

Postcard from Jamie

I was able to accomplish a couple things off of my bucket list because of this! I swung over to Australia and even went bungee jumping! One of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Would go again in a heartbeat if a deal came by again! I appreciate you so so much!! 

Postcard from Ryan

It was a great deal and made our NZ dream to reality. We had been checking the ticket prices for a while but they were all out of our budget when suddenly the JFC deal came up!

Postcard from May

For many years I&#39;ve been trying to go to New Zealand. The flights have always been so expensive and I have never found the right time. I got an email from JFC with flights so so cheap that i couldnt resist. So I booked my flights and surprised my cousin in New Zealand. It&#39;s safe to say she was shocked to see me. I had an amazing time and visited some beautiful places including Rotorua, Mclaren falls, and Mount Maunganui. Thank you for making my dream come true. 
xx

Postcard from Zoe

Booked Delta Air to Australia back in December

China

Greece

Hey there, Travellers!
As usual, I've spent much of my free time this week planning for future trips. Quelle surprise!
Next week, my husband Dave and I will be jetting off to Germany for a couple of days. Those of you in the UK and Ireland may have heard of a Wowcher Mystery Holiday, where you pay &pound;99pp and the destination is up to the luck of the draw (kind of). I'd never done one before, so we reckoned it was about time.
Unfortunately, our luck didn't bag us 2 weeks in Bali, rather 2 nights in D&uuml;sseldorf. But honestly, I'm still pretty excited! Despite living in Germany for years, I've never been to the city before &mdash; only the airport&nbsp;&mdash; so it's all going to be new.
If you've got any D&uuml;sseldorf tips for me, or if you've ever taken a mystery trip and have a tale to tell, <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-202-fear-of-flying-beijing#comments">let me know in the comments</a> or by hitting&nbsp;'Reply'.
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

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How a One-Day Course Cured My Fear of Flying

Flight Finder Akasha finds phenomenal flights faster than you can decide where you want to take a trip to next. A pro at finding the best of the best fares, she's also a master at sharing must-visit spots for when you land.

By Akasha

I never in a million years thought I&rsquo;d be sitting in a window seat, on &ldquo;a flight to nowhere,&rdquo; listening to a pilot calmly instruct us to squeeze our butts over the intercom. Yet, here I was, circling Heathrow on a faux-flight, surrounded by a cabin of strangers clenching in an awkward synchrony&hellip;
For the 1 in 6 of us who fear flying, the real question isn&rsquo;t whether you prefer take-off or landing, but: &ldquo;how will I survive this?&rdquo; and apparently survival starts with your glutes.
The fear of flying starts the moment you book &mdash; the creeping dread as you shuffle through security, the way your body locks at that first &lsquo;bing bong&rsquo; of the seatbelt sign. I know. I used to resign myself to meeting a tumbling death in the first ten seconds of turbulence.&nbsp;
So when British Airways&rsquo; Flying with Confidence course crossed my desk at work, I volunteered to be a personal guinea pig for a&nbsp;&ldquo;life changing&rdquo; experience aimed at curing your fear of flying.
Disclaimer:&nbsp;British Airways did not pay me, sponsor this review or bribe me with tiny pretzels and peanuts. I paid full price for this course, and all opinions and occasional panic are 100% mine.

<h2 dir="ltr">Flight School: Turbulence, Sounds, and Control</h2>
Mainly held in Heathrow and Gatwick, the course is piloted by, well, pilots (and psychologists, too). There are a few flavours to choose from&mdash;Primary, Premium, Premium Plus, or Private&mdash;depending on your budget and nerves. I signed up for the primary course, which meant a day of technical and psychological sessions with about 100 fellow nervous flyers. Perks? Unlimited tea, coffee, snacks, and lunch.
The day is broken into 3 parts, and honestly, it felt a little like flight school lite.
The morning kicked off with some breathing exercises, which would be the foundation for controlling anxiety throughout the day.&nbsp;
The technique is called &ldquo;Breathe &amp; Squeeze,&rdquo; basically a combo of deep breathing and contracting your glutes, aiming to slow your heart rate and muscle tension.
Next, pilots Nigel and Niven gave a presentation that broke down all aspects of aviation. From ailerons and roll, to rudder and yaw, lift and drag. Personally, I found this the most helpful part of the course. I&rsquo;m usually not one to grasp concepts to do with physics &mdash; ask anyone who sat near me in school &mdash; but somehow Nigel and Niven made it click.&nbsp;

They managed to make a deep dive into aerodynamics entertaining. It was seriously in-depth, and I found myself appreciating just how much training, knowledge, and precision go into every single flight &mdash; and wondering why I ever thought my fear knew better.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What if the engine falls off?&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;What if passengers bring extra baggage on board and it affects the weight of the plane?&rdquo;
&nbsp;&ldquo;How can there be a safe landing if you&rsquo;re flying across the Atlantic?&rdquo; 
&ldquo;What if we get struck by lightning?&rdquo; 
&ldquo;What if there&rsquo;s something wrong with the left phalange?&rdquo; Ok, I &mdash; or should I say Phoebe from Friends &mdash; made that one up, but if there was a left phalange, we&rsquo;d worry about it.
We had all of our questions answered and more, and I even walked away with some new flight-nerd facts with which to impress my colleagues.&nbsp;
Did you know that it&rsquo;s the wing that enables the aircraft to fly, not the engine? Now you do.&nbsp;
Did you know that the wings undergo an extreme stress test? They do, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x25xeSqNYF8">look</a>!
How many wings does an aircraft have? 2? 4? Wrong. It has one.&nbsp;
Do you know how much weight the paint on an airplane adds? Two tonnes.&nbsp;
Most importantly, though, we gained a greater understanding of the numerous noises inside and outside the cabin (&ldquo;Noise is good&rdquo; was another mantra throughout the day), as well as the phantom threat haunting the skies. It strikes precisely when you&rsquo;ve let your guard down and placed your drink on your lap: Turbulence.&nbsp;

Enter the third chant of the day, &ldquo;Turbulence is uncomfortable, not dangerous&rdquo;&nbsp;
They asked who among us has ever experienced severe turbulence. My hand smugly shot up along with a few others, as if to vindicate every intrusive table-gripping thought we&rsquo;ve ever endured.&nbsp;
Trick question. According to the pilots, they&rsquo;ve never encountered severe turbulence in all their years in the sky, just garden-variety bumps that feel terrifying to us mere mortals because we don&rsquo;t understand what&rsquo;s happening. Which, frankly, felt like a personal attack.&nbsp;
Imagine the plane is like a spoon in jelly, they told us. The jelly is the air&mdash;usually smooth until something stirs it. Then it wobbles. The spoon jiggles, but it won&rsquo;t break. Planes work the same way. Air, they reminded us, has fluid properties.&nbsp;
Just because you can&rsquo;t see it, doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s not there, and like boats resting on a sea of water, planes rest on a sea of air. Sometimes, like water, the air gets choppy. It feels dramatic, sure, but really it&rsquo;s just physics being physics. And dangerous? Not even close.&nbsp; 
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/how-the-flying-with-confidence-course-finally-beat-my-fear-of-flying">Keep reading&hellip;</a>

