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Find cheap flights to South Island from $405

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from the United States to South Island departing on 8/30. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
0 bags
Sun 6/9
Sun 6/16

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Best South Island Flight Deals

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Christchurch
Christchurch2 stops$783
Queenstown
Queenstown2 stops$851
Dunedin
Dunedin2 stops$1,280
Nelson
Nelson2 stops$957
Blenheim
Blenheim2 stops$2,015
Hokitika
Hokitika2 stops$1,885

Good to know

Low season

August

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$405
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 6% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 21% increase in price.
Flight from Honolulu to Christchurch

FAQs - booking South Island flights

  • How long is the flight to South Island?

    An average nonstop flight from the United States to South Island takes 24h 02m, covering a distance of 8087 miles. The most popular route is San Francisco - Christchurch with an average flight time of 17h 40m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to South Island?

    The cheapest ticket to South Island from the United States found in the last 72 hours was $727. The most popular route is from San Francisco to Christchurch and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $727.

  • What are the most popular destinations in South Island?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Christchurch (45% of total searches to South Island). The next most popular destinations are Queenstown (35%) and Dunedin (8%). Searches for flights to Blenheim (6%), to Nelson (4%) and to Invercargill (1%) are also popular.

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to South Island

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest South Island flight deals.

Top 5 airlines flying to South Island

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from the United States to South Island? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.2
Air New ZealandOverall score based on 633 reviews
8.1Comfort
7.9Entertainment
8.4Boarding
8.8Crew
7.6Food
Airline reviews

Short flight so no entertainment, turbulence so no food service - overall flight as expected

8.0 ExcellentMichelle, Apr 2024NPL - AKL
Read more about Air New Zealand reviews

Short flight so no entertainment, turbulence so no food service - overall flight as expected

Great meal. Best seats ever! They need to teach other airlines how to do that.

Overall excellent but the Captain kept the seat belt sign on for far too long, especially at the beginning and end of the flight. It was 2 hours after take-off before the crew were able to start the service (on an 11 hour night flight, reducing our sleeping time) and the seat belt sign on went on during breakfast (90 mins before landing) and was not turned off again until we landed. This made for an uncomfortable journey of trying to limit fluid intake because it was unclear when the toilets would be available for use.

Food was not good. We asked for Muslim food and it was weird tasteless type of boiled veges.

Crew were pleasant, happy to be there and were a joy to be around. Entire operation was professional, well thought out and ran like a Swiss clock.

United flight from SFO to PDX was cancelled. I will ask for a refund. Had to book on Alaska

They announced food service but then never came around. We also couldn’t land so kept trying to get to runway and then had to come up and go around happened like 3 times and cause the child next to me to start throwing up

There was a snafu with confirming seats at check which left us in limbo for the second leg of our trip. I believe the ANZ app is not well integrated with the systems at the terminal resulting in this disconcerting error.

Flight attendants are always pleasant and helpful. Pilot kept us updated.

Just a hiccup being added to the NZ Traveller Declaration a bit late.

Business class Seats on the A350 from Nan to YVR were wonderful. The flight crew was okay but could do with better training. Toilets were clean but ran out of paper towels towards the end of the flight. The food/menu and the wine offered really needs considerable improvement. Dinner options were either Bolani, a beef sandwich (even this could be made much better), or paneer butter masala. Unfortunately, if you are not a fan of Fijian food, there isn’t much choice. Dessert was either turmeric ice cream or fruits but unfortunately, they were out of fruit! So the only option was turmeric ice cream. I’m not certain how many passengers like turmeric but I am not one of them. They need to cater to a more diverse group of people. Perhaps they need a new chef? The movies& tv shows were mostly older so I didn’t find that interesting either. It was however, fun to view the plane’s exterior cameras as we take off and land. The best thing about this flight are the business class seats.

Comfortable as one can get in Economy, food was very good, staff were super friendly & efficient.

Really liked the plane and business class seat. Food was ok but could be better. Service was very good.

Better connections, much better cabin crew, much cleaner cabin that Qantas, American and probably other carriers.

