Star Alliance members Lufthansa and Air New Zealand came together to offer premium economy tickets from Helsinki to Auckland in New Zealand starting at €1,695. The fare includes two checked bags. While you’d need to transfer in Germany and Vancouver, the airlines don’t allow stopovers.
The fare is available in April, May June and September 2024. You can find travel dates with the ITA Matrix as described in our Search & Book section. Once you find your preferred travel period, you can insert the dates into our search form and book the flights through Expedia.
You would first fly to Frankfurt or Munich in Germany on Lufthansa’s Airbus A320 family aircraft in economy class (3-3 layout). Then you would transfer to an Airbus A350 (from Munich, 2-3-2 layout) or a Boeing 747 (from Frankfurt, 2-4-2 configuration) for your flight to Vancouver. After stretching your legs in Canada, you’d board a Boeing 787 (2-3-2 layout) down to Auckland. While the Kiwi carrier’s new premium economy product is yet to take the skies, you can read about the current product in our review:
Lufthansa’s Premium Economy
In comparison to other airlines, Lufthansa’s Premium Economy is solid, but not outstanding. The reclining seats and legroom are above average. Still, cabin service and entertainment are almost the same as in LH’s economy class product.
In contrast to its regular economy seats, Lufthansa offers broader and more comfortable seats in Premium Economy, switching from a 3-4-3 / 3-3-3 seat alignment to 2-4-2 (Boeing 747 and Airbus A380) or 2-3-2 on its other wide-body aircraft. Furthermore, you can check two bags up to 23 kg at no additional cost. While the food is identical, it’ll be served on chinaware instead of plastic.
Search & Book
The fare rules do not state how long this fare will remain valid. There is a minimum stay of 7 nights and a maximum stay of 12 months, while stopovers are not allowed. The cheapest fares can be found in April, May, June and October of 2024.
To find availabilities, your best bet is the ITA Matrix (guide). For booking, the best option is Expedia. Here is a brief guide on how to easily find your preferred date:
Time needed: 2 minutes
- Fill out the Search Details
After opening the ITA Matrix, fill in the following details:
Origin: HEL
Destination: AKL
Click “Show Advanced Controls”
Routing Codes there:FRA,MUC YVR
Extension Codes (both ways):F bc=n
Routing Codes back:YVR MUC,FRA
Select “See calendar of lowest fares”
Start date: Select a one-month period when you would like to travel
Duration: Select your preferred trip length. You can write “7-14” “14-21”, however the minimum length is 7 and the difference cannot be more than seven.
Leave everything (including the cabin selection) as is.
- Find your departure date
In this step, you’ll be shown a calendar, in which you can browse each month. Once you find a departure date that suits you, click on it.
- Select a Duration
Once you click on the outbound date, you’ll be shown how much the trip would cost for different durations.
- Insert the dates into the booking form above and book your flight
Once you find your travel dates, you can insert them into our search form in the beginning of the deal and book your flights through Expedia.
Mileage
Lufthansa books you into booking class N on the long flights and booking class Y on the short ones, while you’ll find yourself in booking class A on Air New Zealand. This is what a trip via Munich (and Vancouver) would earn you:
- 34,042 Award Miles + 360 Points on Miles&More
- 30,458 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 29,534 Award Miles + 3,586 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 27,850 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 27,416 Award Miles + 26,438 Tier Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 27,416 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 27,416 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 26,982 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 26,982 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 26,634 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 26,438 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 26,438 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 26,438 Miles on Asiana Club
- 26,438 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 25,460 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 23,328 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 21,178 Award Miles + 50 Tier Points on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 18,480 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 14,118 Miles on Etihad Guest
- 12,320 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
Information & Tips for Auckland
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand with a population of approximately 1.5 million and a wide range of tourist attractions and activities for visitors. The city is also an excellent starting point to explore the rest of New Zealand. Auckland is connected to Southeast Asia and Asia pretty well, even non-stop flights to the USA are available. As of now, you’ll have to switch planes at least once when flying to New Zealand from Europe. But this may change since long-range flights are hitting new limits all the time
The Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit Auckland is between March and May and September and November. These are the times when you’ll find comparatively few tourists and can enjoy sunny days and moderate temperatures.
From the airport to the city
A bus to the city centre runs every 10 minutes, and the journey will take you about 40 minutes and a ticket for a one-way trip costs approx. €7.50. A taxi can cost up to €60, while Uber or Zoomy (similar to Uber) will cost between €24 and €43.
→ All Dealz for Auckland