"Roland Perry" wrote in message

In message , at 11:28:01 on
Sun, 11 Sep 2011, Recliner remarked:
Even more annoyingly if one's travelling LHR to AKL via LAX [1] you
have to pass through US immigration even though you have no
intention of ever entering the country.

This means that someone who doesn't qualify for the visa waver has
to apply for a full visa just to transit the airport.

... which may be why Air New Zealand now also offers a route via Hong
Kong. There, British citizens don't need a visa at all if staying for
less than 3 months.

Most people I know flying to Australia do it via Singapore.

Yes, but New Zealand is some 1400 miles further east, so the optimum
stopover point is different. In particular, the route via the US is
shorter for New Zealand, whereas an Asian stopover is shorter for Oz.
But the US visa for transit requirement tips the balance towards HK
rather than LA.