Better connections, much better cabin crews, much cleaner aircraft than Qantas, American and probably others.

Fiji left without me because American Airlines was too stupid to get to LAX on time. Fiji should have offered a standby on another flight but they told me tough luck. I will never fly with this company again.

The A350 aircraft business class experience was very good. Comfortable and well appointed pod, and supplemental bed pad available for sleeping. Food was very good.

Business class seats and amenities were excellent, crew very attentive. Slept well. Food good, lounge experience nice. Would fly them again. A350 aircraft excellent, very quiet.

The flight attendants were extremely friendly and helpful. Everything ran on time. I highly recommend Fiji Airways.

The experience was lovely in every respect. The crews were delightful.

There was nothing I didn’t like, prices a little lower would help

1) crackly headphone jack 2) one of the emergency seats recline. Usually second row does. But in this case neither did 3) food was scrambled eggs or fruit. 4) fruit should not be the option to eggs 5)miserable unpleasant crew not a smile. Thought that was a virgin thing

Amazing! Was put on the earlier flight and I requested for an aisle seat and was given it. Thanks Qantas!

It was nice having space in the way back where it thinned out with passengers, most folks in the far back were able to lay down and sleep. That was a pleasant surprise. Made the 15 hr flight go by pretty smooth, watching a few movies and resting. I had previously never used an airplane toilet, but finally used one. It wasn't too bad. All workers were very helpful and friendly. Their hospitality was welcomed as well

Enjoyed the new possibilities of in flight entertainment. Been awhile since I've flown, and that was a nice surprise. Being able to pick from such a variety was personalized and welcomed.

Boarding was terrible - the ground staff member Fredeya at lax was more military than customer service, have never encountered a customer service representative as rude as her. Apart from that all other staff were wonderful and the flight was good.

I travelled first class from LAX to MEL and it was a series of disasters which I put down to lax staff who dont care and a suck it attitude to customers - its all lip service and no delivery. The flight was delayed due to aircraft refuellers putting on 300,000 litres of fuel on a 380Q1. I entered via the first class bridge loaded my bags in the overhead locker. the lady in the next isle in first class also had hers in there as she wasn't allocated a locker over her seat. The attendant asked would I like a champagne - I said yes please. he promptly delivered a empty glass and the glass left on the desk. Then he ignored me for 20 minutes. When i asked him is he out of champagne he gave me the usual rubbish I was distracted. There are four staff and 15 first class passengers - give me a break. the glass stayed there on takeoff and then was still there 9 hours into the flight. When I arrived to my seat I told him I had eaten and wouldn't be eating on the flight - it was 10.30pm. Yet he comes by later 4am ( I happen to be awake) and says are you eating with us? I asked for the bed to be made up - they put a 3 inch 7cm mattress on the chair but as usual the break in the chair - the mattress sinks into it - so I had to move it around so I didnt get my back sunk in the V - Im 187cm tall. The cabinet next to 1K is for staff bags and the toilet is next door. I tried to avoid this seat but couldn't change - in to the flight 8 hours and the cabin rest change over kicks in - this attendant is shining his torch in my eyes taking out and returning his bag. Then the toilet starts flushing and forget trying to get to sleep. Yet no-one else needed torch! 11 hours into the 15.5 hour flight I ask for breakfast - I order two poached eggs, bacon on multigrain toast, tomatos and mushrooms. I get no bacon or toast and have to order it and the eggs are cold. Then I order a coffee which is so badly spilled - and not by air turbulence she brings back a serviette and replaces the first one rather than providing a clean dry saucer! First class in Qantas is a joke as the staff just don't get the meaning of prompt service and attention to detail. I will fly business class rather than first on Qantas as its better value for money but I have been very impressed with United First Polaris and given I fly internationally every month this is going to be my choice.

I was in premium economy. My seat didn’t recline much - it was broken. My phone charger didn’t work.

Experience was great. My only advice is to have a pasta dish on the menu. Otherwise everything was excellent.

Short flight. Needed a smart phone to watch any movie.

