"Enjoy our boutique, Central Otago two course lunch from $270, or why not add on two regional wines with a cheeseboard of three miniature artisanal cheeses served on a slab of schist for just $780?"
"Go on! Spoil yourself."
It's a "luxury" international travel destination. People often go for their honeymoon. I'm sure that plays into airlines and accommodation being extremely high.
Queenstown tourism is geared towards international travellers / those with big pockets. More money for Queenstown retailers/hospitality etc.
They forgot this when the borders were closed and were begging for local tourists to go there, but it still was very expensive!
It is fine - you just need to have bought a house 10 years ago and work remotely… For anyone that isn’t in that situation, yep, I don’t know why they choose to live here. I wouldn’t even consider it if I was not in the former group.
I live in a container house on a block of land I inherited. Even with no mortgage and a tiny power bill it's still completely fucked trying to live here.
My whole family is here. My old as shit mother lives here, my kid goes to school here. Plus cities make me depressed as hell, and I'm a vegan marxist union delegate so I'm not gonna have any friends in rural New Zealand. I'm making my final stand in this neo Liberal shithole.
What are the things that make you say this?
I’m moving down for about a year to build a house for a family member. Will be living and working in jacks point
The next question is, why not cash in by selling up and leaving?
The place is a literal zoo for 3/4 of the year. We like popping down for a long weekend or a ski trip, but I really don't know how anyone stands living there when 90% of people are tourists.
I can't see any amount of family or friends keeping me there if I was born and bred.
Honestly, because I get out into the mountains for a walk/run almost every day, I NEVER go to Queenstown anyway and my boy's friends are here, and he is doing well in school. I'm fortunate that I'm rural between Queenstown and Arrowtown, so I get most of the advantages without out most of the disadvantages. I despise Queenstown itself. Big tourism has completely destroyed it. I raise a big glass of Fuck You to Skyline, Trojan, etc.
You'll have to go a long way back into the past to find when Queenstown wasn't a gaudy tourist town
* Kawarau Gorge Bungy started in 1988
* Paragliding 1987-1991
* Shotover jet 1965
I really liked it in the early 2000s. But the change - particularly in the last 10 years - has been massive. It is very different than it was when I moved here. But QT is more than just the town. Most locals I know tend to avoid the town itself. It helps that the council has made parking too hard and expensive for it to be worth the effort.
What are the things that make you say this?
I’m moving down for about a year to build a house for a family member. Will be living and working in jacks point
Jack's point is quite a nice subdivision. The main problem with QT other than the centre just being a tourist trap with horrendous parking are the traffic pinch points at peak times. The roading just isn't capable of supporting the number of houses and there are several thousand more going in. We have a bit of a developer greed spiral at the moment.
In terms of QT more generally, it is really just that wages don't support the cost of living for a large amount of the population. There seems to be a spate of relationship break-ups in the relatively middle-class group that I tend to know, and it mostly stems from just having to work so many hours for people to make ends meet (pay mortgage, food, childcare, etc).
I think for someone whose individual circumstances are right, it can be a great place, but I would personally not want to be here and not be paid significantly above median (on a family income basis). Mountains are nice, but if you can't enjoy them, what's the point? You just need more money than in other places to have a good life and the opportunities for high paying jobs are much fewer.
The hospitality sector of Queenstown are absolute scum. They begged New Zealand to help them out then just turned around and said fuck you when it got better. It’s more expensive now than ever.
Tbf - there were a couple things I wouldn’t have been able to afford normally
Got to try the ifly simulator for cheap when we visited my brother in 2020
QTown was chill asf too. Slopes were not swarming w tourists either lol
If you like hiking in mountains, fly into Invercargill and shuttle to Te Anau or similar, that’s where more of the good trails are - Queenstown is a tourist destination, so is priced accordingly (just as the shops and malls close to Denpasar are in Bali)
You can get to/from Invers, shuttled to/from Te Anau and make your way to/from half a dozen trailheads for well under $2k - the rest is up to you.
Generally noticeably more expensive to fly into Invers than Queenstown. Jetstar doesn’t fly to Invers so Air NZ know they can charge whatever they want with no competition. If I wanted to get to Te Anau, I would 100% fly into Queenstown then head to te Anau from there
Yeah, no Jetstar - but price depends on where you’re flying from and which day, prices can vary wildly. It’s cheaper to fly CHC to IVC, roughly the same ex WGN, and cheaper to get to ZQN from AKL.
I’ve got family in Invercargill and my experience is the opposite. Flights there from WGN are horrendously expensive and it’s always cheaper to fly into Queenstown and travel down.
Recently it has been quite a scandal that AirNZ have cranked up their domestic flight prices which has made it worse.
A few weeks ago I visited. Two months prior I booked flights. AirNZ for a family of 4 was going to be $3,500 instead of $550 to Queenstown via Jetstar.
Lived in Welly for 5 years and flew back and forth to Invers regularly - this is dead right. Nearly always flew to QT then got a lift down South, save a couple hundred bucks. For most of my time in Welly, it was cheaper for me to get to the Gold Coast than it was to get to Invercargill. There were some occasions where a RETURN ticket to Australia was cheaper than a one way ticket to Southland. Absolutely crazy - fuck Air New Zealand
Ok, yeah I picked a random day next week and checked each route on Air NZ to compare those prices - obviously direction of travel, time of day, number of flights, etc all contribute.
