Preparations for our Winter in New Zealand!

Departure - Tresowes Green Cottage

We wanted to fly to our main destination, New Zealand, via California with a week to travel together from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

And as we wished to make the most of this trip, we planned to return via Singapore spending a few dates to discover that amazing place.

It proved difficult to combine flights with different companies when booking directly with Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines or even United Airlines, so we decided to book via a travel agency.

We did this with Viajes La Molina in Gran Canaria, as our sister Agnes used to work there and she still has great contact with them.

No problems or issues with the agency, on the contrary they have been always helpful and trying to accommodate our demands in the best possible manner.

So, the booking was made with Air New Zealand with a combination of flight companies:

• Virgin Atlantic - London Heathrow to San Francisco
• Air New Zealand - Los Angeles to Christchurch
• Singapore Airlines - Auckland to Singapore and Singapore to London Heathrow

The seat numbers were allocated for the leg operated by Air New Zealand but not for the remaining of the itinerary.

We tried to check if we could add the seats for the other legs but the flight companies were pointing to each other mentioning that the flight was not booked with them or the flight was not operated by them. And we were allocated separated seats…NO WAY!

After much tribulation we managed to book our seats with the other two companies, although we had to pay extra with Singapore Airlines to be together.

Directly with the flight companies or via an online travel agency or a local travel agency, always check that your seats have been allocated at the time of the booking.

And we are ready to go, seats and train tickets on hand:

Johnny and Leslie waiting for the transport to Penzance train station