We are planning to fly from London to Queenstown in Feb 25 and depart from Aukland 4 weeks later.
Does anyone have experience of this? What are the best airlines? I’ve heard some put bikes in cargo and the take weeks to arrive!!!
Its years since I’ve done a journey like that and it was UK to Sydney and Melbourne to UK and it was without a bike. I think I booked through Britrish Airways but they are in the One World group ( oneworld Members: Airlines In The oneworld Alliance | oneworld) so one of my legs was Quantas.
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The thing about that route is – assuming you only want to do one stop (always my preference) – you don’t actually have that many choices. You can go one way around the world and stop in Doha/Dubai/KL, etc., or the other way and stop in LA. Usual couple of airlines, just different routes. I’ve never heard of a bike going in cargo, unless of course that’s how you book it. Otherwise it should just be baggage like any other trip. I’d definitely use a hardside case for this one. Also, make sure your bike and tires are clean and don’t have dirt because they will be inspected on arrival. I’ve always been fine, but I have had friends whose tires were cleaned and/or removed because dirt was present. A quick search on the interwebs and you’ll find the customs backstory on that. But otherwise I wouldn’t stress this at all. There can be extreme variations in price, so focus on getting the best seat you can afford because it really makes a difference with a trip of this length. If you’re okay with a second stop you can transit through Aus, which opens up another set of options. Have fun, it’s an absolutely amazing place.
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I do this trip at least twice a year for work. Your best bet is Via Doha with Qatar, Via Dubai with Emirates or Via Singapore with Singapore or Air NZ (London-Singapore will be a Singapore plane if you book with Air NZ). I generally try and avoid flying through USA as you have to clear customs even when you are just connecting and it’s a total pain. Air NZ is fine with bikes, I’m not sure about the others, but I’m sure they will be fine - they will come with you as luggage and arrive the same time as you!
You will fly into Auckland and then connect to Queenstown with Air NZ. You clear customs in Auckland and pick up your bags before the Auckland - Queenstown flight.
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That sounds like a good plan as we’ve decided to hire a car from Queenstown and do a 1 way trip to Aukland ( apparently it’s cheaper that way) so we would be able to fly home out of Aukland.
Thanks for the details. Appreciated
Yes I think we’re going to fly out with new tyres (any excuse) !
Best seats we can afford sounds like good advice 