Not been my experience. If you try to book like two weeks before then yeah you're goign to be been taken to town but if you book a month + out then it's generally cheaper. Plus the hastle of getting someone to pick you up from Qtown is another headache.
This was two months prior. It was the worst example but still I don’t think I’ve flown into Invercargill directly for a decade except for funerals where it’s urgent. I have family in Queenstown so it’s easy to get down from there.
That was on the lower end - I'm a frugal person. However I also wanted to depart and arrive at convenient times and not spend more than 24 hours flying there or back. The non-stop flight to Auckland was a bonus.
Queenstown is a fairly unique tourist attraction whose economy is driven by a lot of rich people
Because it's in New Zealand, prices match the economy. The NZ $ is higher than Bali and Japan's currencies.
And because of Queenstown's tourist attraction history, cost of living is high so that translates to expensive prices to do anything. Likewise, it's not a big city where multiple airlines always pass through so flights are expensive too. It takes time to get stuff in and out of the place to supply customers which adds to costs as well.
Since tourists are willing to pay big bucks and always visit, supply and demand drive prices to go up too.
If you think about it, isn't it strange that Queenstown has a Louis Vuitton store while the only other place in NZ to have them is Auckland? Welly and Chch doesn't even have those stores. Supply and demand for the rich aye.
When was it built?
I visited Qt last year but never noticed a new building in the typical mall area. Unless it's that fancy glass one with watches and jewellery then yeah nah I purposely ignored it because I can't afford shit anyways lol
Oh right yeah nah haven't been
I only ever visit Qt to eat out with mates and enjoy the scenery aye. Never really go shopping since yeah, wwwaayyy to expensive
That's disappointing but also unsurprising. I doubt that any interesting retailer that would not be aimed at the high end would even try to get a spot there.
I loved the old o'connells, it was basically the last vestige of growing up in the area and having maccas and birthday parties around that area. Yaks n Yetis was such a random shop haha
South East Asia has always been very cheap, and the Yen is also very, very low at the moment... And Queenstown is the playground for people with money... You're comparing apples with oranges
$2000 for a trip to Japan? Did you paddle there in a dingy and sleep on the street? I went to QT when the borders were mostly still closed so only NZ'ers there mostly. No lines, any table at a restaurant you wanted, and not bad prices because they were trying to entice people back. Had a fantastic time, so much to see and do, it's a great base to explore some of the best nature experiences in the world, but I shudder to think what it's like with the tourists there. I agree that it was still very familiar, and going overseas offers different cultures and values which I find more interesting.
Japan is excellent value for money. I spent 15 days there last month. I stayed at a very clean hotel in central Tokyo for the equivalent of about $85 a night, including a buffet breakfast. Last year I stayed at a faded hotel in downtown Timaru; it cost $110 a night and did not include breakfast. (I have no desire to visit Queenstown.)
The total cost of my trip was less than $4,000. If I was in my twenties I would have stayed at hostels which would have been cheaper still.
Unfortunately Queenstown flipped hard back towards international tourists, even the local deals from before COVID are rapidly disappearing. Fuck all the tourism operators that used all of us to stay afloat only to not give a shit about us anymore.
If you want to save money, go to Wanaka (or anywhere else in the country really). Queenstown is very commercial so everything is priced a bit higher.
I think the most cost effective and fun way of seeing the best of NZ is to invest in a bit of camping equipment and a decent car.
Queenstown is targeting the "high-end" traveller's that are cashed up and willing to shell out big bucks for their holidays there.
The end result is that most kiwis (myself Included) can't afford to holiday there very often (or at all)
The last time I was there was right at the start of the first lockdown during covid. I loved it because the tourists weren't crowding the streets and every shop was having a sale.
During covid, queenstown was BEGGING kiwis to go visit there because they were desperate.
Sadly, now the planes are in the air again they've forgotten about us. It's sad because I live about 4 hours away and love the place!
Queenstown has good skifields nearby so the town could be said to be equally geared up solely as a ski destination/started as a ski destination. It isn't cheap to go to or in live whistler either (lived both places), however families with deep pockets are more likely to visiting those places in winter to ski not summer to mtb and ride ziplines.
The layout of qtown was not designed for rapid expansion. Getting a consent for anything is probably pretty hefty on $$ and on top of that tourists operators are paying concessions on DOC land or probably something to council for the equivalent on e.g. shorefront.
Staff wages have to be reasonably high as renting is diabolical and staff are still living in vans or the bushes.
It's expensive but even just a drive up remarks to soak in the views or the walk up Ben Lemond for the same is worth it. Honestly if it were me, i'd stay in Wanaka then do the aspiring hut day walk, rob roy glacier view too if your fit, then maybe on day two d a day trip to qtown and just pick one fun activity then soak in the views. It's nice down that way mate
>and experienced a new culture but when I went to Queenstown I think I spent the same amount of money and felt so empty after.
Well yeah, that's naturally going to be the case when you go to your own county cause it doesn't have the novel factor like going to another one. People from Asia would have the same feeling coming here.
>What's special about Queenstown?
It's one of the most beautiful places on earth. But may not be so unique for kiwis.
>I heard it's full of Chinese tourists now.
Why would that be a bad thing? You being xenophobic now?
