Flights to Rarotonga for $99? Jetstar gets in on Black Friday deals

Budget airline Jetstar is offering flights to Rarotonga from $99 and domestic airfares from $9.

The Australian airline, along with local competitor Air NZ, both have discount prices on some of their airfares, part of the retail phenomenon Black Friday.

Black Friday, the day after America's Thanksgiving, is a retail event catching on in New Zealand where retailers offer discounts - it is regarded as the first day of the Christmas shopping season, and followed by Cyber Monday, another discount day.

Mainstream retailers have participated in the event for years but it seems airlines, and travel agents, are increasingly making the most of the sales opportunity.

The $9 one-way fares to Queenstown from Auckland and Auckland to Melbourne appear to have sold out with the lowest fare now on offer $25 to Palmerston North from Auckland.

Other cheap flights on offer include Auckland to Sydney for $119, Auckland to Melbourne for $119 and Auckland to Dunedin for $39.

A Jetstar spokesman said the several hundred $9 seats it had up for grabs between Auckland and Christchurch and $19 between Auckland and Queenstown had sold out within hours of going on sale.

The Auckland to Christchurch flights for $9 sold out the fastest.

The $9 fares between Wellington and Dunedin had also been popular, with just a few seats remaining, the spokesman said.

"Travellers snapped up the chance to fly domestically for under $10," he said.

Travel agent Helloworld has return flights to Australia for $399 return with accommodation bookings and return fares to Los Angeles and San Francisco for $999. Flight Centre, is offering return airfares to Hawaii for $699 and return to Tonga for $399.

Other Black Friday deals Flight Centre has include a three-night cruise on Pacific Aria for $399 and 50 per cent off of Intrepid, On The Go Tours and Trafalgar tours.

Mainstream apparel and electronics retailers are offering discounts of between 30 and 50 per cent, with tech gadgets and clothing tipped to be items with the largest savings to be had.

Other smaller niche retailers and brands are also involved in Black Friday this year.