Sun or snow? These are the cheapest times to head over to New Zealand to experience everything it has to offer.
The land of the long white cloud may not be known for being affordable, but if you know when to go, you can save as much as possible on your flights to New Zealand. Luckily, whether you’re looking for a summer getaway or to hit the slopes, you’ll be able to get a fair fare.
TL;DR: Cheapest time to visit New Zealand
The absolute cheapest time: March to June (except for school holiday periods). (Read more to see why)
The best-value time: March for summer weather, June to ski. (Read more to see why)
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When is the cheapest time to visit New Zealand?
Overall, we’ve found travelling between March and June is the cheapest time to visit New Zealand. Likely because it’s just after the peak summer tourist months but before there’s enough snow to guarantee all the ski resorts are up and running for your trip.
Cheapest time to fly from Sydney to Auckland
Prices were slightly varied between the two sites we checked but generally, March to June had the cheapest fares between Sydney and Auckland.
Cheapest time to fly from Sydney to Queenstown:
February to June are the the cheapest times to book flights to Sydney to Queenstown. While it’s probably not the news that skiers want to hear, But, it’s only about $120 more to fly during the height of snow season.
Cheapest time to fly from Melbourne to Auckland:
March to June are the absolute cheapest months to fly to Auckland from Melbourne. But, if you’re hoping to travel another time of the year, it’s not all that much more. With the exception of December of January, you can fly during other months for about $50 more.
Cheapest time to fly from Melbourne to Queenstown:
Prices of flights between Melbourne and Queenstown were a bit across the board depending on which site we looked at. So, we dug a little deeper here and also looked up flights on Jetstar and Qantas direct.
We found February and March to be the cheapest times to fly there, so we feel pretty confident calling the late-summer and autumn months the cheapest.
Cheapest time to fly from Perth to Auckland:
We also found a variance between sites for this route, so checked airline sites specifically and found that March to June were the cheapest. We did also find a few cheap fares available in November, but there weren’t many dates available.
Cheapest time to fly from Perth to Queenstown
Like most routes from Australia to New Zealand are proving to be, March to June are the cheapest months to travel.
How much will it cost to travel to New Zealand at the time?
From the east coast, you should be able to find flights for between $250 and $350 return during the cheaper months. It will likely only be at the bottom end of that scale during a good Jetstar or Virgin Australia flight sale.
But… is this going to be the worst time to go to New Zealand?
Nope! Having plenty of secluded beaches, ski resorts, hiking trails and hot springs, New Zealand is a year-round destination, so no matter what time you go there will be plenty to do.
While you may not get peak season snow or be able to celebrate the holidays in New Zealand at these low prices, you can still make the most of your visit.
When is the best-value time to visit New Zealand?
If you’re looking to hike and sightsee, March is the best-value time to go. You’ll avoid the peak-season hotel prices that spike in December and January, but the weather will still be sunny and warm.
If you’re looking to ski, June can be a great time to go. Book as late in the month as possible for a better chance to have a varied number of runs open.
There’s also some ski resorts that tend to open earlier in the season than others, so if you’re banking on fresh powder, make sure you go to these (Queenstown-area resorts tend to open the earliest.