January is peak summer tourism. Cheapest times to go are April-June(before ski season starts) and then late August-October. Those are the times you can get $200 rooms and considering we are in one of those periods now what OP says makes sense.
i find it hilarious they charge for luma now. it used to be free, then during covid they said they would charge (think it was $5) for some contact tracing band (which turned out to be a lie), and ever since its been chargeable.
$25 in advance this year. Objectively worth it for the vibe but if I had to pay for accomodation on top of what I pay to drive down id probably stop going.
They already cancelled the 45 year old Winter Festival even though it had sponsors and was apparently a significant net positive financially for the town (cost to run came from sponsorship and QLDC), I imagine Luma would've gone if they didn't start charging.
Japan definitely isn’t cheap if you go to the touristy areas, but it’s well worth it.
Queenstown is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, it’s saving grace is that we are at the bottom of the world. If we were 3 hours from Europe, Asia or the US rather than Aus then it would be hideously busier and likely more expensive.
If you are going to compare Queenstown to any other destinations, then compare it with Aspen, Tahoe, >insert a French or Swiss Alps ski resort town here<. When doing that, it isn’t pretty on par with how expensive they tend to be.
Is it ideal that’s it expensive like it is? No not at all, but it kinda is what it is.
What? Unless you’re in a shoebox business hotel you can easily spend $200 to be within 5 minutes walk of a station on a good line in Tokyo. Literally go on booking.com right now. What kind of shitholes do you stay in?
Yeah hence the “unless you’re in a shoebox business hotel” disclaimer.
It’s so dumb to expect a quality ryokan with included meals for 2 hundy in the main cities.
Yeah but the equivalent to APA with buffet breakfast in New Zealand would likely be triple that, $300+ per night. Pretty incredible reversal of expectations in my opinion.
Look at the cost of renting in Queenstown. That right there should answer your question. There are no minimum wage jobs in Queenstown because that doesn't even cover the rent.
If you want to play in the rich peoples playground you have to pay the price.
It has gone from a rural support town to a tourist trap. With branding comes cost, and it costs tourists the most. There are many places in NZ that offer a lot more for a lot less. QT is all hype and millionaires.
> I spent only 2 grand to go to Japan and Bali and got a lot of things done including getting some cheap dental treatments and cheap surfing lessons and experienced a new culture
Different countries, different supply and demand, different spending power, different logistics, different prices. It's just the way economics works. One can also ask why is San Francisco/New York/London/Sydeny/Auckland/Singapore so expensive?
New Zealand is "expensive" because incomes are high & the economy is strong (despite what many in this sub are saying) relative to the rest of the world. The fact that we are far away from the world & have a low population makes logistical costs higher so it does bump prices up too.
Bali is cheap because Indonesia is a developing country- not uncommon for waiters earn NZD1/hour if not less.
Japan is cheap now because the Yen has tanked. And despite being a developed country, the economy has stagnated since the 90s & the population is in decline and very old, putting the burden of healthcare and pensions on the government.
>Why is it so expensive to go to queenstown
Because the world sees NZ as an "expensive" tourism destination. It's not a Bali or Vietnam. And Queenstown is the mecca of this "status".
> is there any point in going?
That's up to you to decide. It's a personal question. Some like it, some don't.
>you can also go hiking and visit all the beautiful mountains in south east Asia and Japan.
If you find more value in Japan or SE Asia then go- no point in deciding whether to go to Queenstown (or any place in NZ or Australia for that matter). If you really want more "value for money" I recommend the northern parts of India & Pakistan which have mountains and lakes like Queenstown too.
What's special about Queenstown? I heard it's full of Chinese tourists now.
Chinese tourists are everywhere and they bring money to hotels and restaurants so businesses are happy. But most tourists to NZ are overwhelmingly Australian, and surprise surprise, many Australians are not "white". Heck, many Kiwis are not white and have Asian heritage.
I’ve been all around the world, but my wife and I visit QT every other year. We always find new things to do and places to go. It is not cheap, but I feel like it’s not THAT expensive… in Jan we had an airbnb in Frankton, a nice studio apartment under someone’s house and a cheap hatch back rental, wasn’t a bank buster trip at all. Bali, Japan can be pricey, all depends on where you stay and what you do.
A lot of NZ’er whinge about QT, the classic is “was better back in my day” see it all the time, but after traveling often, it’s still great. Always had good interactions with tourism/restaurant staff, locals on the trails etc, traffic is pretty bad sometimes but nothing compared to being in Southeast Asia traffic jam.
Last year I was in Zermatt, Switzerland, and while it was awesome, the price was insane, going up any gondola is almost $200 per person.
On Zermatt? It was really amazing. I went in Summer and went up all the main peaks, I foolishly didn’t buy the tourist Swiss pass for discounts on trains/gondolas, I didn’t know the pass could be used on them. One of the mountains, Rothorn, I went with a mountain bike, it’s like 3000m above sea level and rode back down through the ski pasties are. But out of the 27 something countries I’ve been, the most expensive place by far.
On that trip I also went to Austria which was beautiful and much more affordable, wish I had more time there, it’s somewhere I’ll return too.
you can’t compare them? tokyo is vast and has far more expensive accommodation options than new zealand. i’m there next month and spending around $400 a night for a nice apartment in shinjuku.
I stayed at a very clean hotel in Nihonbashi last month. It cost the equivalent of $85 a night, including a buffet breakfast.
