Usually, it’s best to find a good median point. Three months before you start to travel, start to keep an eye out on deals. They’re a dime a dozen these days, so make sure you get e-mail alerts and keep your preferred travel websites in your favourites. This will ensure you always know about the deals as they arise – and have the greatest chance of snapping them up.

Choose early morning or late evening flight bookings and you’ll save even more, and don’t forget the option of travelling with one airline to your destination, and another airline on the way back. Saving your hard earned cash and jetting off on holiday is still doable when you know all the tricks!

Image from Flickr.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hd

New Zealand Trade & Enterprise invited Rocket Lab to participate in a Trade Mission to Canada, and we were on the November 2nd inaugural Air New Zealand direct flight from Auckland to Vancouver. Instead of having to change planes in the US, it was a relatively easy 14 hour overnighter flight. Have dinner, watch a film, catch some zzz’s, watch another film with breakfast… and you’re there.

The trip was superb; we met with a number of related businesses and talked with university space researchers. I was very impressed with the friendliness of the locals and the beautiful landscapes, so I hope to get back there soon. As a result of the new direct flights between New Zealand and Canada, there’ll be a significant increase in visitor numbers from both countries. So far, there are three flights going each way every week, which Air New Zealand hopes to increase in short time.

Check out the The Canada Tourism Council of New Zealand to plan your trip!

Image from Flickr Crank 2: High Voltage dvdrip .

But this, ah, we’re onto a winner.

Good ol’ Air New Zealand is offering you the chance to win flights to Australia in a gimmicky, yet oddly enticing, way. The deal is this: just send a message online to a friend in Australia (an expat Kiwi, of course) and it’ll be displayed on a billboard outside Customs House in Sydney. Just by sending this message to a mate, you’ll go into the draw for a return flight to Aussie (and so will your friend). The gallery of sent messages also makes for good voyeuristic viewing (as well as the usual ‘I luv you, will you marry me?’s, there are comedians out there writing gems like this one: Hey man, remember the time we ate a whole pair of jeans? Come home so we can do it again!).

Remember, NZS.com lists heaps of other sites where you can enter competitions and snaffle free stuff for yourself. And if you don’t fancy your chances of winning, why not book a flight to Australia to escape these far-from-tropical wintry days?