New Zealand Tours & Trips

Top operators in New Zealand

• Flying Kiwi

  
  4.5 (106 New Zealand reviews)

  "I would like to start by saying that the basic concept of the 23-day Total Flying Kiwi tour is beautiful! But due to terrible organisational talents of Flying Kiwi (Stray) we missed out on a lot, together with the trouble and stress around booking the trip. Almost every person on our tour complained about how poor the organization and information from Flying Kiwi was prior to the trip. The Flying Kiwi employees offered no sympathy, with exception of Brett the first time he called me. I am convinced that Flying Kiwi have done their best, but there is huge room for improvement with the soft skills, communication, and customer service. My experiences below were avoidable, and these issues need corrective action to ensure the success of future Flying Kiwi tours. * Equipment issues There were issues regarding the equipment during the trip. Several of the issues were quality related and others related to are poor planning and execution. These issues should be relatively easy to solve. * Microphone The busdriver'smicrophone was so unintelligible that most of the time the bus couldn't understand his stories. * Bicycles There were no bicycles during the first part of the trip. Then there were 6 bicycles for 10 people, each of whom paid the full amount for renting these bicycles. *Tents We were given the cheaper smaller tents to use as opposed to the beautiful new tents recently purchased. With the recent price increase, we actually paid for these. *Mattresses Half of the mattresses leak. *Sleeping bags When we returned to the North Island had changes busses, the new bus had no sleeping bags. Anyone who didn't have their own sleeping bag had to use their own clothes to stay warm at night. *Program issues Several attractions on the itinerary were failures. There was some rain, but for the most part we can see each issue was due to poor preparation, organization, and management. -Martha’s Mine The itinerary enthusiastically describes a working goldmine, but it looked profoundly abandoned. We saw a skeleton of a building, and that's it. -Māori cultural dinner at the Tamaki Village (now called Te Pā Tū) was canceled because it was fully booked the day it was scheduled in the itinerary! Flying Kiwi didn’t prepare and arrange this dinner in advance. We were offered an alternative that was described as “exactly the same experience.” were taken to Te Puia instead of Te Pā Tū, the experience was far from what we were promised. This was an outright waste of time and money, and every person on the bus shared this sentiment. Not only were all 19 of us robbed of a wonderfully unique cultural experience, but were lied to. To make things worse, we also missed out on an awesome zipline through the untraversed native forest valleys as well as feeding birds because the Te Puia disappointment was scheduled at the same time. The highlight of the day was when were told that we had to prepare our own dinner - on top of missing out on unique and awesome experiences because of poor planning. This was a turning point in the trip, and the entire bus group was furious. The group was irritated at the poor communication and information before the trip and poor preparation for the actual tour. We were offended that we missed very unique activities and experiences. Especially considering we've come a long way to New Zealand, to see and experience this beautiful country and their history. -Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland visit was canceled because they are not open on Thursdays. This activity was included in the price of the trip! Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland should have been contacted well in advance regarding the bus full of 24 tourists; and if needed, the itinerary should have been amended to make this visit possible. - Tongariro crossing Flying Kiwi worked with Adrift Tongariro. I knew that they would not allow us into the park until 10 am while we had to be back at the bus at 2 pm. We had to cancel the walk due to the rain, but even if the sun had been shining, we would not have been able to do this walk. For the Tongariro at least 6 hours are needed for the crossing, and preferably 8-9 hours are needed for people who walk slower. I didn't mention this to the other passengers, because I didn't want to upset them even more than they already were about Flying Kiwi's. We did an unattractive hike as an alternative while there was a beautiful hike to do at the beginning of Tongariro. My local New Zealand friends did that beautiful hike that day. Multiple missed chances at Tongariro. - Weta workshop We had less time in Wellington than originally planned. We were unable to take part in the 4-hour Weta Workshop. I was looking forward to this, and again I was disappointed. - Wanaka tree We stayed at the campsite in Wanaka, near the lake with the Wanaka tree. But without us realizing it, the bus drove past the tree. It was a 15 minute drive, and it would have taken a maximum of 1 hour including the stop to see the famous tree. - The assistent The assistant tried her best, but her lack of experience, training, and support was evident throughout the trip. When problems arose, she could not empathize with us and could only laugh at the situation. She also brought the bus on a very unsafe route, on an unsealed road. The passengers were distressed and she laughed her mistake away. Also the assistant told us that rooms were booked at Attic backpackers for all passengers on the last night of the tour, at the expense of Flying Kiwi. I immediately canceled my reservation that night because of this, but a few hours later we were told by her that she made a mistake and Flying Kiwi will not provide the accommodation on the last night of the tour. She also informed us that the accommodation was fully booked and we were on our own with no support from Flying Kiwi. Further, first aid training is a must. The busdriver cannot be the only other person with first aid knowledge. As a cultural entrepreneur, I took the lead after the Māori dinner debacle to discuss her approach in organization. Contacting tourism organizations on short notice (sometimes only an hour before hand) while they are short-staffed and in the high season for a bus full of tourists was not a formula for success! The assistant did not feel pre-arrangement was her responsibility as she was under the impression that it should have been done before her employment began. After a bit of conversation, we decided to survey everyone on the tour to gauge interest in activities and give the assistant the info to make reservations as soon as possible. Conclusion I cannot recommend a tour from Flying Kiwi at this time, purely because the organization was very poor relative to the price paid. Honestly, it feels that Flying Kiwi is growing too fast, lack experienced staff in key positions, and / or are understaffed. It's such a shame because the tour set up is great! It's a dream trip! But due to poor preparation, organization, and management the tour is worth much less. The rating 4.8 out of 5 stars is a score from the original Flying Kiwi organization. Flying Kiwi has been takenover by Stray. Only a few of us from the tour have given a rating online, but if all the travelers from our group give a rating, the average will not be higher than 3.5 stars. I did enjoy the trip. I have chosen to be positive, see the beauty of the trip, and I enjoyed helping the assistent. So in short what, due to the poor preparations and organization, we have missed out/ experienced: 1. Information on the nature, culture, and history of New Zealand - Māori and settlers. 2. No sleeping bags for 1 night 3. Cheap tents 4. Often a leaky mattress 5. Limited bicycles 6. Working Goldmine at Martha's Mine 7. Exceptional and special zipline through untraversed native forest valleys 8. Māori cultural experience and dinner at the Tamaki Village 9. Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland 10. Tongariro Crossing (even if the weather had been acceptable, we would not have been able to do the crossing). 11. Missing out on a visit at the Wanaka tree.

