Thai lady travel to NZ - 1st Visit, 1st time travelling - TIPS please

[David48]

Guys, my Thai gf's sister has her visa for New Zealand.

It's a 1 month Tourist Visa ... is that common?

She would love to fly direct.

To the KIWI's out there ... how do you travel?

Direct, 1 stop strategy?

Any site for the Arrivals / declaration Card in Thai.

I note that ANZ no-longer fly direct but code share.

So gentlemen, any tips, flights etc??

Auckland is the destination. Leaving late August or early September

Thanks in Advance ...

[GrantSmith]

Only one "direct" strategy via TG mate...

Plenty of "one stop" available...

Jetstar would do BKK-MEL-AKL

Malaysian go via KUL

Singapore Airlines go via SIN

Qantas would go via SYD or MEL

Emirates would go via SYD, BNE or MEL (don't quote me on that though)

You could probably also go via HKG (with Cathay) or CAN (Guangzhou with China Southern)

Depending on what the strategy your after; price, flight duration, stop overs etc...

Qantas is looking the best bet for the time she's looking

Make sure she packs the heavy wool jumpers that she doesn't have, AKL like the rest of that country is cold 90% of the year

[FDog]

When I booked my gf's ticket to Oz I told the airline that she was a first time fligher. They had someone meet her at the check in and take her through customs/immigration etc. She felt like she was a VIP by not having to stand in line. They did a great job looking after her.

So if I were you I would do the same thing, just contact the airline to say she is a first timer and needs assistance.

Other poster is spot on, bring plenty of woollies for the cold weather. I lived in Auckland for 5 years, very nice place, she will really like it. Though she may never leave your house because of the weather.

[devolad]

Hi David48,

When my lady first visited NZ it was on a 3 month tourist visa (I paid a bond to NZ Government of NZ$3K which was returned after her visa status was successfully changed). Am not sure how experienced your g/f sister is at international travel.

Flight from BKK to NZ (Auckland) is direct and between 10.5 - 11.5 hours (depends on tail winds - flight to BKK from Auckland 12.5 hours so winds must blow down hill!?)

If she is new to the international travel experience, I would consider flying thai airways - she may find it comforting to see some culturally familiar faces staffing the flight, flight crew will also be able to assist with completing the declaration card. (arrived in NZ from LOS 3 days ago - fly thai and didn't see any declaration cards in thai language).

I know thai girls are paranoid about not being able to get food they are used to in NZ so like to pack the pantry - try to dissuade her - it will mean having to declare everything and NZ, being an agricultural based economy is paranoid about allowing food through customs. It may be ok to bring through food and declare if her English language is good. If her English is limited, the hassle of a full bag inspection may frighten and confuse her.

My lady has sniffed out (literally) most of the good thai food outlets - will send you a pm with a few names of places that she thinks pass the test).

For filling in departure card she will need to be able to provide an address where she will be staying whilst in nz - suggest to her that she write this down and put in her ticket folder, so she can refer to same when completing the card on the plane.

Agree with Grant - tell her to pack some warm clothes - will still be pretty fresh in Auckland. Hope she has a great time.

[SlyAnimal]

First time we flew to NZ together, we flew via Thai Airways direct. It's easy, which was particularly good as my gf had never travelled overseas before, but expensive.

Each subsequent trip I usually fly via Jetstar, it has a stopover in Singapore (No visas required if you want to stay a few days there) and is one of the more cost effective options. Qantas is often slightly cheaper, but with a stopover in Sydney, I assume that so long as my gf didn't leave the airport she wouldn't have any problems with booking a flight there. However to avoid any hassles I just stick to jetstar.

A quick internet search should turn up a New Zealand Arrival card for her to check out, if she uses Thai spelling she might even get one with Thai translations next to the words etc (She'd probably want to then print out the translations for when she goes to NZ). Although whether she declares anything or not, she'll end up in the same queue at the airport, where they will question her + check her bags.

And yes 1 month tourist visas are common, I think if she told them that she was going to stay for longer, she could have probably gotten a longer visa (She'd have to show more money in her account though, as the amount you show is based on how many months you'll be in NZ for).

