‘Golden’ fare not cheapest

Press, 7 August 1981, Page 17

‘Golden’ fare not cheapest

By LES BLOXHAM t raveL editor

Senior citizens who normally fly on Air New Zealand's "golden age" fares will gain a bigger saving if they opt for the new 35 per cent discounted epic rate. Under the "golden age" scheme, travellers aged 65 or older can for instance, fly from Christchurch to Auckland return for $169.40. An epic ticket for the same journey costs only $157. a saving of $12.40. But the "golden age" scheme does offer a little more flexibility than the epic fares.

For example, "golden age" travellers do not have to buy round-trip tickets and they arc not bound by minimumstay restriction.’(Under the new epic-fare scheme, travellers must buy a return ticket and stay away for a minimum of two. nights).. - Unlike epic-fare tickets. "Golden age" tickets do not have to be bought in advance. (Epic travellers have to pay for their tickets within seven days of booking which must be made at least seven days before the departure date of the out-bound flight.)

Epic bookings also carry .a 50 per cent penalty fee if they are cancelled or amended within seven days of the start of travel.

(Travellers can be protected under most circumstances by the payment of a $2 insurance premium). The airline has no limitation on the number of seats available for sale to "golden age" travellers. (Only a percentage of available seats is set aside for epic-fare sales.) But "golden age" travellers are restricted as to the days on which they can fly: Tuesdays. Wednesdays. Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Under the epic scheme, however, the only closed periods are Monday mornings. Friday afternoons and evenings, and specified days near the beginning and end of school holidays. Senior citizens contemplating round-trip flights in New Zealand should first check the availability of epic seats before committing themselves to the more expensive "golden age" fares. Provided they are willing to meet, the epic requirements, to take out the $2 insurance coverage. worthwhile savings can be made.

The following examples show the epic fare, with the "golden age" rate in parenthesis. for return flights from Christchurch to:

Invercargill. $lO9 ($117.60): Dunedin. $9O ($96.60): Wellington. $B6 ($92.40); Tauranga. $l5O ($161): Auckland. $157 ($169.40): or Whangarei. $173 ($196.20).