Travel Tricks

Win A Glamorous Night Out In London

It's said there are three great quests in life:&nbsp;1)&nbsp;To find love.&nbsp;2)&nbsp;To find meaning.&nbsp;3)&nbsp;And to win an insane competition for&nbsp;the ultimate luxury night out for four people&nbsp;involving wine, cocktails, and unique luxury dining experiences.&nbsp;
Which, our friends over at London's finest city guide&nbsp;<a href="https://thenudge.com/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thenudge.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1756982549610000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2x3wyahJgW_cUf8P1PJEUh" rel="noopener">The Nudge</a>. can help with.&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s involved? Well, first you and three (incredibly grateful) buddies will start with cocktails at Mexican-Japanese&nbsp;Los Mochis, City, where you&rsquo;ll have&nbsp;&pound;100 to spend on&nbsp;stunning drinks&nbsp;either in their world-class Agaveria and lounge, or on their panoramic rooftop terrace should the weather see fit.
Then, things move onto&nbsp;<a href="https://thenudge.com/london-restaurants/luna/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thenudge.com/london-restaurants/luna/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1756982549610000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3lvjEBZSFm_iEUDx-BSP0f" rel="noopener">LUNA</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp;an intimate omakase restaurant&nbsp;perched on the 9th floor, overlooking the city.&nbsp;With only 12 seats in the whole restaurant, your group will be taking up a full third of the jewel-box space. And what follows will be a dozen courses from a theatrical, boundary-pushing menu that fuses storytelling with spectacular food. Expect welcome cocktails, some incredible food, wine pairings, and no bill at the end.
To enter, you don't need to guess how many jellybeans there are in a jar, or solve a riddle, or do a backflip - just click below&hellip;

In Partnership with The Nudge

From Art to Auckland, and Back to the Aegean

The Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

By Katy

In this week&rsquo;s Reader&rsquo;s Corner, I&rsquo;m bringing you a mash-up of topics that have landed in my inbox this week.&nbsp;
First up, it&rsquo;s Beijing. Last week, Flight Finder Kristi asked for your Beijing tips for her upcoming trip, and one of them in particular caught my attention. Aside from the must-see Forbidden City and early-morning panda visits, The Detour reader Fiona recommends exploring the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.babagoeschina.com/beijing-798-art-district/">798 Art District</a>.
I looked it up and all I can say is, wow! Factories and warehouses repurposed as galleries, alleyways splashed with street art, and sleek hipster caf&eacute;s &mdash; you&rsquo;d be forgiven for thinking this was Berlin as opposed to Beijing. We love hearing about the spots that don&rsquo;t usually make it into the tourist brochures, so please keep the recommendations coming.&nbsp;
Next up, it&rsquo;s the turn of the Chinese airlines&hellip;

&ldquo;Greetings!
I am currently in Ireland, but am looking for a flight from London to Auckland, NZ. I can get a good price with China Southern, or with Air China. How would you rate these airlines? I would appreciate an honest opinion.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Thanks so much&rdquo; - Dianne

Hi Dianne, this is a great question. The lowest fares we see to Auckland from the UK generally do involve Chinese Airlines, but most of us on this side of the world aren&rsquo;t very familiar with them.
Our resident Aussie, Larissa, flew home to Sydney with China Southern last year, and rated the airline a rather resounding, &ldquo;fine.&rdquo; There were no bells or whistles, lots of noodles, and a rather lengthy stopover in Guangzhou, but ultimately no major issues either. You can find her&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/jfc-honest-airline-reviews-china-southern">full breakdown of the experience here</a>.
A couple of other Jack&rsquo;s team members have flown China Eastern in recent years and gave pretty similar reviews, but unfortunately we&rsquo;re yet to board Air China. <a href="https://youtu.be/561YLjn7W2M?si=PNBs1lyHdGwnXKdg&amp;t=506">This recent review</a> on YouTube makes it look pretty decent, especially considering the low fares.
I hope that gives you some confidence to go ahead and book &mdash; I sure would!
And finally, we'll wrap up with a return to the Aegean...

&ldquo;Hello, my husband and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2026 and so are friends of ours.&nbsp; We want to see the Greek Islands and are open to cruising, ferries, whatever is the best means of transport.&nbsp; My husband is getting a knee replacement sometime this fall and we're hoping he'll be more mobile. Any recommendations?&rdquo;

Hi reader &mdash; if I&rsquo;m not mistaken, you might have asked a similar question a couple of months back. In case you missed it, Flight Finder Fran put together her <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-182-disastrous-flight-delays#:~:text=Sparkling%20Seas%20for%20a%20Silver%20Anniversary">top suggestions for your gorgeous Greek getaway</a>. We hope you have a wonderful time (and send us some pics when you get back)!

Reader's Corner

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 css-1kubl8f css-1kubl8f">Here's your <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/baby-puffin-throwing-wildlife-rehabilitation">annual dose of Icelandic&nbsp;"awwww!"</a> </li>
<li class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 css-1kubl8f css-1kubl8f">Sometimes, the last thing you want to do after a long trip is talk to a human at a hotel reception. Are <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/inside-japan-henn-na-robot-hotel/">Japan's robot hotels</a> the solution? </li>
<li class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 css-1kubl8f css-1kubl8f">As destinations go, "hell" isn't commonly considered one of the good ones. But just in case it does take your fancy, <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/geography/wanderlust/entrances-to-hell">these 10 entrances to the underworld</a>&nbsp;are worth checking out. </li>
<li class="MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 css-1kubl8f css-1kubl8f">And finally, after 19 years and a lot of controversy, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kazakhstan-borat-ad-tourism-very-nice/">Kazakhstan has decided that "Very nice"</a> might not actually be so bad.</li>
</ul>

Travel News

Curing Your Fear of Flying & Discovering Artsy Beijing

&ldquo;You realize Wellington is, like, 6 hours away, right?&rdquo;
My roommate at the Rotorua hostel seemed skeptical about my upcoming plans. He had just spent the last five minutes explaining his ambitious scheme to defraud Chase Bank out of 3 million dollars (it involved real estate loopholes), but now he was looking at me like I was the crazy one.
The rest of my New Zealand itinerary was met with similar misgivings. It takes a lot of driving to cover two islands in two weeks, and some people think of six hours in the car as a wasted day. But such is the life of a solo road tripper. &ldquo;Hero&rdquo; might be too strong a word to describe those of us who prefer open roads to closed itineraries, but then again, it might not be.
I&rsquo;ve always enjoyed traveling unfettered, A/C in my hair and the sun at my back, so here are a few tips I&rsquo;ve picked up to help you survive your own solo drives.

