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Good news: New Zealand no longer requires a pre-departure covid test for arriving travelers as of today, Monday June 20, 2022. Visitors must still be vaccinated and must take two rapid antigen tests after arriving, the first on the arrival day (Day 0) or the first full day of their trip (Day 1) and the second test on Day 5 or Day 6 of their trip. The tests are provided as part of a Welcome Kit given to travelers after they've gone through Customs. Only infants under 6 months of age and travelers arriving on nonstop flights from Niue are exempt from testing. Note that if you do test positive you'll be required to self-isolate (at your own expense) for 7 days.
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Getting to New Zealand
New Zealand is one of the harder destinations to get to in business class on award tickets, so we recommend being extremely flexible with travel dates and being prepared to pay for tickets. It can also be perfect to combine with a visit to Fiji (for example Kokomo or Laucala Private Island, now part of COMO) which is only a 3 hour flight from Auckland.
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Where to Stay in New Zealand
Most of New Zealand's best luxury accommodation consists of small luxury lodges that include both breakfast and gourmet dinner daily, perfect for fans of Relais & Chateaux properties. Our top recommendations are The Farm at Cape Kidnappers in Hawke's Bay, Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown, Otahuna in the Christchurch area, and Kauri Cliffs in the Bay of Islands.
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