Check in etc was very good. As for on the plane, it was like flying in a freezer. It was so cold, i have flown for years and never been so cold on a plane. Staff on board said its always cold when flying which is a load of rubbish. They wouldnt put any heating on and now i have the flu because of this .

I’ve had a couple flights this week on United that were delayed by an hour or more

Flight was delayed 2.5 hours - a big deal on an overnight when you plan to sleep.

I feel like they have upgraded the app since I last flew United and I found it to be super helpful. I had stopped flying United unless absolutely necessary and my experience on this trip indicates they have been working hard to improve their services.

Surprisingly easy! I was hesitant to try this, but the cost swayed me. I actually felt like I had less stress than all the taxiing and possible delays that occur with short regional flights where you spend less time in the air than getting to and from the plane..

This flight was delayed multiple times and eventually canceled around 2-3ish. Original take off time was around 10:30am. By 3, there were no other options out of Houston, so stuck in Houston for from 3pm - 11am the next day.

Should have video screens Plane audio was poor and without wired connection hard to understand crew. Should serve more than just cups of water and pretzels on six hour flight. Did not see crew rest of flight. Fix charging sockets to retain charging blocks.

I paid $380 for my one-way ticket from California to Minnesota. The fair did not include online check-in. I received instructions from their app to check in at a kiosk. At the kiosk, the boarding pass would not print until an actual person came to verify that I had a personal item and not a carry-on item, On the plane, the person next to me was drunk and allowed to continue to order alcohol. United is garbage I’d rather fly spirit.

The plane was dirty and the in seat air wasn't blowing as planes usually do.

Generally good but there wasn’t any staff available when my luggage didn’t appear at baggage claim in Fresno. It took about half an hour to locate a staff member to open up the locked room where it was being kept.

Worst situation ever! I booked my tickets for this trip on Alaska Airlines. I guess AA is a partner and we flew nonstop from Eugene to PHX on an AA jet. I had to pay for luggage from PHX to EUG. And this was an Alaska Airlines reservation paid for with Alaska airlines credit card! Got to the PHX airport and was not able to check bags because of some weird issue with the AA software. My reservation had to be the-entered by the agent. I will never pick another American Airlines flight on the Alaska Airlines website. While on vacation, I tried to upgrade our seats for the trip home. The request just buffered and never went through. I tried four times and was charged four times on my credit card. The card was charged but the seats were never changed. What a wreck!

Left from gate 30 minutes before flight. Never been late to a flight ever. It says 15 minutes before explicitly on the ticket.

I like the boarding process, it was fast. The seat doesn’t have a TV for a long flight and food wasn’t served, just snacks.

Use planes with TVs on flights over 4 hours. The free entertainment was a cheap in between solution for a very long flight that you don't even bother providing meals or decent snacks.

Even though we left CMI late, we mostly made up the time.

Delayed almost 4 hours for a 45 minute flight with no explanation.

Again, multiple delays and I eventually just canceled and drove!

Great crew. Very comfortable business seats with nice bedding. Good food. We were delayed to let late passengers on the flight, but otherwise great experience.

Great crew. We were delayed so that late passengers could get on the flight. Love the bedding in business class. Good food. Great experience.

The CX617 from HK to BKK was delayed more than 1.5 hours.

