Viking Air for Homelands Tour

[travelbug246]

We are travelling from New Zealand and cannot pay the extra to fly Business Class as this service at an increased price is only available from Australia, which seems unfair, so we are opting to pay the extra $250 each to choose our airline and flights. Is this a good idea? We will have to arrange our own transfers etc but I understand we can have stopovers, which apparently we cannot if we leave it entirely up to Viking Air. Would love to hear from anyone who was done this.

[Peregrina651]

We are travelling from New Zealand and cannot pay the extra to fly Business Class as this service at an increased price is only available from Australia, which seems unfair, so we are opting to pay the extra $250 each to choose our airline and flights. Is this a good idea? We will have to arrange our own transfers etc but I understand we can have stopovers, which apparently we cannot if we leave it entirely up to Viking Air. Would love to hear from anyone who was done this.

 

The question is if custom air is even available for passengers in New Zealand. It is not available to passengers booking in the US on the Homelands itinerary but the rules may be different when booking in New Zealand.

 

IMHO, if actually available, $250 (plus hotels) seems worth it just to have a stopover and arrive less the worse for wear.

[photopro2]

Hello there,

 

I have just joined Cruise Critic and, as we have not yet taken our first cruise, I was not expecting to be able to provide advice on these boards so soon! However air travel between New Zealand and Europe is something that I can comment on as we made the same journey (only in reverse) earlier this year!

 

After much research we travelled from London on Singapore Airlines business class, stopped over for a few days in Singapore and then continued on Air New Zealand business class to Auckland. We made the return on Air New Zealand in premium economy with just a 24-hour stop in Los Angeles to break the journey. This way we also did a world circumnavigation, something I had always wanted to do!

 

Of course you could take the choice of going via only Asia or USA both ways. Whichever you choose we very strongly recommend a stopover both outbound and on the return, otherwise they are very long journeys in one go.

 

If money is unlimited then business class is certainly the way to fly, both Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand were fantastic. However if you are looking to hit the sweet spot between comfort and affordability then I would say that premium economy is an excellent option. Though it was good to have full sized beds on our outbound legs neither my wife or I found that we did much more than doze. Also the layout of the aircraft (especially on Singapore airlines) meant that our seats, even though they were adjacent, were a little far apart.

 

In contrast we were extremely impressed by Air New Zealand premium economy on our trip back via the USA. The seats were side-by-side but we each had plenty of space and more than enough legroom because of the “space seat” design where each pair of seats is in a sort of pod. There is no one reclining into your space and you can recline without worrying about the person behind you. Though we did not sample it I have read that Singapore airlines premium economy is of very high quality too.

 

We loved our longer stopover in Singapore but took only a 24 hour break in Los Angeles (as we visited there a number of times before) Even so we enjoyed the break and a night in a proper bed at an airport hotel. Of course you could stop longer if you would like to sample the glitz and glamour of Hollywood or one of the theme parks!

 

I take a bit of an interest in aviation and so if you have further questions about flights just add them to this thread and I’ll be happy to try and help.

Edited September 19, 2016 by photopro2

[travelbug246]

Thank you photopro2, as I have flights through Viking Air I will stick with them. If they wont let me pay extra to upgrade I will pay the $250pp to specify Singapore Airlines with stopovers in Singapore both ways.