<h3>Know Your Car, Love Your Car</h3>
Don Quixote had Rocinante. The Lone Ranger had Silver. Me? I had a rented Suzuki Swift. Pure white, which is a solid enough color for a rental. White paint reflects light, keeping the interior a little cooler in the summer. A black car, on the other hand, will bake you alive on an open highway.
Another benefit of a white paint job: The reflected light helps to hide faint scratches. I wouldn&rsquo;t rely on it, though. If you&rsquo;re sticking to your home country, your car insurance will almost certainly cover you, no matter what you&rsquo;re driving. But international travelers should spring for the coverage offered by the rental company.
Seriously, get the liability coverage. It might feel like a scam, but nothing ruins a road trip like a five-digit repair bill. That $150 insurance fee doesn't seem so bad comparatively.
A flat tire can also be a major mood killer, so make sure you&rsquo;ve got roadside assistance lined up. You can usually get that service as an add-on when you&rsquo;re renting the vehicle, but a motor club membership (like <a href="https://www.aaa.com/stop/">AAA</a> in the US) is almost always the best investment. They have partner organizations all over the globe, plus you can sometimes get a discount on the car rental if you show your member card.
When you pick up the car, you&rsquo;ll be tempted to take off as soon as possible. You&rsquo;re excited to be somewhere new, you&rsquo;re feeling a bit cooped up after the plane ride, and the open road is calling your name. I also had a time limit after landing in New Zealand&mdash;I had to get from Auckland to Pōkeno before the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1596412-d10455544-Reviews-Pokeno_Takeaways-Pokeno_North_Island.html">famous ice cream shop</a> closed for the evening.

But, wherever you&rsquo;re rushing off to, you can still spare 5-10 minutes to check out your new rental. Take pictures (or, even better, a video) of the exterior from every angle so they can&rsquo;t charge you for pre-existing scratches, fiddle with the mirrors, and adjust the seat until your legs can stretch comfortably to the pedals. That last one is especially important if, like me, you&rsquo;re over 30 and have to treat your body with kindness. Spending 3+ hours crammed into a poorly adjusted driver&rsquo;s seat will do awful things to your knees and ankles, trust me.
If you&rsquo;re in your early 20s and still feel invincible, at least mess with the headrest before you drive away. You might have ligaments of twisted steel, but neck pain comes for us all.
Keep in mind that, as a solo road tripper, your car is your castle. Accommodations come and go along your route, but the vehicle is a constant. Think of it as your hotel room on wheels and set it up accordingly!
I had my backpack on the floor of the front passenger seat, upright and unzipped so I could reach into it without taking my eyes off the road. I kept one water bottle in the center console cupholder, one in the door cupholder, and one on the passenger seat with my car snacks (vital for mid-drive munchies). In the back seat, a plastic bag for trash, to be emptied surreptitiously at unlocked dumpsters. My suitcase lived in the trunk with my jacket and hiking boots, hidden away from prying eyes and schlepped into a new hostel room every night.
Overkill? Maybe. But that little white hatchback was my transportation, dining room, and base of operations all in one, and keeping it in order made the whole trip smoother. And when I spotted a small wooden sign reading &ldquo;<a href="https://www.alltrails.com/trail/new-zealand/southland/koropuku-falls-track">RAINFOREST TRAIL</a>&rdquo; by the side of the road, I knew exactly where to find my boots.

<h3>Be Your Own Best Friend</h3>
One fun thing to do on a road trip is call a friend and make them listen to your chattering over speakerphone. It&rsquo;s a pretty great way to kill a bit of time and get some much-needed social interaction. But, unless you have some very patient friends and a robust cell network, you&rsquo;ll mostly be spending time on your own.
In the car. With nothing to do.
On a long solo drive, solitude can be your worst enemy. Well, no, your worst enemy is an overzealous gas station attendant who won&rsquo;t let you use the bathroom unless you buy something. But solitude is up there. Luckily, the 21st century has plenty of ways to cure boredom.
First things first: music. Being alone is one thing, but being alone in complete silence can be soul-crushing. That's why I keep music playing more or less 24/7 in the car. For my trip to New Zealand, I prepared playlists with old favorites (Beck, Ween, Kate Bush), recent discoveries (SOPHIE, Screeching Weasel), and some local Kiwi artists (Lorde, Flight of the Conchords, Nick Cave, who I eventually realized is from Australia and not NZ).&nbsp;
Note that you should make a point of downloading your tunes. Cell service tends to drop off the further you get from civilization, and what&rsquo;s the point of taking a road trip if you never find yourself in the middle of nowhere?&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re feeling old school, you can even bring a USB drive loaded with MP3s to save your phone&rsquo;s battery life. But you have to make sure you&rsquo;re renting a car with the proper ports. You also have to be old enough to know what an MP3 file is.
Don&rsquo;t underestimate the value of FM radio, either. I learned a lot about the culture of the North Island when my phone refused to connect to the car&rsquo;s Bluetooth system. Mostly that it sounds pretty funny when someone says &ldquo;Led Zeppelin&rdquo; in a New Zealand accent.
Podcasts and audiobooks will also keep your mind occupied. I&rsquo;m not much for podcasts myself, but I do keep Stephen King novels on my phone for long drives. They&rsquo;re exciting, they don&rsquo;t require much focus, and, most importantly, they&rsquo;re long as hell. I spent two weeks in NZ and didn&rsquo;t even get halfway through It.

Now, you will have to get some social interaction along the way, unless you&rsquo;re okay with going a little crazy. Oversharing to retail and food service workers is one method, but I can&rsquo;t ethically recommend it. What I can suggest is staying in hostels.
Sure, they&rsquo;re a little cramped. But you&rsquo;ll meet some real characters, and they&rsquo;re great places to pick up recommendations for nearby stops. Most hostel patrons are travel maniacs just like you, and every traveler&rsquo;s favorite question starts with &ldquo;Know any cool spots near&hellip;?&rdquo;
I&rsquo;m a large, bearded man, so I can get away with a rule: If anyone in a hostel offers me a drink, I always say yes. That&rsquo;s how I met my friend with the 3-million-dollar bank scheme; we spent an evening sipping Jameson and swapping travel stories. He spoke rapturously on the virtues of recreational ketamine, and I listened politely. When I checked out the next morning, he bequeathed me the half-finished bottle of whiskey as a token of appreciation.
Later, I would return the karmic favor by sharing the alcohol with some conspiracy enthusiasts from Christchurch. &ldquo;Is it true that the LA fires were started by government satellites?&rdquo; one asked. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; I diplomatically replied. &ldquo;Maybe.&rdquo;
I parted ways with the Christchurchers in the morning, just like the other single-serving pals. It was nice to be social in the evenings, but days were mine alone. That&rsquo;s the thing about a solo road trip: the solitude is your worst enemy, but it&rsquo;s also your best friend. It&rsquo;s a chance to get comfortable in your own head, to see where your thoughts go when they&rsquo;re not taken up by work, plans, money, friends, family, or anything else.
There&rsquo;s a kind of mental freedom that only comes when you have nothing on your mind, just a tank of gas and a destination. Find it, and six hours can feel like the blink of an eye.

