Travel Wires
Travel’s Believe It or Not Welcome to Travel Wires — our version of those features at the bottom of the news website that begin “You won’t believe how this 90s actress looks now . . . ”. So, with less shame than a White House press secretary, let’s rip into this week’s alternative facts. Searching for the real Kiwi experience Trivago has listed Aotearoa’s “up-and-coming hotspots that have been rapidly growing in searches over the past three years” by domestic and international travellers: 1 Arrowtown, 2 Manukau, 3 Lake Tekapo Village, 4 Te Anau, 5 Wanaka, 6 Taupo, 7 Timaru, 8 Palmerston North, 9 Rotorua, 10 Hastings, 11 Christchurch. This is where internet surveys lose all credibility. Why would you waste time in Arrowtown or Te Anau instead of smashing a wet Tuesday night in Palmie or Hastings? Find an alternative destination They’re good sports at Trivago: they keep sending us these press releases even though they know what’s going to happen to them. Another survey shows that Australians will make up 98 per cent of incoming tourists over winter, and the neighbours will head straight to Snowvegas for a week of skiing and Ferg burgers. Travel Wires advises entries are now open for positions 2-10 in our survey of the 10 Best Reasons to Avoid Queenstown in Winter. Adjusting the end result Meanwhile, over at Cheapflights — oh, yes, we’re more multimedia than a John Campbell radio show — they say that Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa are the most affordable destinations right now, and they’re 7 per cent cheaper than last year.
The 10 most affordable countries for Kiwi travellers are Tonga ($640 return airfare), Cooks ($657), Fiji ($718), Samoa ($754), Vanuatu ($830), New Caledonia ($857), Indonesia ($900), Malaysia ($924), Singapore ($988), China and Thailand ($1027).
When you change the widgetty-thingummy to the most affordable airports, the top 10 rearrange themselves as Nuku’alofa ($640), Rarotonga ($657), Nadi ($700), Apia ($754), Suva ($864), Denpasar-Bali ($885), Kuala Lumpur ($924), Singapore ($988), Shanghai ($1006) and Phuket ($1015). Right time, right price Flying on Tuesday can be 12 per cent cheaper than leaving on a Friday. Booking less than a week in advance could cost you 60 per cent more for a domestic flight, 18 per cent more to cross the ditch, 56 per cent more on international fares. Three months in advance is the sweet spot for finding the best price. — travel@nzherald.co.nz