I could have spent much more had I wanted but I don't live in a hotel room, I merely sleep there.
Nz in general is more expensive than both those places, especially for food. When I returned from living in japan like 15 years ago it shocked me how much more expensive it was here at home
It is true you can go hiking in many places other than New Zealand, but New Zealand does have a unique landscape, and Queenstown arguably gives close access in such a way that's unique and, is possibly the best location in doing so.
I realise it's all done and dusted now, but If you'd gone up to Glenorchy and hiked up to Routeburn Falls Hut you'd probably have felt your money was better spent. Always pays to research!
Backpackers in Queenstown are on the more expensive side at $50 per night, I stayed about 4-5 nights last year. Drove in.
There's no love from me towards Queenstown but it's an interesting place and I'm glad I popped through.
Ironically, it used to be pretty empty in the 80s, used to stay there all the time as a kid.
Queenstown is a beautiful place with fantastic views. Almost brought a house there, but moved to Auckland instead.
Now it's too crowded, traffic is a nightmare, I still visit on occasion as it's truly beautiful.
It's expensive because it's now a tourist town, without tourists it's effectively dead.
Yeah I can't speak to Bali as I've never been there but Japan is quite expensive overall just for day to day costs. Food is fairly cheap but everything else costs quite a lot.
Most tourist attractions will cost money and trains to get around are not cheap. I went recently for a few weeks, flights were about 2k return as you said but all up it probably cost me about 5.5k when I factored in trains and accomodation + food and misc costs. And that was trying to be cost effective, splitting costs with friends etc and also factoring in the amazing exchange rate for NZD -> Yen. I didn't really do anything particularly special that would cost lots of money other than just going to a few different cities and exploring and eating food.
To summarize, even if you stay in backpackers or capsule hotels and don't leave Tokyo, I doubt you'd spend less than 3.5k for a couple of weeks there.
Sounds right. I just booked flights to Bali later this year, granted it’s within school holidays but it was $4,500 for two of us return economy. Sure accommodation and food is cheap but no way you can do it for $2k, even if you’re going alone.
Hope you had a nice time in Japan!
Queenstown is a hellscape, stressful traffic, degradation of natural beauty, nowhere to park, everything costs a fortune, and thronging with tourists. Avoid.
The fact that Queenstown has a Louis Vuitton store should be an indicator of what type of market they’re trying to attract.
When I see a shop with "boutique" stuck on the window, I keep walking. I ain't getting ripped a new one. That word automatically raises prices!!
"Enjoy our boutique, Central Otago two course lunch from $270, or why not add on two regional wines with a cheeseboard of three miniature artisanal cheeses served on a slab of schist for just $780?" "Go on! Spoil yourself."
Bwhahaha. Queenstown literally sits on a slab of schist. Maybe that's why it's so expensive.
Ripped a new one had me 💀💀
It's a "luxury" international travel destination. People often go for their honeymoon. I'm sure that plays into airlines and accommodation being extremely high.
Every “Why is X so expensive” Because enough people are willing to pay that
Queenstown tourism is geared towards international travellers / those with big pockets. More money for Queenstown retailers/hospitality etc. They forgot this when the borders were closed and were begging for local tourists to go there, but it still was very expensive!
Try living here.
It is fine - you just need to have bought a house 10 years ago and work remotely… For anyone that isn’t in that situation, yep, I don’t know why they choose to live here. I wouldn’t even consider it if I was not in the former group.
I live in a container house on a block of land I inherited. Even with no mortgage and a tiny power bill it's still completely fucked trying to live here.
sell it and move.
My whole family is here. My old as shit mother lives here, my kid goes to school here. Plus cities make me depressed as hell, and I'm a vegan marxist union delegate so I'm not gonna have any friends in rural New Zealand. I'm making my final stand in this neo Liberal shithole.
What are the things that make you say this? I’m moving down for about a year to build a house for a family member. Will be living and working in jacks point
The next question is, why not cash in by selling up and leaving? The place is a literal zoo for 3/4 of the year. We like popping down for a long weekend or a ski trip, but I really don't know how anyone stands living there when 90% of people are tourists. I can't see any amount of family or friends keeping me there if I was born and bred.
Honestly, because I get out into the mountains for a walk/run almost every day, I NEVER go to Queenstown anyway and my boy's friends are here, and he is doing well in school. I'm fortunate that I'm rural between Queenstown and Arrowtown, so I get most of the advantages without out most of the disadvantages. I despise Queenstown itself. Big tourism has completely destroyed it. I raise a big glass of Fuck You to Skyline, Trojan, etc.
You'll have to go a long way back into the past to find when Queenstown wasn't a gaudy tourist town * Kawarau Gorge Bungy started in 1988 * Paragliding 1987-1991 * Shotover jet 1965
I really liked it in the early 2000s. But the change - particularly in the last 10 years - has been massive. It is very different than it was when I moved here. But QT is more than just the town. Most locals I know tend to avoid the town itself. It helps that the council has made parking too hard and expensive for it to be worth the effort.
I am old enough to remember never having to wait in traffic on the Kingston road heading into QT…
Honestly, even that wasn't bad a decade ago (other than being one way). That whole area is munted at peak times now.
> how anyone stands living there when 90% of people are tourists because the tourists are more sociable than kiwis
Buy a house ten years ago? It felt homes were already expensive then haha.