<h3>Keep It Loose</h3>
All travel plans exist on a spectrum between structure and flexibility. On the structure end, you&rsquo;ve got your tour packages, business trips, and (usually) group vacations. Traveling with small children requires you to dive off the structure end of the spectrum and become a being of pure schedule. Bless their tiny, chaotic hearts.
A solo road trip, on the other hand, should live as far on the flexibility side as you can manage. You&rsquo;ve heard the phrase &ldquo;it&rsquo;s the journey, not the destination,&rdquo; right? In this case, the journey is the destination. It&rsquo;s the whole reason you&rsquo;re here. You&rsquo;re going to spend 50% of your trip in the car, and you&rsquo;re going to love it.
When I&rsquo;m on the road, I try to follow Diesel&rsquo;s Law, named after America&rsquo;s sweetheart: Vin Diesel. &ldquo;I live my life a quarter-mile at a time,&rdquo; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIM_gt1c-_c">he mumbles</a> early in The Fast and the Furious, and that&rsquo;s the perfect mindset for this kind of travel. Don&rsquo;t worry about where you need to be, don&rsquo;t think about how much driving you have to do today. Just live in the moment, a quarter-mile at a time.
The same film also provides us with Diesel&rsquo;s Second Law: &ldquo;You can have any beer you want, as long as it&rsquo;s a Corona.&rdquo; But that&rsquo;s less relevant to the subject at hand.
The best part of living la vida Diesel is being open to spontaneous stops. If you see an intriguing road sign, follow it! If you see a beautiful view, pull over! If you&rsquo;re hungry, eat at the next restaurant you find. Otherwise, you&rsquo;ll spend the next 10 miles second-guessing yourself for hesitating.
Some of my favorite travel memories come from those impulse stops. Once, when driving through Alabama, I followed signs for something called the &ldquo;<a href="https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2019">Cross Garden</a>,&rdquo; which turned out to be a backyard full of rusted-out appliances, each one handpainted with bonkers religious warnings. It was a highlight of the trip.

Of course, unless you&rsquo;re deeply committed to wandering the whole time, you&rsquo;ll have to make some plans. When I&rsquo;m thinking about a road trip, I begin by setting an overall path, from start to finish. For New Zealand, my route was a huge loop starting in Auckland and heading all the way down to the southern tip of the South Island, then returning north to Auckland. The whole country, essentially.
From there, I picked out a few choice areas along the way, mostly national parks. Each of those places (Rotorua, Aoraki/Mt. Cook, Fiordlands, and Tongariro) was assigned a full day for exploration. Add in a few spots that required advance tickets (Hobbiton, <a href="https://www.waitomo.com/glowworms-and-caves/waitomo-glowworm-caves">Waitomo caves</a>, the ferry between the North and South Islands) and I had the basic skeleton of an itinerary, strung together by a bunch of travel days.
Those travel days are the beating heart of any good road trip. Some of them had set end-of-day destinations, but sometimes I wouldn&rsquo;t find a stopping point and book the hostel until the night before. I spent my evenings researching the next day&rsquo;s route, browsing online and asking around for fun places along the way. The following morning, I&rsquo;d take off with nothing but a final destination and a handful of possible stops in my head.
That drive from Rotorua to Wellington, the one that surprised my hostel roommate? It ended up taking longer than six hours. But that was also the day I tried <a href="https://zorb.com/">Zorbing</a> for the first time. I stopped for lunch in a small town with buildings shaped like animal heads. I listened to a Māori-language radio station. I pulled over and had dinner while watching the sun go down over the hills.
It was a pretty great day, because it was a free day. And that&rsquo;s kinda what a road trip is about. It&rsquo;s a blank page. A vacant lot. An open road.
So follow as much (or as little) of this advice as you want. At the end of the day, you&rsquo;ll be the one writing your own story out there. Just take it a quarter-mile at a time.

The Solo Road Trip Survival Guide

Hey there, JFCers!
Happy Lunar New Year to you all, and welcome to the Year of the Snake! This new year is apparently all about <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/-lunar-new-year-china-spring-festival-year-snake-rcna188025">new beginnings and starting afresh</a>, leaving behind the past year&rsquo;s bad vibes.&nbsp;
Celebrations began yesterday across eastern Asia, as cities came to life with parades, lanterns, and reeeeally long lines at the train station. Check out <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/29/world/gallery/in-pictures-lunar-new-year-celebrations/index.html">these awesome pictures of celebrations</a> around the world to get a taste of the magic!&nbsp;
So, here's to a positive 12 months ahead, and without further ado...
Happy travels and safe landings,

Your Top Tips for the Perfect Kiwi Trip

Detour Editor Katy&nbsp;is a seasoned budget traveller living in Scotland with her husband and two cats. She has already been to over 50 countries, and when she&rsquo;s not writing up travel inspo for The Detour, she&rsquo;s usually researching her next trip.

