Best Way to Japan

Q: We are pensioners and are looking for the easiest and most economical way of visiting relatives in Hokkaido, Japan; Queensland, Australia and North Island, New Zealand. Would it better to fly to a central point like Singapore and travel from there, or would it be better to break it into two trips from South Africa, one to Japan and one to New Zealand and Australia? - Marj Martin A: You need to find a good travel agent to help you, as your routing may well depend on what specials are available at the time you want to fly. Under normal circumstances, it would be better to use Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong as a hub and make two separate return trips from the hub - one to Japan and the other to Australia and New Zealand. Using one airline (in this case Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways or Cathay Pacific) is usually better value than using different carriers. However, you would need to book domestic flights in Japan, Australia and New Zealand on local airlines. A good agent should be able to find the most cost-effective flights. For example, if there are particularly good prices on Qantas to Australia and New Zealand, you could make your hub in Sydney. Then you could take sidetrips to New Zealand and Japan on Qantas from there.