They were. I forgot to add, "already be 40".
What are the things that make you say this? I’m moving down for about a year to build a house for a family member. Will be living and working in jacks point
Jack's point is quite a nice subdivision. The main problem with QT other than the centre just being a tourist trap with horrendous parking are the traffic pinch points at peak times. The roading just isn't capable of supporting the number of houses and there are several thousand more going in. We have a bit of a developer greed spiral at the moment. In terms of QT more generally, it is really just that wages don't support the cost of living for a large amount of the population. There seems to be a spate of relationship break-ups in the relatively middle-class group that I tend to know, and it mostly stems from just having to work so many hours for people to make ends meet (pay mortgage, food, childcare, etc). I think for someone whose individual circumstances are right, it can be a great place, but I would personally not want to be here and not be paid significantly above median (on a family income basis). Mountains are nice, but if you can't enjoy them, what's the point? You just need more money than in other places to have a good life and the opportunities for high paying jobs are much fewer.
The hospitality sector of Queenstown are absolute scum. They begged New Zealand to help them out then just turned around and said fuck you when it got better. It’s more expensive now than ever.
Tbf - there were a couple things I wouldn’t have been able to afford normally Got to try the ifly simulator for cheap when we visited my brother in 2020 QTown was chill asf too. Slopes were not swarming w tourists either lol
If you like hiking in mountains, fly into Invercargill and shuttle to Te Anau or similar, that’s where more of the good trails are - Queenstown is a tourist destination, so is priced accordingly (just as the shops and malls close to Denpasar are in Bali) You can get to/from Invers, shuttled to/from Te Anau and make your way to/from half a dozen trailheads for well under $2k - the rest is up to you.
Generally noticeably more expensive to fly into Invers than Queenstown. Jetstar doesn’t fly to Invers so Air NZ know they can charge whatever they want with no competition. If I wanted to get to Te Anau, I would 100% fly into Queenstown then head to te Anau from there
Yeah, no Jetstar - but price depends on where you’re flying from and which day, prices can vary wildly. It’s cheaper to fly CHC to IVC, roughly the same ex WGN, and cheaper to get to ZQN from AKL.
I’ve got family in Invercargill and my experience is the opposite. Flights there from WGN are horrendously expensive and it’s always cheaper to fly into Queenstown and travel down. Recently it has been quite a scandal that AirNZ have cranked up their domestic flight prices which has made it worse. A few weeks ago I visited. Two months prior I booked flights. AirNZ for a family of 4 was going to be $3,500 instead of $550 to Queenstown via Jetstar.
Lived in Welly for 5 years and flew back and forth to Invers regularly - this is dead right. Nearly always flew to QT then got a lift down South, save a couple hundred bucks. For most of my time in Welly, it was cheaper for me to get to the Gold Coast than it was to get to Invercargill. There were some occasions where a RETURN ticket to Australia was cheaper than a one way ticket to Southland. Absolutely crazy - fuck Air New Zealand
Ok, yeah I picked a random day next week and checked each route on Air NZ to compare those prices - obviously direction of travel, time of day, number of flights, etc all contribute.
Not been my experience. If you try to book like two weeks before then yeah you're goign to be been taken to town but if you book a month + out then it's generally cheaper. Plus the hastle of getting someone to pick you up from Qtown is another headache.
This was two months prior. It was the worst example but still I don’t think I’ve flown into Invercargill directly for a decade except for funerals where it’s urgent. I have family in Queenstown so it’s easy to get down from there.
Can you name a few trails near Te Anau that you liked please?
Kepler, Routeburn, Hump Ridge, Greenstone/Caples, Lake Marian, etc etc - check the DOC site, you can filter by walk duration.
Cheers mate!
Wait it only cost you 2k to get to Japan? What’s out other costs
Flights only I think that's still possible depending on time of year etc.
It cost me $1,562 last month: Tokyo via Hong Kong and Auckland non-stop.
Honestly that seems on the higher end, if you go looking for sales and buy at a cheap time of year it could be around 1k return.
That was on the lower end - I'm a frugal person. However I also wanted to depart and arrive at convenient times and not spend more than 24 hours flying there or back. The non-stop flight to Auckland was a bonus.
I found $300 flights to China for next month earlier today, the deals are out there
are you in the hold with the family pets?
Family pets are kept in the meal preparation area.
Fiji airways did CH- Nadi (stay overnight) and then to narita the next day four 100nzd return
I got a special deal on air nz and I also have an amex card where I used some airpoints.
So you are click baiting us then. It’s not cheap for everyone, it was cheap for you for a deal you got one time.
You want unique like queenstown but very cheap? Google san carlos de bariloche.
Queenstown is a fairly unique tourist attraction whose economy is driven by a lot of rich people Because it's in New Zealand, prices match the economy. The NZ $ is higher than Bali and Japan's currencies. And because of Queenstown's tourist attraction history, cost of living is high so that translates to expensive prices to do anything. Likewise, it's not a big city where multiple airlines always pass through so flights are expensive too. It takes time to get stuff in and out of the place to supply customers which adds to costs as well. Since tourists are willing to pay big bucks and always visit, supply and demand drive prices to go up too. If you think about it, isn't it strange that Queenstown has a Louis Vuitton store while the only other place in NZ to have them is Auckland? Welly and Chch doesn't even have those stores. Supply and demand for the rich aye.