Following last week&rsquo;s rather antipodean edition of The Detour, you sent in looooots of delightful suggestions for Flight Finder Jake&rsquo;s upcoming New Zealand trip &mdash; thank you so much! To say that his lazy planner&rsquo;s itinerary is now jam-packed would be somewhat of an understatement.
Since we at JFC are likely partly to blame for any kiwi-focused wanderlust you&rsquo;re feeling right now, it&rsquo;s only fair that I share what everyone had to say!&nbsp;
Near the top of the pile in the Detour inbox on Monday morning was an email from a rather familiar face here at JFC &mdash; our far-flung former Flight Finder (say that three times fast) Kate. From the best hiking views to the tastiest loaded fries, she&rsquo;s got you covered:

&ldquo;Kia Ora Jake,&nbsp;
Kiwi (and ex-JFC flight finder!) here with some recommendations for your NZ trip gaps.&nbsp;
On the Rotorua to Wellington stretch, I highly recommend a stop in Taupō for <a href="https://www.lovetaupo.com/en/discover/highlights/lake-taupo/">stunning lake views</a> and plenty of good food options. Since you&rsquo;ll be seeing Tongariro National Park on your way back up, you can breeze past there and maybe do a quick stop at a beach along the Kapiti Coast to stretch your legs as you get closer to Wellington.&nbsp;
Both Waikanae and Paraparaumu beaches have great views of Kapiti Island (also the namesake for a delicious ice cream brand you&rsquo;ll find around the country). Paraparaumu Beach will be best if you&rsquo;re also making a food stop, since there&rsquo;s plenty of choice there &mdash; you can&rsquo;t go wrong with loaded fries from <a href="https://www.reburger.co.nz/">RE Burger!</a>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/e3751ea86838ffe7c41e00e33e9c7391062f6f10" width="328" height="219" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
Since you don&rsquo;t seem to be deterred by a long drive, I think it&rsquo;s worth considering the west coast route from Te Anau/Fiordland up to Picton, especially &lsquo;cause you&rsquo;ll have seen a good chunk of the east coast on your way to Aoraki already. You could drive to Franz Josef (or even Hokitika) for the night and the next day drive to Picton via Westport so you can stop at Punakaiki to see the <a href="https://youtu.be/lJSKOgMOB4M?si=j_1LEKXujqBQ2l1v&amp;t=232">Pancake Rocks</a>.&nbsp;
My top recommendation, whichever route you take, is to stop in <a href="https://www.petrinadarrah.com/posts/things-to-do-in-wanaka">Wānaka</a> (perhaps via Arrowtown and the famous <a href="https://neatplaces.co.nz/places/wanaka/eat-drink/cardrona-hotel">Cardrona Hotel</a>&hellip;) for some of the best views and hikes in the country!
Kate&rdquo;

Thanks for sharing your local expertise, Kate! Aside from all those glorious viewpoints you&rsquo;ve suggested, there&rsquo;s something particularly alluring about a cosy old hotel bar.
However, that might not quite offer enough of a buzz for the thrill seekers among us. So if you&rsquo;re more into adrenaline-fuelled squeals of joy than a pint beside a cozy fire, reader Menzie has just the place:

"You must go from Milford Sound to Queenstown!! Great place and wonderful options like speed boating rapids, bungee jumping. It's where extreme sports are king. Plus, it's beautiful"&nbsp;- Menzie

Although it&rsquo;s been nearly 20 years since I myself visited Queenstown (ouch!), I clearly remember how gorgeous it was. Even more than that, I remember just how insane <a href="https://youtu.be/4lX1e5BclAY?si=RYb-ch52CM8MlNkE&amp;t=366">the approach</a>&nbsp;was on the flight south from Auckland, as we descended between the Southern Alps and made a sharp turn in to land. Plenty of adrenaline right there for non-road-trippers!
It&rsquo;s also the place where I first ate avocado. Knowing that I liked a BLT sandwich, I thought it unlikely that adding one unknown ingredient would change that. Turns out I was wrong.
Next up, JFC-er Tanya is taking us on a detour around the North Island&rsquo;s egg-scented wonders:

&ldquo;Hi Jake,
Head south from Rotorua about 25 km to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. Fabulous assorted geothermal and volcanic sights on a path down (and I mean down) to <a href="https://www.waimangu.co.nz/about/blog/post/discover-lake-rotomahana/">Lake Rotomahana</a> (there&rsquo;s a bus to take you back up again). There&rsquo;s also a launch cruise on the lake with very informative commentary.&nbsp;
You can see where the side of Mount Tarawera blew out in 1886, causing the lake to rise, which in turn buried the &ldquo;hanging gardens&rdquo; that were considered by Victorian England to be one of the wonders of the world (and people actually came from England to see them). Seismic activity is monitored every morning, and if deemed unsafe, the place doesn&rsquo;t open.
In school holidays and peak times (summer holidays) you should probably book in advance. But it&rsquo;s really worth seeing!
All best, Tanya&rdquo;

Places like Waimangu are clearly made for getting out of the car and exploring, but sometimes, it&rsquo;s all about the drive itself:

&ldquo;If driving down North Island to Wellington, try to drive the <a href="https://www.stratford.govt.nz/our-district/discover-stratford/forgotten-world-highway">Forgotten Highway</a>, SH43. Most of it is tarmac, but a bit is unsealed. Fascinating road with one of the narrowest tunnels I have ever driven through. Goes from Taumarunui in King County to Stratford in Taranaki.&rdquo; - Jan

Just be sure that if you do decide to drive this route, you won&rsquo;t be passing through the curious town/republic of Whangamomona on its biennial Republic Day. Let&rsquo;s just say there could be some <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=946151830487326">baaaahd consequences</a>! That said, we&rsquo;re a couple of weeks late for this year&rsquo;s edition, so the road should be clear enough for the next 23 months.
It&rsquo;s pretty obvious that New Zealand has enough stunning scenery and colourful waters to fill months&rsquo; worth of travels. But there is more to it than just looks! Detour reader Amro recommends taking time to visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mitai.co.nz/">Mitai Maori Village</a> &mdash; yes, it&rsquo;s a little touristy, but it is a good place to learn about the indigenous culture and history.
You&rsquo;ll actually come across a few different Maori villages in the vicinity of Rotorua. Just like at Mitai, an evening at <a href="https://www.rotoruanz.com/things-to-do/family-fun/te-pa-tu">Te Pā Tū</a> involves song, dance, and storytelling, as well as a traditional <a href="https://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature/maori-hangi/">hāngī feast</a> cooked up in an underground hot stone oven. Whakarewarewa, on the other hand, is a little different, as the only <a href="https://whakarewarewa.com/">living Maori village</a>.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s also possible to experience other aspects of the Maori culture without stepping foot in one of these villages. From forest walks to authentic family dinners, you can get a taste of modern-day Maori life with <a href="https://www.audleytravel.com/new-zealand/country-guides/maori-culture-in-new-zealand">any of these alternatives</a>. But regardless which you visit, the experience will be great fun, and you&rsquo;ll leave with a much better understanding of Maori and Kiwi culture as a whole.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re not thoroughly sold on why it&rsquo;s worth making the seemingly never-ending trip to New Zealand by now, then I&rsquo;ll try one last thing: <a href="https://www.thetravel.com/how-to-see-the-kiwi-birds-of-new-zealand/">kiwi birds</a>. There&rsquo;s nowhere else in the world you can see them (okay, maybe in a zoo), so if these little guys are on your i-SPY list, there&rsquo;s only one thing for it!

