An Indian couple shared a detailed breakdown of their 13-day New Zealand honeymoon on Reddit after managing to execute the trip for ₹ 5.93 lakh. Despite seeing initial estimates exceeding ₹ 8 lakh, the newlyweds stayed well under their ₹ 7 lakh cap without cutting out major experiences. Covering all the tourist places with private Airbnbs and rental cars, they attributed their savings to careful planning and cooking some meals.
Our ₹ 5.93 lakh budget breakdown: Food – ₹ 32,000 They added, “We didn’t try to make the trip ‘budget-friendly’ by skipping experiences. For us, staying under ₹ 6 lakh was more about the cumulative effect of a lot of planning decisions than finding one magical deal.”
Though they had meticulously planned their trip, there were still some instances that left the couple confused. “New Zealand visitor visa: did we need to book flights first? We weren’t sure whether to book flights before applying. Instead, we submitted a detailed one-page itinerary with our application, along with a cover letter. We received the visa in five working days. The Reddit post continued, “New Zealand biosecurity: can you bring food from India? We carried Maggi, snacks and ready-to-eat food from India. The important part: we declared them honestly on the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD). One thing we found confusing while researching this was the distinction between declaring an item and the item being prohibited. Declaring an item doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t bring it into New Zealand. It means you’re being upfront about what you’re carrying and allowing a biosecurity officer to assess it.
We were cleared in about five minutes and avoided the potential NZ$400 infringement fee associated with undeclared risk goods.”
We followed Immigration New Zealand’s guidance and didn’t purchase non-refundable tickets before the visa was approved.