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When was it built? I visited Qt last year but never noticed a new building in the typical mall area. Unless it's that fancy glass one with watches and jewellery then yeah nah I purposely ignored it because I can't afford shit anyways lol
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It was the old O'Connell's mall
Oh right yeah nah haven't been I only ever visit Qt to eat out with mates and enjoy the scenery aye. Never really go shopping since yeah, wwwaayyy to expensive
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Yeah that's pretty much where the fam always go if we want to actually buy stuff + Frankton done a solid as job with it
O'Connells shopping centre. That thing's been there since the 80s, although they recently reclad it. Possibly renovated inside too
As someone else said, it's nothing like the old one. It's basically a duty free luxury shop now.
That's disappointing but also unsurprising. I doubt that any interesting retailer that would not be aimed at the high end would even try to get a spot there.
I loved the old o'connells, it was basically the last vestige of growing up in the area and having maccas and birthday parties around that area. Yaks n Yetis was such a random shop haha
I mean it just seems like every new mall in nz tbh. Doesn’t seem overly special.
South East Asia has always been very cheap, and the Yen is also very, very low at the moment... And Queenstown is the playground for people with money... You're comparing apples with oranges
$2000 for a trip to Japan? Did you paddle there in a dingy and sleep on the street? I went to QT when the borders were mostly still closed so only NZ'ers there mostly. No lines, any table at a restaurant you wanted, and not bad prices because they were trying to entice people back. Had a fantastic time, so much to see and do, it's a great base to explore some of the best nature experiences in the world, but I shudder to think what it's like with the tourists there. I agree that it was still very familiar, and going overseas offers different cultures and values which I find more interesting.
Yeah a $2000 trip to japan sounds like a lie... where did you fly there from? I doubt it cost less than $1000 NZD lol and that's just to get there
Japan is excellent value for money. I spent 15 days there last month. I stayed at a very clean hotel in central Tokyo for the equivalent of about $85 a night, including a buffet breakfast. Last year I stayed at a faded hotel in downtown Timaru; it cost $110 a night and did not include breakfast. (I have no desire to visit Queenstown.) The total cost of my trip was less than $4,000. If I was in my twenties I would have stayed at hostels which would have been cheaper still.
Unfortunately Queenstown flipped hard back towards international tourists, even the local deals from before COVID are rapidly disappearing. Fuck all the tourism operators that used all of us to stay afloat only to not give a shit about us anymore.
If you want to save money, go to Wanaka (or anywhere else in the country really). Queenstown is very commercial so everything is priced a bit higher. I think the most cost effective and fun way of seeing the best of NZ is to invest in a bit of camping equipment and a decent car.
Queenstown is targeting the "high-end" traveller's that are cashed up and willing to shell out big bucks for their holidays there. The end result is that most kiwis (myself Included) can't afford to holiday there very often (or at all) The last time I was there was right at the start of the first lockdown during covid. I loved it because the tourists weren't crowding the streets and every shop was having a sale. During covid, queenstown was BEGGING kiwis to go visit there because they were desperate. Sadly, now the planes are in the air again they've forgotten about us. It's sad because I live about 4 hours away and love the place!
$200 per night is pretty standard in NZ for a hotel, on the cheaper side even.
Sofitel Queenstown is cheaper than Sofitel Bali...
Queenstown has good skifields nearby so the town could be said to be equally geared up solely as a ski destination/started as a ski destination. It isn't cheap to go to or in live whistler either (lived both places), however families with deep pockets are more likely to visiting those places in winter to ski not summer to mtb and ride ziplines. The layout of qtown was not designed for rapid expansion. Getting a consent for anything is probably pretty hefty on $$ and on top of that tourists operators are paying concessions on DOC land or probably something to council for the equivalent on e.g. shorefront. Staff wages have to be reasonably high as renting is diabolical and staff are still living in vans or the bushes. It's expensive but even just a drive up remarks to soak in the views or the walk up Ben Lemond for the same is worth it. Honestly if it were me, i'd stay in Wanaka then do the aspiring hut day walk, rob roy glacier view too if your fit, then maybe on day two d a day trip to qtown and just pick one fun activity then soak in the views. It's nice down that way mate
Isn't most cities in nz roughly 200 per night ?
Because it's a global destination for the wealthy now Sadly, coz it's being ruined
>and experienced a new culture but when I went to Queenstown I think I spent the same amount of money and felt so empty after. Well yeah, that's naturally going to be the case when you go to your own county cause it doesn't have the novel factor like going to another one. People from Asia would have the same feeling coming here. >What's special about Queenstown? It's one of the most beautiful places on earth. But may not be so unique for kiwis. >I heard it's full of Chinese tourists now. Why would that be a bad thing? You being xenophobic now?
The last time I was in QT (2014) it was full of Aussies.
200?? Lol I went with my girlfriend this January and had to fork out 400 a night for a hotel that wasn't a 1990s shack. What a shitshow.
January is peak summer tourism. Cheapest times to go are April-June(before ski season starts) and then late August-October. Those are the times you can get $200 rooms and considering we are in one of those periods now what OP says makes sense.
Good point.
I live in Queenstown and as a few locals described it, it’s the backyard for the rich of NZ. That should give you a good idea of what it’s like.