Travel Tips

Flight Hacking Your Way to An Antipodean Adventure

Not only did all last week&rsquo;s talk of New Zealand and Australia invite some cracking advice from you all, it also opened a can of travel worms! For those of you who are now thoroughly sold on the idea of a great antipodean adventure, I&rsquo;ll try to fill in the gaps to help make it possible:

&ldquo;Hi, I would like to travel to Australia for 3/4 weeks from mid-November to mid-December. What is the best method of finding cheapest flights? Ideally, we would like to travel no longer than a single night layover (if that's the cheapest option)&rdquo;
<hr>
&ldquo;Looking for your expertise. We are planning a trip next year Nov-Dec to the South Island of New Zealand for 2 to 3 weeks then onto Thailand for about 2 weeks. We are departing from Seattle. Is it cheaper to fly to Auckland then drive to the south Island or fly into Christchurch directly? Which airlines would be the best routing for this trip, and would it be more than one airline for the best routing and prices?&rdquo;

Okay, readers; while your questions aren&rsquo;t the same, they&rsquo;re definitely related. Let&rsquo;s start from the top!&nbsp;
When we&rsquo;re looking for great value flights here at JFC, we always recommend using <a href="https://www.google.com/travel/flights">Google Flights </a>as a starting point. Not only can you browse for the cheapest flights by date, you can also specify things like layover duration, and which airlines and airports you want to see results for. It&rsquo;s a pretty powerful tool! Use our <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/find-cheap-flights-using-google-flights">step-by-step guide</a> to help find the route that suits you best!
Generally speaking, Auckland is the cheapest airport to fly into in New Zealand, since it has the best international connections. If you&rsquo;re planning to hire a car and drive around anyway, you&rsquo;ll likely find it cheaper to drive from Auckland to the South Island and pay the $20pp ferry ticket + $30 vehicle cost. Plus, you&rsquo;ll get bonus North Island time!

That said, if you&rsquo;re really just focused on seeing the South Island, round trip fares to Christchurch can be as little as $150 more than flights to Auckland. That may well be worth it to avoid a long drive and get you straight to where you want to be.
To the second part of your question &mdash; including Thailand in the same booking as the New Zealand stretch of your journey definitely limits the airlines with which you can travel. I&rsquo;d suggest playing around with the <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/how-to-find-and-book-cheap-multi-city-flights">multi-city feature</a> on Google Flights. Price up buying a one-way ticket for each leg of your trip, and you&rsquo;ll likely find that much cheaper.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Jake - loved your New Zealand itinerary. Thanks &nbsp; However I only have 3 days. Flying into Auckland and sailing away from Auckland 3 days later. What should l do and see that will leave me with a New Zealand lasting memory. Thanks&rdquo; - Valerio

Oh, gosh! Only three days to get a taste of a whole country isn&rsquo;t much, so here are a few of our top picks in and around the city to make it stick in your mind:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Start off with a leisurely stroll up one of Auckland&rsquo;s 53 volcanoes. The walk up <a href="https://www.aucklandnz.com/explore/maungawhau-mount-eden">Mount Eden</a> is pretty easy going, but the views from the top are absolutely iconic.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Just a 45-minute ferry ride from Auckland&rsquo;s downtown ferry terminal is <a href="https://www.petrinadarrah.com/posts/waiheke-island">Waiheke Island</a>, a haven for wine lovers, beach lovers and hikers alike. Think crystal clear waters and powdery sand against a lush, forested backdrop, all washed down with a glass of the local produce! </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">To spend a day out getting to know the local flora and fauna, pick <a href="https://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/walks-activities/">Tiritiri Matangi Island</a>. The island is abuzz with endemic birds (keep your eyes peeled for the tiny green <a href="https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/rifleman">Rifleman</a>!), reptiles, and sea life, so bring along some binoculars!</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">And if you do insist on getting that authentic Kiwi adrenaline rush, you can always try <a href="https://www.bungy.co.nz/auckland/sky-tower/">jumping or hanging off the Sky Tower</a>!</li>
</ul>

Hopefully that gives you some ideas for an exciting few days. And as the icing on the cake to celebrate a city break well done, be sure to grab yourself a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/chocolate-fish-reward-new-zealand">chocolate fish</a>!
What topics would you like us to cover in The Detour? Just let us know below 👇

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week. 
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">If you&rsquo;re anything like the JFC Flight Finders, you&rsquo;ll have downed tools for ten minutes on Tuesday afternoon to tune into FlightRadar 24 and watch the most exciting aviation event in a while &mdash;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2025-01-28/booms-supersonic-jet-breaks-sound-barrier-for-first-time-since-concorde">Boom&rsquo;s supersonic aircraft</a> breaking the sound barrier for the first time! </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How far would you go to earn <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/m-spending-13k-58-flights-125208738.html">British Airways gold status</a>? If you&rsquo;re Michael Freedman, apparently that&rsquo;s pretty far. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Once again, Japan is being too darn attractive for our own good &mdash; so much so that the town of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/29/otaru-japan-tourists-photos-danger-city-guards-deployed">Otaru has decided to bring security guards</a> to control the hordes of photo-hungry tourists. </li>
<li>And finally, you may not be celebrating the Lunar New Year in fabulous foreign lands, but there are still a few <a href="https://www.wanderlustmagazine.com/inspiration/a-guide-to-chinese-new-year-traditions/">traditions that you could be doing at home</a>. Get your family and friends together for a fabulous fish feast, hang up a lucky lettuce or two, and maybe even do some spring-cleaning&hellip; okay, that&rsquo;s probably a step too far!</li>
</ul>

New Zealand anew - JFC-ers top tips for the perfect Kiwi trip

Vietnam

Hey there, JFC-ers,
I&rsquo;m hopeful that by the time you receive this edition of the Detour, you're all safe and well, and none of us have been blown away by the latest storm barrelling through the UK and Ireland. Needless to say, the red weather warnings for high winds, snow and torrential rain are not filling me full of optimism for a weekend free from travel chaos.&nbsp;
But thankfully, in just a week&rsquo;s time, I should be heading off to sunnier climes in Vietnam. And when I get there, I&rsquo;ll be armed with a gazillion recommendations from you, lovely readers!&nbsp;
Having taken&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/detour-165-big-tour-little-tour-pros-and-cons">your suggestions</a> to heart, we&rsquo;ll be spending a few days in Ho Chi Minh City before heading north to Hoi An, staying at An Bang beach. One of the most remarkable things I found when booking accommodation in Vietnam is just how far your money goes. I&rsquo;d always heard it was very affordable for visitors from Europe and North America, but I hadn&rsquo;t quite realised I&rsquo;d be getting rooftop pools, welcome drinks, and afternoon teas included!

