Poll: Airfare discounts

Balancing your costs and your timing can be tricky when booking your airline tickets. Often you can save big if you can be flexible about when you travel. A day or two coming or going can make a difference, but how much of a saving is enough to make you want to change your plans?

What percentage discount on an airfare would make you change your preferred departure date?

a- 5% savings
b- 10% savings
c- 15% savings
d- 20% savings
e- 50% savings
f- I usually have to travel on a precise date, so can’t change

How to get Cheap Flights to Australia

Well, if you’re looking to plan a vacation Down Under, then by doing some simple research, you can better your chances of securing  cheap flights to Australia. Knowing how to find the best deals on travel packages is important, especially if your destination is Sydney, Australia. In Sydney, there’s so much to see and do, you’re going to want to experience as much of it as possible. Of course, in order for that to happen, you’re going to need to save money where you can.

The Internet has become the traveler’s most valued resource. It increases the consumer’s ability to quickly and easily find great deals on travel packages, including cheap flights to Australia. Of course, knowing a little about how the travel industry works will also have you saving some cash.

Cheap Flights to Australia – When to Fly?

The travel industry, just like any other industry, has its busy and slow days. Typically, the weekends are the heaviest travel days of the week. From Friday through Sunday the airlines are able to charge premium prices because of demand for tickets. However, during the rest of the week they’re begging for travelers.

The smart traveler will certainly keep this in mind when booking a departure date. If you have flexibility in your vacation from work, you can plan a trip from mid-week to mid-week, rather than the conventional weekend to weekend vacation. Following this rule of thumb, you just may be able to take advantage of substantial savings on a cheap flight to Australia. Pick up a cheap Australia car rental at the airport and you’ll be in business!

Packing tor Your Cheap Flight to Australia

Australia is a gorgeous country, full of ecological wonders at every turn. During your stay in Australia, you can expect to be walk quite a bit, so comfortable shoes are a top priority. Here’s a tip for traveling around Australia: if you’re buying new shoes for your trip, break them in before your cheap flight to Australia leaves the ground — you don’t want a week of sore feet and blisters ruining your vacation of a lifetime!

The Australian summer lasts from December to March and it can get very arid and hot during those months. The northern region is more tropical, with hot and humid weather whereas the south is much drier with more comfortable nights. Winter runs from June to August and the southern region experiences more showers while the northern zones become warm and mild. The average winter temperature during the day is 56 degrees F. Depending on where you’re visiting in Australia, you may need to pack some cool, light clothing and perhaps a light raincoat or an umbrella in the off-chance you get stuck with a few days of rain. By all means, use the Internet to prepare yourself for what kind of weather you can expect on your vacation. It will help make packing for your cheap flight to Australia that much easier!

Use the Internet for Your Cheap Flight to Australia and More
Before planning any vacation, the smart traveler should always use the Internet to get a good understanding about where they’re going to be visiting. There’s a wealth of information out there. It’s good to familiarize yourself with local customs and attitudes towards visitors and their habits. You can also discover things you can do to make your trip as exciting and fun as possible. The Internet is not simply a resource for securing a cheap flight to Australia; it’s also your prime source of information about the continent. Use it to discover what to see, where to go, where to eat and where to sleep. Proper planning, from learning about your destination to booking that cheap flight to Australia, will enable you to have the best vacation ever!

Best time to visit New Zealand

Because New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, its seasons are reversed (compared to northern hemisphere countries). So, unless you want to enjoy some opposite season skiing in our summer (NZ’s winter) you’ll probably not want to go to NZ during our summer months.

We also recommend avoiding New Zealand in the peak of their summer season, which is from mid December through mid January. This coincides with their local school holidays and also their Christmas and New Year holidays; many New Zealanders are themselves on holiday during this time period, making accommodation scarce, roads congested, and attractions crowded.

Air fare seasonality

Another factor to consider is seasonal changes in airfare to New Zealand. The most expensive time to start your travel to New Zealand is between 9 December and 31 January. So, to avoid paying another couple of hundred dollars or more on your airfare, start your travel to NZ no later than 8 December, or after 1 February.

It doesn’t matter if your travel dates spill into this time period, the seasonality is based exclusively on the date you start your travel on.

Book your flights well in advance

Flights to New Zealand often fill up early, particular during peak times of year. If you want to be sure to get the lowest possible fares, you should buy your airline tickets as far in advance as your planning allows.

Considering all these different factors, we generally prefer to travel to NZ outside of the peak of their summer. Late spring or early fall can be a lovely time of year.

New Zealand Weather

Because nowhere in New Zealand is more than about 70 miles from the sea, New Zealand’s climate tends to be mild in both winter and summer.Temperatures rarely get into the 90s in summer, and during the winter rarely drop below freezing, except at night. Snow can be found in the mountains, of course, but almost never at lower elevations, except occasionally at the bottom of the South Island.There aren’t massive differences in climate around the country, although the further south you go (ie further from the equator and closer to Antarctica) the cooler average temperatures become.Most parts of the country regularly enjoy rain, with the wettest months being around July and the driest months December – February. On average, there are typically between 5 and 12 days with measurable precipitation each month.

New Zealand Top Tourist Destinations

New Zealand’s most popular (but not necessarily best!) destinations are :

Auckland

This is New Zealand’s largest city. It has a population of 1 million, and close on half of everyone in the country live within about 100 miles of Auckland. It is steadily growing in size, and like all growing large metroplexes, has its share of problems due to roading and other services not keeping pace with population pressures.Auckland has the main international airport for the country, so most people find themselves flying in and/or out of Auckland, and will choose to spend a day or two in Auckland at the beginning or end of their travels.This might make sense from a convenience point of view, but other than for the convenience issue, there really is very little in Auckland that is uniquely a New Zealand experience, and much that tends more towards the increasingly generic feel of big western cities the world over. It no longer has a central downtown shopping area of any note at all, and is perhaps better avoided.

Our recommendation : spend as little time as possible in this city, and more time in some of NZ’s more individualistic and less well known areas.

Rotorua

The Rotorua region is strongly steeped in Maori culture, and is also an area of intense geothermal activity. Boiling mudpools, geysers, weird moon like landscapes, and NZ’s own Pompeii are all in this area, nestled in among the gorgeous native bush.A wide range of other outdoor activities are also available in this lovely part of the country.Our recommendation : Spend more time in Rotorua than you originally planned.

Queenstown

The Queenstown area, extending down into Fiordland and to Milford Sound is another very popular tourist region. This is an area close to the Southern Alps, with glorious snow-covered mountains in abundance everywhere, and wonderful winter skiing in addition to the summer time activities.Jet-boats were invented not far from Queenstown, and you have a chance of an exhilarating ride on one here. You can also go rafting, or more sedately cruise on an old steamship on Lake Wakatipu, the lake on which Queenstown is located.While you’re in the Queenstown area you should be sure to go to Milford Sound, and ideally spend a night or two in Te Anau, the town on the way to Milford Sound, and just the other side of Lake Te Anau from the lovely Te Ana-au glow-worm caves.Legends tell of a lost tribe of maoris, still living somewhere in the intense and unspoiled native bush around the region, and as you look out on the hills and mountains, this fanciful idea all of a sudden seems less far-fetched.

Our recommendation : Be generous with your time in Queenstown, and try to add a night or two in Te Anau also.

Daily Travel Photo – Mount Tongariro, New Zealand

The three mineral-rich Emerald Lakes glow surreally within a volcanic gravel field on the slopes of New Zealand’s Mount Tongariro.