How do you find cheap internal flights?

Making your way around New Zealand by plane is a super quick and easy option even for penny-pinching backpackers. The main two servers offering budget possibilities are Australian-owned Jetstar and Air New Zealand which tends to offer a greater number of destination choices. Aside from its standard fares Air New Zealand has a separate scheme known as 'Grab a Seat' which can easily see you landing yourself a plane trip at a mega deal price.

Typically speaking flights which depart from the bigger airports are cheaper because they are more plentiful. The NZ big six are Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton on the North Island and Christchurch, Nelson and Queenstown on the South Island.

Outside of the Jetstar and Air New Zealand destination choices domestic flights are also possible to a wider variety of other NZ destinations (often a bit pricier) which are typically operated by way of small, home-grown outfits. Examples of these are Great Barrier Airlines (from Auckland to Great Barrier Island as well as Kaitaia, Tauranga, Whangarei), Stewart Island Flights (Invercargill to Stewart Island) and Sounds Air which fly from Wellington to a variety of South Island airports which include Taupo, Picton and Westport.

General flight searches can direct you to all of the possibilities or head directly to one of the airline operators own websites. Check out here for a list of all the smaller domestic airports and information on smaller domestic carriers.