On top of a spot of luxury at bargain prices, I&rsquo;m really looking forward to experiencing&nbsp;<a href="https://vietnamtour.in/hoi-an-lantern-festival/">Hoi An&rsquo;s lantern festival</a>, which takes place each full moon. The town switches off electrical lighting for the day, illuminating the streets instead with colourful paper lanterns hung between its historic buildings.
Outside the city, we&rsquo;ll be heading to the dramatic <a href="https://whereangiewanders.com/marble-mountains-vietnam/">Marble Mountains</a> and their caves, as well as dragging ourselves out of bed early for a sunrise trip to the ancient <a href="https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/explore-global-cultural-and-historical-values-my-son-sanctuary">My Son Sanctuary</a>. While I&rsquo;m not one for comparing apples and oranges, one review did call it &ldquo;the Angkor Wat of Vietnam,&rdquo; so I&rsquo;m expecting to be impressed!
But there&rsquo;s another place that comes up in lots of tours and blogs that I&rsquo;m just not sure will be worth the hype &mdash;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/things-to-see-giant-hands-unusual-bridge-da-nang">The Golden Bridge</a>. Sure, a long bridge held up by giant hands looks cool in drone pictures, but is it as awesome when you&rsquo;re standing on top of it? The fact that it&rsquo;s also part of the <a href="https://rollercoastertraveller.com/sun-world-ba-na-hills/">Sun World Resort amusement park</a> makes me even more sceptical.&nbsp;
That said, I do love a cable car ride! And it would be wasteful of me not to go and bring back a full review for you all, for better or worse.
Happy travels and safe landings,

I Planned for New Zealand (So You Don&rsquo;t Have To)

Based in California, Flight Finder Jake loves nothing more than traveling, saving money, and doing both things at once!

Written by Jake

I come from a long line of procrastinators and improvisers, so planning for a trip is&hellip; not exactly my favorite thing. Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I love to travel! I just hate making plans.
It&rsquo;s been six months since I booked my flight to New Zealand, and I spent about five of them wishing a travel angel would come down from the heavens and deliver me a perfect pre-made itinerary for my visit.&nbsp;
That never happened, sadly. But I did sit down and plan my trip. So, to all the other New Zealand-bound lazy planners out there: Let me be your travel angel. Use my outline as your own.

<h3 dir="ltr">North Island</h3>
I knew I wanted to hit both the North and the South Island, especially since I had a full two weeks to work with. That left me a little rushed, so I broke one of my usual rules and skipped the post-flight rest day.&nbsp;
Instead, I&rsquo;ll be landing in Auckland around 9 AM, picking up my rental car, and immediately heading out to Rotorua. The landscape there is supposed to be pretty incredible, shaped by some wild geothermal activity. We&rsquo;re talking geysers, hot springs, sulfur pools, all kinds of stuff. You can book guided tours of the coolest spots, but I decided to just pick up a ticket to <a href="https://www.waiotapu.co.nz/">Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland</a> and do some wandering on my own.
Rotorua is also pretty close to the next two places on my list: Hobbiton and the Waitomo Glow Caves.&nbsp;
You could probably do a whole Lord of the Rings-themed itinerary in New Zealand, but I decided to limit myself to the <a href="https://www.hobbitontours.com/">Hobbiton set</a>. You can&rsquo;t just walk around here, unfortunately, and the tour slots fill up pretty quickly, so I wouldn&rsquo;t procrastinate on this booking.
As for Waitomo, how could I possibly pass up a subterranean cave lit by eerie blue glowworms? That&rsquo;s a unique experience!
There are actually a <a href="https://www.waitomo.com/glowworms-and-caves">few different caves</a> at Waitomo, each of them requiring a reservation. You can supposedly bundle the main glowworm cave with another one, but their website wouldn&rsquo;t let me do it. More power to you if you can figure that out, though.
I&rsquo;ll be wrapping up my time up north by driving down to Wellington and catching the ferry to the South Island. That&rsquo;s about six hours from Rotorua, so I&rsquo;m making it a travel day&mdash;If you happen to know that area, hit me with some recommendations for places to stop along the way!

<h3 dir="ltr">South Island</h3>
The South Island is the bigger of the two, so this part of the trip involves a lot more driving. As soon as the ferry lands in Picton, I&rsquo;ll be hopping back in the car and driving down to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. The sun will be down by the time I arrive, most likely, but that just gives me a chance to do some <a href="https://www.mackenzienz.com/explore/stargazing-and-astrophotography/">stargazing in the dark sky reserve</a>.
The area around Aoraki/Mount Cook is one of the prettiest places in New Zealand, right in the middle of the Southern Alps. I&rsquo;m giving myself a whole day to poke around the park and do some hiking before moving on to&hellip;
&hellip;the next national park, Fiordland. While Aoraki has your typical gorgeous alpine views, Fiordland features more varied landscapes, with mountains, waterfalls, and even some rainforest. Oh yeah, and fjords. Milford Sound is the most famous one, but there are a handful of others if you&rsquo;re pining for a fjord-heavy vacation.
After wrapping up the fjords, it&rsquo;s time to make the drive&nbsp;allllllll the way back up to Picton. That&rsquo;s a 12-hour schlep spanning nearly the entire South Island, so I&rsquo;m splitting it up into two days. Consider this another shameless request for recommended places to stop!

<h3 dir="ltr">North Island (Part 2)</h3>
After taking the ferry back to Wellington, I&rsquo;ll have a couple of days to make it back to Auckland before my flight home. That&rsquo;s just enough time for one more big stop: Tongariro National Park.
I&rsquo;m technically breaking my promise here &mdash; Hobbiton was supposed to be my only Lord of the Rings stop, and the volcanic landscapes of Tongariro are where they shot the Mordor scenes. But hey, it&rsquo;s not my fault Peter Jackson chose to film at <a href="https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-filming-locations/">all the prettiest places</a> in New Zealand!
From there, it&rsquo;s just a drive up to Auckland and a 13-hour flight back to San Francisco. Easy-peasy.
This itinerary is my gift to you, lazy planners. You&rsquo;re welcome!

Travel Inspiration

Aus-some Tips for Breaking Up the Trip Down Under

"Hi, I am planning a trip to Sydney in February and wondering which is the cheapest route (avoiding Chinese Airlines). I would like to stay a 2/3 nights on the way out and then a week's holiday in Thailand on the return journey. Can you suggest anything? Thank you for your help. Kind regards, Mike"

Flight Finding Team Lead Larissa is an Aussie expat from Sydney who only sometimes misses the beach. Based in London, when she's not busy checking for brunch spots in her next trip, she's writing about flight deals for Jack's Flight Club.

