Black Friday: Air New Zealand £179 to LA, Air China to Asia and Oz for £1,000 -£1,300

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• AndyGWP says:

  28 Nov28 November 06:08

  OT – haven’t seen an article mentioning the Melia Black Friday sale yet and this was posted late yesterday afternoon, so just in case it’s of use to others who sporadically read comments.

  Thanks to whoever first mentioned the (up to) 50% Black Friday sale in comments. After I had done the search and chosen my hotel, I was able to apply a (personal) 20% voucher code at the payment page, for a further discount. Worth mentioning as this doesn’t work when you put the code in on the initial search screen (deliberately setup to not accept it on sale prices?)

  Anyways. The relevance is that you get 3 x 20% discount codes by being Melia Gold (find them by logging into your online Melia account), which you can obviously get by having the Amex Platinum

  Apparently you also get another 5% if you use the mobile app (thanks David) and don’t forget you also might have a birthday room upgrade voucher (thanks Cat)…

  I’ll stop banging on about it now 👍🏻🙂

  • Bagoly says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:06

    But for the hotel and dates I need in February the 50% off is more than “normal” was two weeks ago.

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      28 Nov28 November 08:11

      Agreed – the 50% isn’t all that, but the 20% is a winner.

• Nick says:

  28 Nov28 November 06:13

  Think one of the HFP team need to try out Air China soon.

  • Mike says:

    28 Nov28 November 07:25

    +1 Rhys to Air China please

    • Shoestring says:

      28 Nov28 November 07:41

      +1 Rhys—>China

      • LewisB says:

        28 Nov28 November 08:25

        +1 send Rhys to China

        • Lady London says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:51

          Or to Oz again in order for him to be able to report back on how is the long stopover in Beijing on Air China ?

        • The Original David says:

          29 Nov29 November 03:01

          The CA lounges in PEK T3E are probably some of the most disappointing international business class lounges in the world… The best option for a long layover there is to head to the end of the westerly pier which has a Starbucks, some lounging/sleeping chairs and a great runway view. But preferably get a visa-free transit and head into the city for a few hours!

  • Oh! Matron! says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:17

    You can also credit AC to Virgin:

    Other partner airlines* (tier points)
    Cabin Sectors under 2,000 miles Sectors 2,000 miles or over
    First / Business 25 50
    Economy 0 25

    That’s a cheeky 200 tier points for a ticket to Jarkata (http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=PEK-CGK)

    • The Original David says:

      28 Nov28 November 10:37

      Virgin only earns on CA on the LHR-PEK leg.

      • Oh! Matron! says:

        28 Nov28 November 11:21

        Dammit. Thanks for the clarification…

      • avstar says:

        29 Nov29 November 08:34

        Submit both legs manually, they will add both airmlies and TP for both legs.

  • Danksy says:

    28 Nov28 November 09:15

    +1

  • ChrisW says:

    28 Nov28 November 11:39

    me and my wife are flying business Air China in a few weeks Frankfurt to Melbourne for Christmas and new year on the deal from HoP earlier in the year. We can do a review if wanted?

    • Rob says:

      28 Nov28 November 11:49

      I think we’re OK Chris. We may speak to them and see if we can get a review flight.

    • Shoestring says:

      28 Nov28 November 11:50

      yep but then we don’t get the photo of Rhys eating his plate of chicken feet

• Shoestring says:

  28 Nov28 November 06:30

  The *only* way to give yourself a decent chance of getting the ANZ BF fare is to use their HOLD facility, which costs an extra £25 but gives you plenty of time to fill in passport details later.

  This will bring the total cost to £204.

  Virgin is offering the same route for £250-£260 at the moment (Skyscanner, limited dates through Jan-May) so you might want to look at that as well, I’m not sure if it includes luggage or if with ANZ it’s included.

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:05

    and BA are offering San Francisco for £245 return (Skyscanner/ TravelUp, VCLOUD£15, HBO, select dates Feb through May)

• Ellen says:

  28 Nov28 November 07:57

  So what is RHYS secret to getting these cheapo flights?

  Insider trading|?

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:41

    Registering for the FF scheme first so all personal and payment info is prepopulated.

    He is on hols this week so I doubt he will be in competition with you again unless he gets up at 4am.

  • Andrew says:

    28 Nov28 November 09:23

    Probably just the basics:-

    Superfast internet connection
    Existing account holder
    Logged in and an organised
    Swift on the keyboard

• Lee says:

  28 Nov28 November 08:05

  Is the NZ prices return or just one way?

  What is Air China like?

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:40

    Return. An AC review is linked in the article …..

• ChrisC says:

  28 Nov28 November 08:21

  £300 more to fly ex UK that ex Germany to Seoul.

  £170 odd of that is APD. A few quid on airport fees.

  BUT how much would you spend on the positioning fligths to get to/from Germany?

  Plus depending on the departure and arrival times to / from Seoul you might need a hotel in Germany as well at both ends of the trip in order to get suitable positioning flights.

  So if considering this offer look at ALL the costs not just the flights. Ex-Europe is not always cheaper.

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:38

    True. But you have also gone all-London centric and are assuming everyone lives a short taxi from Heathrow.

    • ChrisC says:

      28 Nov28 November 08:52

      But you yourself say that the vast majority of your readers are from London so a bit rich to say I’m being Londoncentric Rob!

