It's Happenning!!!
It is finally happening, after I made that very fateful click on zuji's check out page. The moment was so surreal...I'd been dreaming and talking about it for so long and now it's coming true. I was chatting with yd on msn and i kept asking him if I should click the button then, for like 10 min before I could master the courage and strength to click on the mouse.
And viola! We are going to New Zealand!!!!! In 2 weeks time!!!!
Well that's kind of hurry, I know, but there's no guarantee on the availability of the cheap deal I found on zuji. Initially, we had been searching flights from Singapore to Christchurch, that's where we plan to go for farmstay and backpacking. The cheapest fare to travel around this April was close to S$1300 per person!! Then we were putting our hope on the upcoming matta fair in KL, on 16-18 Mar.
Then I came across this cheap deal on zuji, apparently travelling to Auckland would be cheaper, and Royal Brunei Airline is having this special deal on 30-day ticket to Auckland. The fare worked out to be S$824 per person, including tax (except for the departure tax NZ$25 upon leaving NZ)! That was like almost S$500 cheaper than the initial budget! We, well in fact I, figure since we are on backpacking, we might as well start from North and backpack our way to South island I'm sure it would still be cheaper than to fly directly to Christchurch.
At first there was departure flight on 1 April, and we could return on 1 May, maximise the limit of the stay duration. (A 60-day and above return fare would cost S$200+ more) The I told yd about the news and we both agreed to look out for other websites or agency for better deal, now that we knew Auckland is cheaper than Christchurch. Also, I realised the reward points I earned from using UOB credit card can redeem zuji travel voucher, and I was short of uni$37 to be eligible for the $50 voucher, and I'd checked my statement and realised there was an unposted payment, with that amount I would have earned enough uni$ to redeem the $50 voucher! Yay!
So I waited (impatiently) for the credit card statement (for the first time I wished the merchant would process my payment faster), while checking out other airlines and travel agency. The next day, to my horror when I check zuji, the 1 April departure was no longer available, left me with the closest date of either 25 March or 7 April. 7 April would be fine if my phuket trip isn't on 10 May (Yeah, the travel bug in me has been hybernating for so long that once awake, it's getting so hyper). Anyway, I checked my credit card reward points and still that goddamn transaction I made at Carnivore (a brazillian restaurant in Chjime's square, Raffles) was not added yet!
And today, I checked zuji and UOB again and...good news is I finally have earned enough points to redeem that bloody $50 voucher, but bad news, 25 March was out already!! The next closest date is 24 March. I was panicked. On one hand I quickly redeem the voucher online, and the other hand proceed to confirm the flight on zuji.com.
I knew things wont be so smooth for me. Turned out, the uni$750 to redeem $50 zuji voucher only applied to UOB signature visa card, for other cards, the uni$ is always higher, plus zuji voucher isn't available for other cards redemption. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! If not because of this stupid $50, I would have grabbed the 25 Mar ticket a day ago!! Yes, it's only 1 day difference, but the schedule was different too, now, we would arrive in Auckland in the wee hour of 4am!!!
Never mind, this is small issue, we'll figure that out. Most importantly, it's happenning for real, that we are going to kiwiland!!!!!!!!!!!
And viola! We are going to New Zealand!!!!! In 2 weeks time!!!!
Well that's kind of hurry, I know, but there's no guarantee on the availability of the cheap deal I found on zuji. Initially, we had been searching flights from Singapore to Christchurch, that's where we plan to go for farmstay and backpacking. The cheapest fare to travel around this April was close to S$1300 per person!! Then we were putting our hope on the upcoming matta fair in KL, on 16-18 Mar.
Then I came across this cheap deal on zuji, apparently travelling to Auckland would be cheaper, and Royal Brunei Airline is having this special deal on 30-day ticket to Auckland. The fare worked out to be S$824 per person, including tax (except for the departure tax NZ$25 upon leaving NZ)! That was like almost S$500 cheaper than the initial budget! We, well in fact I, figure since we are on backpacking, we might as well start from North and backpack our way to South island I'm sure it would still be cheaper than to fly directly to Christchurch.
At first there was departure flight on 1 April, and we could return on 1 May, maximise the limit of the stay duration. (A 60-day and above return fare would cost S$200+ more) The I told yd about the news and we both agreed to look out for other websites or agency for better deal, now that we knew Auckland is cheaper than Christchurch. Also, I realised the reward points I earned from using UOB credit card can redeem zuji travel voucher, and I was short of uni$37 to be eligible for the $50 voucher, and I'd checked my statement and realised there was an unposted payment, with that amount I would have earned enough uni$ to redeem the $50 voucher! Yay!
So I waited (impatiently) for the credit card statement (for the first time I wished the merchant would process my payment faster), while checking out other airlines and travel agency. The next day, to my horror when I check zuji, the 1 April departure was no longer available, left me with the closest date of either 25 March or 7 April. 7 April would be fine if my phuket trip isn't on 10 May (Yeah, the travel bug in me has been hybernating for so long that once awake, it's getting so hyper). Anyway, I checked my credit card reward points and still that goddamn transaction I made at Carnivore (a brazillian restaurant in Chjime's square, Raffles) was not added yet!
And today, I checked zuji and UOB again and...good news is I finally have earned enough points to redeem that bloody $50 voucher, but bad news, 25 March was out already!! The next closest date is 24 March. I was panicked. On one hand I quickly redeem the voucher online, and the other hand proceed to confirm the flight on zuji.com.
I knew things wont be so smooth for me. Turned out, the uni$750 to redeem $50 zuji voucher only applied to UOB signature visa card, for other cards, the uni$ is always higher, plus zuji voucher isn't available for other cards redemption. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! If not because of this stupid $50, I would have grabbed the 25 Mar ticket a day ago!! Yes, it's only 1 day difference, but the schedule was different too, now, we would arrive in Auckland in the wee hour of 4am!!!
Never mind, this is small issue, we'll figure that out. Most importantly, it's happenning for real, that we are going to kiwiland!!!!!!!!!!!
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