Answered by Larissa

Hi Mike! You&rsquo;re not alone in asking us this kind of question recently, and it&rsquo;s one that can get pretty complicated. From someone who is very familiar with the route between the UK and Sydney (AKA my adopted homeland and my, well, actual homeland) I&rsquo;ve got a few tips for you.&nbsp;
In the past, when I&rsquo;ve wanted to save a few pennies, I&rsquo;ve turned to Chinese airlines to get me from A to B &mdash; they are generally a lot cheaper than European, Middle Eastern and other Asian options. And while they do often fall down in convenience (<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/jfc-honest-airline-reviews-saudia-airlines-and-more#China%20Southern">my 8-hour-long stop in Guangzhou airport</a> comes to mind), they are, in my experience, a fairly comparable inflight experience to their long-haul counterparts.&nbsp;
But I know not everyone wants to fly via China, and so for your question I&rsquo;ve turned to the other routes to get Down Under. You&rsquo;ve essentially got 3 options &mdash; stopping over in the Middle East, Asia, or North America (or if you&rsquo;re made of money, in Perth). 
The first two options are likely your best bet, price-wise &mdash; once we take away Chinese airlines, the cheapest prices we see on the London to Sydney route are with Emirates (stopover in Dubai) and Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa (which both take you via Changi airport). But you can also stop over in Hong Kong or Istanbul, depending on when Cathay or Turkish put their prices down.&nbsp;

Because you&rsquo;re hoping to stretch out your stop-overs, Turkish Airlines is particularly worth a mention. They&rsquo;re the only airline of those above that has a dedicated <a href="https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-gb/flights/stopover/">stop-over program</a>, where you actually get a free 1-night hotel stay in Istanbul. To apply, you must have a 20+ hour layover in IST, and you must apply at least 72 hours before your first flight via email. They did have other perks included in the past, but these have vanished post-Covid. Qatar Airways also has a similar <a href="https://www.qatarairways.com/en-gb/offers/qatar-stopover.html">stop-over program</a>, but instead of a free stay, your night&rsquo;s accommodation is heavily discounted.&nbsp;
To work out which option will work best for the dates you&rsquo;re planning, use Google Flights&rsquo; &lsquo;Multi-City&rsquo; tool, which lets you play around with stop-over length and sub out different cities to see which may come up cheapest. You can check our article on <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/how-to-find-and-book-cheap-multi-city-flights">building multi-city</a> trips for more.&nbsp;
What I will say, though, is that adding long stop-overs into what can also be done as a simple round-trip ticket will almost always jack up the price of the overall trip. Even if you do manage to snag a free hotel room, it&rsquo;s likely that you&rsquo;ll be paying more overall on the return leg. 
For example, if you decided to plan your 2-3 day stopover in Singapore or Hong Kong, it&rsquo;s likely you&rsquo;d be flying with Singapore or Cathay Pacific. But a week in Thailand on the way back will mean you&rsquo;re likely at the mercy of Thai Airways (unless, of course, you don&rsquo;t mind extra layovers along the way). All these mixing and matching of airlines will, in general, be more expensive than just choosing one airline and sticking with them.&nbsp;
That being said, I think the idea of splitting up what is a very long trip (and gets longer every time, it feels like!) is definitely the best way to go if you have the time! Another option for you could be a more DIY approach, similar to what we explain in the multi-city trip guide. This could look something like booking return flights to Asia, and then onwards flights to Sydney and back between your Asian dates.&nbsp;

Using the Google Flights map view, you just need to add your dates and see what takes your fancy. <a href="https://www.google.com/travel/explore?tfs=CBwQAxpREgoyMDI1LTAyLTExKAI6Ak1VOgJDWjoCWkg6AkNBOgJXNDoCVzY6Alc5OgJVMjoCSFVqDAgDEggvbS8wNGpwbHILCAQSBy9tLzBqMGuQAegCGlESCjIwMjUtMDMtMDEoAjoCTVU6AkNaOgJaSDoCQ0E6Alc0OgJXNjoCVzk6AlUyOgJIVWoLCAQSBy9tLzBqMGtyDAgDEggvbS8wNGpwbJAB6AJAAUgBcAKCAQQIARADmAEBsgEEGAEgAQ&amp;tfu=GioaKAoSCdwWEhiy4z9AEdLUUc_7bGFAEhIJJpd3vFO7EsARpamjnjeMUkAiAA">In this example</a>, I&rsquo;ve used the airline filter to exclude low-cost European airlines, as well as Chinese airlines, to help you get an idea of the routes and prices available.&nbsp;
Bangkok is a great jumping-off point for the rest of Southeast Asia. And since you&rsquo;re hoping to spend some time in Thailand on the way home, it could offer you the most flexibility in terms of destinations and timing, without forcing you to spend a crazy amount. From Bangkok, you can take advantage of the <a href="https://www.google.com/travel/explore?tfs=CBwQAxpREgoyMDI1LTAyLTExKAA6Ak1VOgJDWjoCWkg6AkNBOgJXNDoCVzY6Alc5OgJVMjoCSFVqDAgDEggvbS8wZm4yZ3ILCAQSBy9tLzBqMGuQAegCQAFIAXACggEECAEQApgBArIBBBgBIAE&amp;tfu=GioaKAoSCUI_yJgYlDpAEXenjXqq4GJAEhIJThmJY_ttJcAR7k4b9ZRzVUAiAA">cheap one-way fares</a> to see somewhere else en route to Sydney.
This approach definitely involves a lot more logistics when it comes to planning, but you might avoid the hiked-up prices of the more traditional carriers that operate on these routes. Best of luck in planning, and have a wonderful time in Aus!&nbsp;
 Do you have a question for our Flight Finders? Let us know below!

<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Beware all those who dare to fly Spirit Airlines, in particular <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/23/travel/spirit-airlines-dress-code-removal/index.html">those who picked up questionable tattoos</a> in their younger days. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">While Storm &Eacute;owyn may have brought disruption across the UK and Ireland, it did offer a silver lining for passengers flying across the Atlantic this week. A BA flight from <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/storm-eowyn-flight-wind-speed-british-airways-b2685672.html">LA to London reached near subsonic speeds</a> of over 800mph, cutting the flight time by an hour! </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">A new obsession for travel-loving public transportation nerds has entered the room: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/jan/20/why-chongqing-china-is-my-wonder-of-the-world">welcome, Chongqing</a>. </li>
<li>And finally, if you think you find air travel stressful, spare a thought for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mittens-cat-becomes-accidental-frequent-flyer-getting-mistakenly-left-rcna188690">Mittens the Maine Coon</a>, who found herself making three trips across the Tasman Sea in just 24 hours. Just imagine the tails she must have to tell!</li>
</ul>

New Zealand

Auckland & Jakarta in €510s-€670s rtn

New Zealand in $710s-$810s RT

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Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and more in £310s-£670s rtn

Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand in £500s-£870s rtn