With another year of travel planning almost behind us, we're really looking forward to what 2025 will hold. Thank you for your support this year and we wish you the very best for the holiday period. 

For those who value seamless travel experiences, exclusive comfort, and efficiency, Fine Travel has curated some of the best Business Class offers, holiday destinations, luxury rail adventures, and cruise opportunities. Designed with a focus on sophistication and relaxation, these offers cater to both work and leisure pursuits, allowing you to take a break without compromise.

We're pleased to share that Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Malaysia Airlines have extended their Earlybird specials to the UK and Europe. Importantly, this extension makes more return dates in September 2025 available to be booked now. The Singapore Airlines / Air New Zealand extension is only to 11 October so there isn't too much additional time. 

This week our latest Business Class and Premium Economy specials to the UK & Europe (for 2024 and early 2025 travel) include refreshed airfares from Lufthansa, an extension to the Emirates sale, the final days of the Qatar Airways sale and a sharp new fare to London from China Southern. 

With Easter and the 2024 financial year behind us we're rapidly approaching the peak UK / Europe travel season.  Significant events like Team New Zealand's America's Cup defence in Barcelona (August to October) and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics (26 July to 11 August) will continue to put pressure on airlines, cruises, tours and accommodation.

If you’re looking for an extended holiday this New Zealand winter, we’ve curated a list of some of the eye-catching cruises coming up in June and July 2024 for you to consider. You can also find the latest special cruise offers on our website here, and any special offers on Premium Economy and Business Class airfares around the world here.

For JANZ members who enjoy cruise holidays (or are considering their first cruise), arranging a charter or a group can be an excellent way to catch up with colleagues and, in the case of a charter, ensure that you are travelling with like-minded guests.  

We've seen some interesting developments in the Business Class space recently with four airlines offering differing perspectives on the year ahead.  For UK & Europe travel, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are sending conflicting messages about capacity with one announcing upcoming price increases and the other releasing more Earlybird discounts.

In this edition we look into the increased frequency of specials to North America, planning ahead for 2024 Winter Escapes, exploring Japan by sea and a reminder about our comprehensive cruise search engine. 

It's remarkable to look back at the articles we published in 2016 about low cost Business Class airfares from New Zealand to the UK and Europe and whether booking one of those Business Class airfares would mean missing out on some of the premium cabin benefits clients would normally enjoy.  Business Class for less than $6,000 pp return seems like a different world... that is until China Southern released a jaw dropping Business Class airfare of $6,000* pp return to London until 10 August 2023 (before professional travel service fees).

Cruise holidays continue to offer excellent value at the moment with the leading cruise lines offering a combination of discounts, suite upgrades, air credits and discounted deposits.  Interestingly we are also seeing more examples of single supplements being discounted or waived making it more affordable for solo travellers to join a cruise (we include some examples below).

As we cruise through 2023 there are still opportunities to take advantage of discounts and special offers on 2023 cruises. Cooler mornings and evenings will have us thinking of cruises as alternatives to winter escapes to the beach. 

Over the past week we've published a range of articles that I hope you will find informative and assist you with your travel planning.

Here are some of our thoughts about what's ahead for 2023 along with some holiday ideas and special offers.

As another year of travel uncertainty draws to a close, we get an update on the year ahead from Fine Travel.