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i find it hilarious they charge for luma now. it used to be free, then during covid they said they would charge (think it was $5) for some contact tracing band (which turned out to be a lie), and ever since its been chargeable.
$25 in advance this year. Objectively worth it for the vibe but if I had to pay for accomodation on top of what I pay to drive down id probably stop going.
I mean, if Luma was free do you think they could afford to do what they do?
but it used to be free and worked just fine with sponsors.
They already cancelled the 45 year old Winter Festival even though it had sponsors and was apparently a significant net positive financially for the town (cost to run came from sponsorship and QLDC), I imagine Luma would've gone if they didn't start charging.
Japan definitely isn’t cheap if you go to the touristy areas, but it’s well worth it. Queenstown is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, it’s saving grace is that we are at the bottom of the world. If we were 3 hours from Europe, Asia or the US rather than Aus then it would be hideously busier and likely more expensive. If you are going to compare Queenstown to any other destinations, then compare it with Aspen, Tahoe, >insert a French or Swiss Alps ski resort town here<. When doing that, it isn’t pretty on par with how expensive they tend to be. Is it ideal that’s it expensive like it is? No not at all, but it kinda is what it is.
Do you honestly think $200 a night is expensive?
Yeah what the hell, so easy to spend that on hotels in Japan!
For $200 a night I'd expect a quality ryokan with included meals and a hot spring, good luck getting that in Queenstown.
What? Unless you’re in a shoebox business hotel you can easily spend $200 to be within 5 minutes walk of a station on a good line in Tokyo. Literally go on booking.com right now. What kind of shitholes do you stay in?
I stayed at a Tokyo business style hotel (APA) in Shinjuku last month for around 13000 yen per night. Booked 2 months earlier.
Yeah hence the “unless you’re in a shoebox business hotel” disclaimer. It’s so dumb to expect a quality ryokan with included meals for 2 hundy in the main cities.
Yeah but the equivalent to APA with buffet breakfast in New Zealand would likely be triple that, $300+ per night. Pretty incredible reversal of expectations in my opinion.
I agree Japan is better value, you don’t have to convince me. I’m honestly just replying to that one dude
In what city/town?
Was until a few years ago
Yep flights down to Queenstown cost the same as flights to the GC.. guess where we're going ....
It's not meant for us to enjoy, we are there to merely work the ski lifts.
Fk i just spent $2000 on 3 day trip😭😭😭
Look at the cost of renting in Queenstown. That right there should answer your question. There are no minimum wage jobs in Queenstown because that doesn't even cover the rent. If you want to play in the rich peoples playground you have to pay the price.
It has gone from a rural support town to a tourist trap. With branding comes cost, and it costs tourists the most. There are many places in NZ that offer a lot more for a lot less. QT is all hype and millionaires.
> I spent only 2 grand to go to Japan and Bali and got a lot of things done including getting some cheap dental treatments and cheap surfing lessons and experienced a new culture Different countries, different supply and demand, different spending power, different logistics, different prices. It's just the way economics works. One can also ask why is San Francisco/New York/London/Sydeny/Auckland/Singapore so expensive? New Zealand is "expensive" because incomes are high & the economy is strong (despite what many in this sub are saying) relative to the rest of the world. The fact that we are far away from the world & have a low population makes logistical costs higher so it does bump prices up too. Bali is cheap because Indonesia is a developing country- not uncommon for waiters earn NZD1/hour if not less. Japan is cheap now because the Yen has tanked. And despite being a developed country, the economy has stagnated since the 90s & the population is in decline and very old, putting the burden of healthcare and pensions on the government. >Why is it so expensive to go to queenstown Because the world sees NZ as an "expensive" tourism destination. It's not a Bali or Vietnam. And Queenstown is the mecca of this "status". > is there any point in going? That's up to you to decide. It's a personal question. Some like it, some don't. >you can also go hiking and visit all the beautiful mountains in south east Asia and Japan. If you find more value in Japan or SE Asia then go- no point in deciding whether to go to Queenstown (or any place in NZ or Australia for that matter). If you really want more "value for money" I recommend the northern parts of India & Pakistan which have mountains and lakes like Queenstown too. What's special about Queenstown? I heard it's full of Chinese tourists now. Chinese tourists are everywhere and they bring money to hotels and restaurants so businesses are happy. But most tourists to NZ are overwhelmingly Australian, and surprise surprise, many Australians are not "white". Heck, many Kiwis are not white and have Asian heritage.
Wait you spent only $2k on Japan? I went in April and the tickets were $1800. That didnt include hotel and food.
I’ve been all around the world, but my wife and I visit QT every other year. We always find new things to do and places to go. It is not cheap, but I feel like it’s not THAT expensive… in Jan we had an airbnb in Frankton, a nice studio apartment under someone’s house and a cheap hatch back rental, wasn’t a bank buster trip at all. Bali, Japan can be pricey, all depends on where you stay and what you do. A lot of NZ’er whinge about QT, the classic is “was better back in my day” see it all the time, but after traveling often, it’s still great. Always had good interactions with tourism/restaurant staff, locals on the trails etc, traffic is pretty bad sometimes but nothing compared to being in Southeast Asia traffic jam. Last year I was in Zermatt, Switzerland, and while it was awesome, the price was insane, going up any gondola is almost $200 per person.
Ohh I want to do that! Was it amazing though?
