Travel hack: How to save hundreds on Air New Zealand fares

One of the best places to pick up travel tricks in New Zealand is the Koru club: it’s a group of frequent flyers, after all.

So, when I heard a recent guest talk to an enthralled group of travellers about cheap last-minute fares on Air New Zealand, I was intrigued.

You may remember the national carrier introduced standby fares in 2011 – allowing Kiwis to travel last-minute around the country for $69.

However, that was scrapped in 2013, and cheap last-minute travel was over. Or so I thought.

It turns out Air New Zealand still provides discounted airfares on regional routes – a policy it seems many of us don’t know about.

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A last-minute one-way fare from Nelson to Auckland today (October 10) would cost between $313 and $410 for the cheapest fare with bags. However, if you use a little-known trick, you could be on one of these flights for just $169, including bags. And as a little bonus, you even earn Airpoints and Status Points on the trip.

It’s known as a Regional Gotta Go fare, and is a scheme that offers $169 flights to and from regional airports. That includes Blenheim, Gisborne, Hamilton, Hokitika, Invercargill, Kerikeri, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupō, Tauranga, Timaru, and Whangārei.

Sadly, you cannot use the fares on direct or indirect flights between the main centres: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin.

However, you can use them for multiple sector journeys, such as a flight from Blenheim to Whangārei. This trip would involve two regional flights (Blenheim to Auckland, then Auckland to Whangārei). Booking through the normal process last minute on October 10 would cost between $450 to $513, depending on the time of day. However, using the Gotta Go system a multi-sector journey costs $249.

Air New Zealand has also confirmed you can use the Gotta Go fares on main trunk routes if it includes a regional connection. For example, if you’re flying Auckland to Timaru, the route would be Auckland to Wellington on a main trunk service, then Wellington to Timaru on a regional service. In this circumstance, you would be able to book a multi-stop Gotta Go fare for $249.

To get the discounted fares, turn up at the airport 60 to 90 minutes before your flight and ring Air New Zealand’s contact centre. If there are spare seats, you’ll be offered the deal. If not, you’ll need to wait for the next flight and ring again.

Air New Zealand has struggled with lenghty call centre wait times in recent months as travel comes back in full force, although these are now reducing. To make things easier with wait times, Air New Zealand has scrapped the 60 to 90-minute requirement until October 31, with a spokesperson for the airline confirming to Stuff Travel “customers can try…