Can anyone reccomend a good airline or booking site for cheap flights from Switzerland to NZ? Ideally Basel (or Zurich) to Auckland. But can be flexible. Thanks!

Hmm, "cheap" flights to NZ don't really exist!!

I have usually found the best and cheapest way is to keep an eye out for special deals on the Singapore Air website. These often come up in June or July for travel over the Christmas period.
Or to find out the cheapest (but often longest) way there, this website is pretty useful: www.momondo.ch

Also, its always much easier to fly from Zurich as it means only 2 flights each way compared to 3+.

Oh, and unless you are planning a long stopover somewhere in between, make sure you book both flights with the same company - if you have a delay on the first leg of the trip and miss the second flight you will be covered and the airline will help find an alternative...book through two different companies, and you are on your own!

Hope this helps a little
P.S. Can I come too?!?!?

Look here:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/search?act...ds=new+zealand
Sometimes they list the current deals- Now they're all expired such as an old "From London to->New Zealand and return for just £549! "

It's very often from UK but that's very worthy. I never found similar Swiss website.

Get a cheap flight to Heathrow (UK) and fly from there. The CHF to GBP makes it much cheaper and there are lots more options. We flew to Sydney with BA from Heathrow and then used Air New Zealand from Sydney to Auckland.

I always try with www.expedia.com , www.orbitz.com , it gives good deals...

all the best.

Another option is travelling via Frankfurt (go from Basel or Zurich there by train):
The cheapest option in November is with Korean Air for around 1140 Euros (dep.09th return 28 th), from LHR it will be around 1330 Euros , from Zurich you have to pay around 1611 Euros with Emirates.
source: www.mcflight.de

It varies at ties - sometimes I have found the cheapest was to get to London, then get on the international flight from there ( last time that was then on the cheap version of the JAL flight, with a transit in Japan).

Frequently the lowest prices seem to be Air Singapore, Korean Airlines, or Emirates.

Another European friend once found the cheapest route was to Beijing, then on to Auckland - from memory that must have been with a Chinese airline. (from Nov. Lufthansa are advertising a 500e return fare to Beijing. Perhaps that can then be added to.

The flights through Asia are always cheaper than those through the USA. However, once I got lucky in getting a RtW ticket for less than the cheapest Asian route at that time.

When are you looking at going? :-)

Send a pm to FionaNZ as she recently reported that she booked hers very recently. I do believe it will be much cheaper to take EasyJet to Gatwick or Heathrow and fly on from there.

www.ebookers.ch

www.flugsupermarkt.de

If from the UK, try Trailfinders eg GBP600 to Auckland

http://flights.trailfinders.com/Economy/Auckland

http://flights.trailfinders.com/Economy/Brisbane

Flying From: London Heathrow
Book by: 31/08/2011
Fuel surcharges & pre-paid taxes: Included
Credit card fees: Do not apply with Trailfinders

I've been back and forward several times with Emirates (via Bangkok and Sydney), Singapore (via Singapore) and AirNZ (via London and LA).

My first choice is always Singapore. Zurich (and Basel I think)via Singapore to Auckland. The stopover in Singapore is 6+hours each way but they have a hotel inside the airport where you can sleep and shower if you want to (booked for a minimum of 6 hours, make sure to book in advance as the fill up). They also have free bus trips into town to look around. They take your passport off you so you technically don't enter Singapore but still nice for a change of scene.

AirNZ use terminal 3 at Heathrow which is well, a bit of a dump, and they don't open the check in early (2-3hours before the flight) so you have to wait round outside the terminal (at check in) between your flights. Unless you book all the way through on the AirNZ website (which was ~1000CHF more expensive, even thought they used the same flight we took which was ~150CHF) you will have to lug all your luggage between the terminals too. LA was a nightmare for us. Almost the entire stopover was spent in chaotic queues for immigration -don't forget you need the USA visa waiver. Then they locked us in a small departure gate for the rest of the time -i.e you can't go shopping in the airport terminal.

Emirates are fine but there are 3 stopovers on the way, Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney which drags things out incl having to go through security in Bangkok.

If it's a matter of only a couple of hundred CHFs difference I would pay the extra and go with Singapore just for the convenience. If you sign up to their website, they also have reasonably regular specials.

Looking at flights for February 2012. Thought i'd get better than 1,600 with the advance searches. Going through London or Zurich wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!