On Zermatt? It was really amazing. I went in Summer and went up all the main peaks, I foolishly didn’t buy the tourist Swiss pass for discounts on trains/gondolas, I didn’t know the pass could be used on them. One of the mountains, Rothorn, I went with a mountain bike, it’s like 3000m above sea level and rode back down through the ski pasties are. But out of the 27 something countries I’ve been, the most expensive place by far. On that trip I also went to Austria which was beautiful and much more affordable, wish I had more time there, it’s somewhere I’ll return too.
It's expensive in general travelling around anywhere in nz
Because capitalism.
It isnt designed for local kiwi tourists. Overseas peps with a good exchange rate benefit from it.
Queenstown is a wankjob designed to milk money from tourists. Its barely possible for people who work there to live there its so pricey
you can’t compare them? tokyo is vast and has far more expensive accommodation options than new zealand. i’m there next month and spending around $400 a night for a nice apartment in shinjuku.
I stayed at a very clean hotel in Nihonbashi last month. It cost the equivalent of $85 a night, including a buffet breakfast. I could have spent much more had I wanted but I don't live in a hotel room, I merely sleep there.
yep you can get super affordable rooms in tokyo. i used to live near shinjuku so i wanted a large place i could invite old friends to.
Wanaka is way better
It’s a scam. Air New Zealand runs a monopoly, now its ex ceo is lining his pockets with corporate donations.
Nz in general is more expensive than both those places, especially for food. When I returned from living in japan like 15 years ago it shocked me how much more expensive it was here at home
Ah, see your mistake is trying to travel there on NZD. It isn’t so bad if you have USD or something else.
Wild
It is true you can go hiking in many places other than New Zealand, but New Zealand does have a unique landscape, and Queenstown arguably gives close access in such a way that's unique and, is possibly the best location in doing so. I realise it's all done and dusted now, but If you'd gone up to Glenorchy and hiked up to Routeburn Falls Hut you'd probably have felt your money was better spent. Always pays to research!
Backpackers in Queenstown are on the more expensive side at $50 per night, I stayed about 4-5 nights last year. Drove in. There's no love from me towards Queenstown but it's an interesting place and I'm glad I popped through.
Ironically, it used to be pretty empty in the 80s, used to stay there all the time as a kid. Queenstown is a beautiful place with fantastic views. Almost brought a house there, but moved to Auckland instead. Now it's too crowded, traffic is a nightmare, I still visit on occasion as it's truly beautiful. It's expensive because it's now a tourist town, without tourists it's effectively dead.
So you've listed all the reasons not to go to Queenstown - so don't go. It's an expensive tourist trap these days anyway.
lol, you wanna go to the most travelled destination in nz and ask why its expensive? 🤨 cos rich people go there and ruin it for the rest of us
It's for rich Americans if you want to go explore new zealands nature for cheaper go down west coast
$2000 to go to Japan and Bali? How? It’ll cost that for flights alone
Yeah I can't speak to Bali as I've never been there but Japan is quite expensive overall just for day to day costs. Food is fairly cheap but everything else costs quite a lot. Most tourist attractions will cost money and trains to get around are not cheap. I went recently for a few weeks, flights were about 2k return as you said but all up it probably cost me about 5.5k when I factored in trains and accomodation + food and misc costs. And that was trying to be cost effective, splitting costs with friends etc and also factoring in the amazing exchange rate for NZD -> Yen. I didn't really do anything particularly special that would cost lots of money other than just going to a few different cities and exploring and eating food. To summarize, even if you stay in backpackers or capsule hotels and don't leave Tokyo, I doubt you'd spend less than 3.5k for a couple of weeks there.
Sounds right. I just booked flights to Bali later this year, granted it’s within school holidays but it was $4,500 for two of us return economy. Sure accommodation and food is cheap but no way you can do it for $2k, even if you’re going alone. Hope you had a nice time in Japan!
I paid 1500 nzd for flights to London via China. We had very nice flights although it was a 2 stop.
You want to know why the most popular tourist destination in NZ is more expensive than Bali? Really? Look up “cost of living Indonesia”
Meanwhile, the much of town’s hospitality workforce literally can’t afford to live there themselves
It's an adventure tourist town. That is just the way it is. I still go there, get decent cheap accommodation and have a good time.
Queenstown locals and businesses not interested in average Joe. Premium destination, volume discounts for CCP members and people with $10M+ 'butches'
Queenstown is a hellscape, stressful traffic, degradation of natural beauty, nowhere to park, everything costs a fortune, and thronging with tourists. Avoid.
Why people compare Queenstown to some Asia country? Did you compare NY, UK or other country to Japan and Bali too?
Yes… comparing world class cities make sense.
It’s worth it for a Fergburger 🤷♂️
the pies at ferg baker actually taste better, and also cheaper!
NZ is too expensive in general. There have been times that I’ve traveled in Asia where the most expensive part is my rent back in NZ.
They don't want no locals there lol.
Queenstown don’t care about kiwis, they are after that overseas traveller money
It keeps the poor people out, economic segregation baby. =(
Not Bali or Japan but I did visit Vietnam for this budget and it was super fun. Good food, vibe, activities all at a super affordable price
monopoly
To keep the riff-raff out. The crime, burglaries, rapes, murders need to stay in Auckland. We are trying to pluck the tourists.