Book Cheap South Island Plane Tickets

Recent round-trip flight deals

6/8Sat
2 stops
36h 55mLAX-CHC
6/15Sat
1 stop
18h 30mCHC-LAX
$783
7/1Mon
1 stop
16h 40mHNL-CHC
7/6Sat
1 stop
21h 15mCHC-HNL
$784
6/8Sat
1 stopFiji Airways
14h 20mHNL-CHC
6/15Sat
1 stopFiji Airways
30h 45mCHC-HNL
$865
6/20Thu
1 stopFiji Airways
17h 15mLAX-CHC
7/2Tue
1 stopFiji Airways
18h 40mCHC-LAX
$867
7/29Mon
2 stopsAir New Zealand
18h 40mLAX-CHC
8/6Tue
1 stopAir New Zealand
17h 20mCHC-LAX
$947
7/3Wed
2 stopsAir New Zealand
25h 30mLAX-CHC
7/15Mon
2 stopsAir New Zealand
23h 40mCHC-LAX
$979
7/3Wed
1 stopQantas Airways
23h 00mLAX-CHC
7/15Mon
1 stopQantas Airways
21h 40mCHC-LAX
$1,071
7/30Tue
1 stopQantas Airways
19h 45mLAX-ZQN
8/7Wed
1 stopQantas Airways
21h 05mZQN-LAX
$1,157
6/4Tue
2 stopsUnited Airlines
29h 40mLAX-CHC
6/20Thu
2 stopsUnited Airlines
22h 47mCHC-LAX
$1,237
7/24Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
40h 00mLAX-CHC
8/2Fri
2 stopsUnited Airlines
30h 55mCHC-LAX
$1,414

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Recent one-way flight deals

8/30Fri
1 stop
17h 35mHNL-CHC
$405
10/15Tue
2 stopsFiji Airways
26h 15mHNL-CHC
$491
10/15Tue
3 stops
27h 35mHNL-CHC
$513
6/15Sat
1 stopFiji Airways
17h 20mLAX-CHC
$563
8/30Fri
2 stopsJetstar
35h 15mHNL-CHC
$611
6/19Wed
1 stopAir New Zealand
18h 25mLAX-CHC
$993
6/28Fri
1 stopAir New Zealand
16h 25mSFO-CHC
$1,053
7/1Mon
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
42h 55mLAX-CHC
$1,291
6/14Fri
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
42h 55mLAX-CHC
$1,363
5/29Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
38h 55mSFO-CHC
$1,517

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Recent domestic flight deals

6/6Thu
nonstopJetstar
0h 50mWLG-CHC
6/13Thu
nonstopJetstar
0h 50mCHC-WLG
$42
10/17Thu
nonstopJetstar
1h 20mAKL-CHC
10/23Wed
nonstopJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$44
10/19Sat
nonstopJetstar
1h 20mAKL-CHC
10/21Mon
nonstopJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$45
8/9Fri
nonstopJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
8/22Thu
nonstopJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$57
6/5Wed
nonstopSounds Air
0h 45mWLG-NSN
6/12Wed
nonstopSounds Air
0h 45mNSN-WLG
$83
6/5Wed
nonstopSounds Air
0h 45mWLG-NSN
6/12Wed
nonstopSounds Air
0h 45mNSN-WLG
$85
8/17Sat
multi-stopAir New Zealand
5h 45mAKL-NSN
8/22Thu
nonstopAir New Zealand
1h 30mNSN-AKL
$95
8/15Thu
nonstopAir New Zealand
1h 30mAKL-NSN
8/19Mon
nonstopAir New Zealand
1h 30mNSN-AKL
$101
8/9Fri
multi-stop
7h 00mAKL-CHC
8/22Thu
nonstop
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$101
7/15Mon
nonstop
1h 25mAKL-CHC
7/17Wed
nonstop
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$111

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Last minute flights to South Island

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

5/14Tue
multi-stop
21h 20mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stop
39h 05mZQN-LAX
$1,092
5/14Tue
multi-stopAir New Zealand
22h 20mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stopAir New Zealand
21h 45mZQN-LAX
$1,185
5/14Tue
multi-stopAir New Zealand
30h 05mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stopAir New Zealand
23h 26mZQN-LAX
$2,203
5/15Wed
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
42h 45mLAX-ZQN
6/8Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
46h 35mZQN-LAX
$2,252
5/13Mon
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
42h 00mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
28h 45mZQN-LAX
$2,289
5/13Mon
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
42h 00mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
52h 55mZQN-LAX
$2,299
5/14Tue
multi-stopLATAM Airlines
55h 35mLAX-ZQN
5/21Tue
multi-stopLATAM Airlines
50h 55mZQN-LAX
$3,662

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Flights to South Island

Cabin classes:

$94
$124
$65
$23

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