Organise your travel

Once you have your student visa, you need to organise travel. Make sure you will arrive in time for the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships Pre-start Programme.

Your initial travel to Wellington is covered by your Scholarship. We will help you arrange your flights—here’s what you need to do:

  1. Complete your initial travel booking form pdf229KB.
  2. Email the form to our Scholarships travel agent, CTM. Make sure you include a scanned copy of your passport (personal details page) and your student visa.
  3. Your flights will be approved by the International Development Scholarships team.
  4. CTM will then advise you of your travel itinerary and bookings.
  5. Check and confirm your booking with CTM.

Check your travel dates carefully. You must arrive before or on the date noted as your arrival date on your MFAT Scholarship Letter of Offer. This will ensure you arrive in time for your arrival briefing and Pre-start Programme, which are usually held about five weeks before the start of trimester.

Important travel guidelines

  • All student travel must be booked through our approved travel agent, CTM. Travel booked independently of CTM will not be reimbursed by your Scholarship.
  • You can only contact CTM to arrange your travel after you have received your student visa.
  • Travel will be booked on the most economical and direct flights. You may not request to travel with specific airlines or via specific routes (unless for visa purposes).
  • If you wish to travel with family, you can arrange this in one of two ways:
    • Request CTM to book family members on the same itinerary (at your expense).
    • CTM books your flights first, then you make a separate booking for your family on the same flights through another travel agent or directly with the airline.
  • Be flexible with dates. This allows CTM the opportunity to find well-priced direct flights for you.

While you are studying at the University, some of your travel between your home country and New Zealand will be funded by your Scholarship. Find out more about arranging travel during your study.