The Kiwis priced out of heading home this Christmas – and those prepared to pay whatever it takes

When Natalie Rules discovered it would cost her family of four nearly A$5000 (NZ$5600) to head home for Christmas, she realised they’d be spending yet another festive season without their New Zealand whānau.

Like many Kiwis overseas, the Brisbane-based family hasn’t been able to return to Aotearoa for three Christmases in a row. Last year it was because of the scarcity of spots in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). This year it’s because of the ultra-expensive airfares.

It’s proving a https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300712605/bonkers-airfares-why-you-might-be-out-of-luck-if-you-want-to-fly-home-for-christmas#comments”>particularly pricey year to travel over the festive season, with international airfares well up on previous years. House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said pent-up demand, reduced capacity and soaring fuel prices had seen some airlines hike fares by as much as 30%, while overseas Kiwis have reported having to pay up to 10 times more than they had before the Covid-19 pandemic.

For most New Zealanders priced out of coming home for Christmas, it’s being separated from family and friends even now Covid-related travel restrictions have ended that is a particularly bitter pill to swallow.

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Rules said she is “gutted” to miss out on yet another festive season at home as her one-year-old son Vin has never experienced a Kiwi Christmas and her four-year-old daughter Scarlett has no memory of her only one three years ago.

“Vin only got to meet his family in March at nine months old, and Scarlett has only seen them through the screen since the Christmas of 2019.”

Rules – who, in 2019, paid just under a third of the $5000 she was quoted for a return trip for the four of them this festive season – is disappointed her children will miss out on making memories with their grandparents at an important time of year, and “building beautiful friendships” with her friends’ children.

If they’d made it home, they’d have spent Christmas and Boxing days surrounded by their New Zealand-based family. Instead, they’ll probably have “a quiet day at home watching our kids play with their toys on video chat”.

Sarah Picci’s 22-year-old son Logan, meanwhile, has been left out of pocket after paying for himself and his 11-year-old brother Max to fly to New Zealand for Christmas, only to discover they wouldn’t be able to afford the airfares back.

Picci said Logan had only been able to afford the one-way airfares from the Gold Coast to Wellington, so she and her partner had been looking at flights to get them back to Queensland.

Unable to afford the $800 it would cost to bring just Max back in the first week of January, Picci decided to fly over in late January, when the fares were cheaper, and stay for a week before returning to Queensland with him. But she soon discovered there were no flights from Wellington to the Gold Coast left available.

“So they both have paid one way for nothing as they can’t afford to come back,” she said. “We’re feeling terrible because my mum and dad will yet again be having Christmas on their own. And because there are no flights for me to go over and pick Max up late January, I miss out on seeing our grandchildren too.”

Dublin-based Kiwi Olivia Stewart said the “extortionate” airfares will prevent her from spending a fourth Christmas with her family in New Zealand.

If she were in Aotearoa, she would have spent the day “with lots of friends and family as we enjoy the beautiful summer sunshine and indulge in food and drink all day”, adding that, as her brother’s a commercial fisherman, there’s always plenty of crayfish and pāua fritters on the table.

Instead, she’ll be hiding from the winter weather at her in-laws’, cooking and watching telly in her pyjamas.

Having just become an aunt to her niece Hazel, who was born a few weeks ago, Stewart is disappointed to have to “miss out on the magic of her first Christmas with my family.

“It’s definitely hard, and around the Christmas season is when I tend to feel the most homesick. I grew up having such wonderful large family Christmases with my extended family, so in the past years seeing them all getting merry together through videos and photos makes me feel a million miles from home.”

While she feels both types of Christmas have their charms, she misses the “relaxed barbecue in the backyard vibe” of the New Zealand version.

“Growing up, I remember having such fun Christmases with family and friends – playing games in the backyard and swimming in the pool. Christmas in New Zealand feels more like a summer party than it does compared to a Christmas in the northern hemisphere.”

Some with the funds to do so, however, have decided to stump up for the pricey airfares, feeling they have no choice but to do so.

Melbourne-based travel manager April Sherry said the A$3000 (NZ$3350) her family of four (two adults, one child and one infant) paid for return flights to Wellington is about double what they spent on flights over the festive period before the pandemic.

“The prices are so expensive… With the rising living costs it’s a lot of money, especially when you can spend the same amount and fly halfway across the world.”

While frustrated at the cost of airfares, Sherry said that, after missing out on two kiwi Christmases, nothing would stop her getting home this year.

“Being locked down in Aussie and locked out of New Zealand for so long due to Covid robbed us of spending time with our loved ones, saying goodbye to loved ones who passed, and being there for each other properly. We welcomed a new addition to our family earlier this year so having my little family meet their family is extremely important…

“Once you add in car hires, spending money and accommodation, it’s one expensive holiday. But making memories for my boys and having a big Kiwi Christmas can’t be missed.”

Megan Hoff paid $10,800 for return flights from Melbourne to Auckland for eight people over the festive season, and an additional $5500 for a rental car, taking the total to $16,300.

While she said “it’s sad we had to pay so much to get home”, Hoff felt she had to return for family reasons.

“The cost has affected us in many different ways, but we have not had a Christmas with my family in 12 years since moving to Australia. Mum and dad turned 87 this year, and every year we wonder if there will be another. So Christmas this year is important to us for many reasons.

“My eldest daughter will be celebrating her 21st while we are home, and this year she had her first son, who we dearly want to meet mum and dad. Also, the other kids are growing so fast and mum and dad feel like they are missing so much. So this Christmas we choose to have no presents and head home to be with family.”

Kiri Pitama said she paid at least A$1200 (NZ$1333) more for her family of three to fly from Brisbane to Wellington this Christmas than she had before the pandemic, but did so because it’s an important time of year for her family.

“Growing up, we would travel from Wellington to the Kaipara to spend Christmas with my grandparents every year, and they were the absolute best. So for me, it is important our children spend time with their remaining grandparents.

“We lost my father a few years ago and my father-in-law during Covid and could not get back, and that really hit home the importance of family and time. We are lucky that we are in a position financially to be able to fly back for Christmas and, to be honest, we would probably pay whatever because at the end of the day it’s time and memories. If Covid has taught us anything it’s that you can’t put a price on those.”

Similarly, Brisbane-based Gareth Keinzley, whose elderly parents live in Cooper’s Beach in the Far North, said that being prevented from returning to New Zealand over previous Christmases has provided added impetus to do so this year.

“The closure of the borders due to Covid has highlighted the importance of family,” he said. “Being unable to attend funerals and weddings (during that time) has motivated me to see family even more.”