If she does want to stay longer, it's possible to change/extend visas while in NZ I think, but I don't know the details of it (And you'd still need a return flight which leaves before the end of her 1 month visa, else she might be refused entry).

[David48]

When I booked my gf's ticket to Oz I told the airline that she was a first time fligher. They had someone meet her at the check in and take her through customs/immigration etc. She felt like she was a VIP by not having to stand in line. They did a great job looking after her.

So if I were you I would do the same thing, just contact the airline to say she is a first timer and needs assistance.

Other poster is spot on, bring plenty of woollies for the cold weather. I lived in Auckland for 5 years, very nice place, she will really like it. Though she may never leave your house because of the weather.

Not my gf ... she's been to Australia now 4 times ... her sister ... but easy to confuse.

But the real reason for the reply is ... may I ask what Airline your gf flew?

Thanks ...

[David48]

Guys .. Thai Visa at it's best.

Thanks for the replies and I hope more to follow soon.

Cheers ...

[SlyAnimal]

I know thai girls are paranoid about not being able to get food they are used to in NZ so like to pack the pantry - try to dissuade her - it will mean having to declare everything and NZ, being an agricultural based economy is paranoid about allowing food through customs. It may be ok to bring through food and declare if her English language is good. If her English is limited, the hassle of a full bag inspection may frighten and confuse her.

I would strongly agree with this.

NZ Customs can be great to deal with, but they can also be your worst nightmare.

All types of food, wood, animal products and even dirt have to be declared (Yes I did say dirt..... clean your shoes before you go to NZ!!)

Likewise if she's been in contact with any animals other than cats and dogs within the past 30 days or so she has to declare it.

Although these are things which you simply have to declare, so long as you haven't been in contact with chickens, in an area with a chickenflu outbreak, you should be fine lol. Likewise dirt/wood etc is more for muddy boots which might contain seeds, parasites or bugs within. But you still have to declare it.

I've brought through packaged food like chips, dried longans and noodles without any problems, but you need to declare it.

Funnily enough, on one trip I even got a bottle of snake whiskey (with both a dead snake + scorpion inside the bottle) through customs, although they did take it off to scan it at a lab or something for about 20mins first. But in general they're relatively friendly, so long as you declare what you have (I have no doubt whatsoever, that they'd have fined me for the snake whiskey if I didn't declare it though lol).

[FDog]

When I booked my gf's ticket to Oz I told the airline that she was a first time fligher. They had someone meet her at the check in and take her through customs/immigration etc. She felt like she was a VIP by not having to stand in line. They did a great job looking after her.

So if I were you I would do the same thing, just contact the airline to say she is a first timer and needs assistance.

Other poster is spot on, bring plenty of woollies for the cold weather. I lived in Auckland for 5 years, very nice place, she will really like it. Though she may never leave your house because of the weather.

Not my gf ... she's been to Australia now 4 times ... her sister ... but easy to confuse.

But the real reason for the reply is ... may I ask what Airline your gf flew?

Thanks ...

Hi, sorry for my error.

She flew Thai, they did a good job. I think there are other airlines that provide such service for first timers though.

When my gf came over I was advised to ensure she had a few dollars in her pocket just in case anything happened. So if you can get say $100nz to her it may be an idea. But if not then I'm sure it will all be ok.

Hope she has a great time there. Good luck.

[FDog]

Forgot to mention.

If you paid for the airline ticket make sure you tell the airline because usually the person flying has to show their debit/credit card that was used to book the ticket. The airline will probably have a form for you to fill in and they will put a notice on the computer that it was paid by someone else and that all is good.

[Robby nz]

The GF went to NZ twice once alone and met me there (I had gone over earlier to do some business) and the second time we went together, we got a double entry tourist visa that, from memory, was good for 2 years.

Do not try to take any food stuff, we watched NZ customs empty two suitcases belonging to a Thai lady and chuck everything into the rubbish, lots of tears, but that's the way it is.