  Rather poor - by Kim

  Tours

  6 New Zealand tours

  Age range

  10 to 70 years old

  Adventure type

  Active

  Response time

  40h

  Response rate

  100%

  Average price

  $234

  Flying Kiwi is an expert in:

  • Active
  • Bicycle
• Wild Kiwi

  
  4.5 (200 New Zealand reviews)

  "This trip changed my life. I’ve never had soo much fun in my life and I never imagined I’d get to push myself to do 6 new things I’ve never done before (white water rafting, zip lining, sky diving, bungee jumping, cave exploring, and surfing). I’m still soo sad that it’s over! Telli was a great guide and I had a group that was what dreams are made of. Best trip ever, with my only regret being that I did one week. If I return to do the Southern Island, I’ll ONLY look for Wild Kiwi as an operator. Thank you soo much, much love and appreciation for you guys!!

  Excellent - by Patrick M.

  Tours

  11 New Zealand tours

  Age range

  18 to 100 years old

  Adventure type

  Active

  Response time

  12h

  Response rate

  95%

  Average price

  $261

  Wild Kiwi is an expert in:

  • Active
  • Explorer
• INTRO Travel

  
  5.0 (15,349 New Zealand reviews)

  "I had an amazing time on my 17 NZ adventure in August. Sean and Rhys were both amazing tour guides. They were both helpful, friendly and knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble for them to sort. The tour itself was incredible and it was jam packed with tonnes of activities. I can’t wait for my next tour with intro!

  Excellent - by Katie R.

  Tours

  6 New Zealand tours

  Age range

  18 to 55 years old

  Adventure type

  Active

  Response time

  15h

  Response rate

  92%

  Average price

  $201

  INTRO Travel is an expert in:

  • Active