      But even if someone from say Birmingham or Manchester or Glasgow wanted to take up these flights the advice to price up all options is still valid.

  • KevMc says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:40

    In the example you quote, as a solo traveller with no intention of staying in Germany, I guess it makes no sense. But if you are a couple, or a family/group of 3/4, then the savings mount up. A couple going on the same flights save £600, or can use that £600 to get a ‘free’ 2-3 night stay in Germany.

    We normally see an ex-EU fare as a good opportunity to have an extra few nights in another city as part of the holiday (at least in the way there). I always like to see as many places per trip as possible, and if I can go out and in to different cities then will do that. We will then usually use a RFS economy flight to position.

• Jtz says:

  28 Nov28 November 08:43

  Am I right that the air China flights can be booked for summer 2020 holidays?

  • marcw says:

    28 Nov28 November 08:46

    Yes. Business until 31 August!

• Salmon Hamed says:

  28 Nov28 November 09:52

  o/t

  be warned guys at this time of year hotel scams are all the rage.
  booked admittedly a non-refundable rate for 15 days and then hours later, hotel drops the price massively. i stupidly cancelled it, and that triggered it to charge the full amount. it’s so annoying as my partner insisted i book it early, against my better judgement. i feel screwed. feel scammed and i know people will say ‘non-refundable’, but common sense must take over at some point.

  • marcw says:

    28 Nov28 November 10:10

    Never really book a non-refundable rate more than 2 months in advance. You are better off, if booking long in advance and book a flexible fare. As time goes on, you should check prices, also on competing hotels.

    • Salmon Hamed says:

      28 Nov28 November 10:15

      it’s terrible. holiday is next week. these people completely ruined it with their stupidity.
      can’t trust hotel that behave in this way. tripadvisor gives it top reviews. i need to make my own blog to tell the truth.

      • Rui N. says:

        28 Nov28 November 10:22

        I’m very sorry for your troubles, but for your description I don’t see exactly what the hotel did wrong.
        When you book a non-flexible rate there is always a risk that the price will go down.

        • Lee says:

          28 Nov28 November 10:26

          Agree

        • Salmon Hamed says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:32

          one day you will find yourself in the same position and i hope someone repeats what you say.
          to charge someone a rate and then drop it by 30% in the space of hours would leave you hacked off.
          good travels, and for you, please don’t be warned. nothing wrong happening here.

        • john mcdibble says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:35

          wish this rui chap the same karma. he won’t be so smug then

        • Salmon Hamed says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:05

          I want to just say that I am so stupid that they offered me a massive upgrade to a suite with pool access, which even at sales prices is double what i paid. So yes, good story to end here. Contact hotel and they can do good things.

        • Lady London says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:17

          @Salmon Hamed we’ve all done something like this! That’s why we come to sites like HfP! But we’ve all done something like this the first time.

          If you are feeling cheeky, and if you can do this with a smile, and if you will keep smiling whatever answer you get, i suggest you call thé hôtel, express your disappointment that thé price changés so soon after you booked, and ask do they have a 24hour cancellation policy that would let you cancel and rebook at thé new rate.

          When they say no, say again how disappointed you are and ask would they be prepared to include something like ftrr breakfast in the rate. Or, if you already got breakfast then ask for a room upgrade or possibly a bar credit to be included. The hotel might just possibly give you something. If they say no keep smiling, thank them and be nice. Reason is, good chance your request is noted on your file and even if theybsay no, when you arrive they might just do something extra for you.

          If you are still annoyed when you call then don’t try this. But you have nothing to lose by trying.

        • Lady London says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:25

          Ha. Was typing my suggestion in the Underground and just saw you did it anyway :-). See, you are a good HfP’er, aren’t you 🙂

        • Rui N. says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:25

          “one day you will find yourself in the same position and i hope someone repeats what you say”

          Nope, I won’t. Like other people said, there is no point in checking back what the price is now on a non-refundable fare. I’m sure I’ve booked plenty of them that decline in price in the meantime. Do I care? Not really.

      • John says:

        28 Nov28 November 11:43

        You mean you ruined your own holiday by checking the price for something you already know was not refundable. You are stupid.

        • Rob says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:49

          Yeah, that can never lead to a happy outcome!

        • john mcdibble says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:49

          it’s not my holiday pal.
          john you are stupid if you think that what you have has any meaning.
          you shouldn’t be on a site about deals if you’re acting like this. very lame.

        • emma hayes says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:51

          calling someone stupid isn’t on.
          that’s not your first mistake john, that’s for sure. back under your stone..

        • Archie M says:

          28 Nov28 November 11:53

          Only stupid person is John. He should get a life or contribute rather than abuse people. Pathetic. We’ve all been scammed and it’s never nice.

        • Rui N. says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:26

          “We’ve all been scammed and it’s never nice.”

          There was no one here being scammed. No need to trivialise words.

        • Genghis says:

          28 Nov28 November 12:37

          I don’t really see what all the fuss is about. By booking a non-refundable booking, the purchaser is happy to pay that price, otherwise they wouldn’t book it. Once you’ve booked something which can’t be refunded, it’s best to just see it as a sunk cost that can’t be changed. Same applies to investments, currency etc. No scam going on whatsoever.

      • marcw says:

        28 Nov28 November 13:53

        Just learn from the mistake so it doesn’t happen again in the future.

    • Benilyn says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:57

      What hotel? 🤷🏿‍♀️ Isn’t that the main thing

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