I took 2 hand made knives for my hunting mates and they hummed and haaed over whether they would allow them in, finally did, so they can be pretty tough.

Sitting around in a city is not much different anywhere in the world so get her out of it into some of the tourist things, if possible get her into the snow, she will never have seen that let alone touched it.

Make it an experience of a lifetime for her.

[David48]

^^ All of the replies above ...

[xylophone]

Agree with Robby nz as regards not taking ANY foodstuffs through customs as they are very strict, and you don't want the lady stressing out at customs in a foreign country.

If she can only eat Thai food (yes had the same problem with my GF) then there are plenty of Asian food shops in Auckland, or she could call into one of the many Thai restaurants around and ask for the best place to shop for Thai food.

There will still be snow on the ski fields in the South Island, but poss not in the North Island if she wants to take a trip down there.

Other tips..............taxi fares can be expensive compared to here; although Sept heralds the start of spring the night-time temp can get down to single figures; there is a good bus service around Auckland on a "hop on, hop off" type basis and it is very cheap; there is a ferry service from the bottom of Auckland's main street (Queen St) which goes to Waiheke Island and is well worth a visit for its restaurants, scenery and vineyards; an attraction just along the Auckland seafront is "Kelly Tarltons Underwater World" where one can view all sorts of marine life, sharks included, through plexiglass tunnels AND they have penguins and snow in a sep enclosure within touching distance; plenty of cheap eating at the many "foodhalls" around Auckland which include food from many different countries.........etc.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions.

[maanoi]

We never had trouble taking curry powder into nz. It was still sealed in the packaging though.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[xylophone]

We never had trouble taking curry powder into nz. It was still sealed in the packaging though.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I did manage to take some teabags from OZ through at one time (organic). However the customs are VERY strict, and my brother-in-law was held up at customs for almost an hour because there was a smidgeon of mud on his golf shoes!!

My thoughts were to err on the side of caution for a newbie to NZ.

[Katipo]

I fly Thai, simply because I like to fly direct. There planes are new (777 ER200S if I remember correctly) compared to some of the clunkers on the Euro routes. Only issue would be that the planes tend to get a bit warm and there are no individual air-blowers. Unusual as Thai’s usually go for over-chill.

I’ve brought 3 different girls to NZ over the years. All had office jobs and came from financially stable backgrounds. Visas were never an issue.

I’m an outdoors sort of guy, and like friends and companions to be the same. So always recommend a good jumper and a waterproof jacket or raincoat. If I need extra, just borrow from family.

Food has never been an issue. Only ever went for a few weeks and they seemed to love NZ food…. especially seafood and the Farmer’s markets.

[GrantSmith]

I did manage to take some teabags from OZ through at one time (organic). However the customs are VERY strict, and my brother-in-law was held up at customs for almost an hour because there was a smidgeon of mud on his golf shoes!!

My thoughts were to err on the side of caution for a newbie to NZ.

Nothing like a shoe shine courtesy of the NZ Government, my golf shoes have always come out cleaner than they've gone in

[David48]

I fly Thai, simply because I like to fly direct. There planes are new (777 ER200S if I remember correctly) compared to some of the clunkers on the Euro routes. Only issue would be that the planes tend to get a bit warm and there are no individual air-blowers. Unusual as Thai’s usually go for over-chill.

I’ve brought 3 different girls to NZ over the years. All had office jobs and came from financially stable backgrounds. Visas were never an issue.

I’m an outdoors sort of guy, and like friends and companions to be the same. So always recommend a good jumper and a waterproof jacket or raincoat. If I need extra, just borrow from family.

Food has never been an issue. Only ever went for a few weeks and they seemed to love NZ food…. especially seafood and the Farmer’s markets.

Thanks for that.

I'm fairly sure she has booked Thai and I'll try and find the deal because I was helping her a bit with the searches and there some good deals ... though I have to yet confirm a 'fly' price rather then an advertised price.

Also, about the clothes, the man in question has a daughter, so the winter woolies will be borrowed ... which is a smart move.

.