Questions and Answers

Does anyone know of a way to redeem miles on NZ flights besides their own program, right now the only flights I see with UA miles are between SYD/BNE-AKL, I am trying to redeem it on the CNS-AKL flight and don’t see any availability on the UA or NH site for the entire schedule. I am guessing it is pretty much impossible to book awards on this but wanted to be sure, as I was hoping the new JV between UA and NZ would offer more availability. Thanks

I’m not sure part of a JV agreement includes making award space available for a particular airline or route. NZ CNS-AKL is a seasonal route and doesnt operate daily so there may not be much or any award space to begin with.

Have you also checked for space via Aeroplan? If the space isnt showing up there either, it probably doesnt exist. You can try calling either Aeroplan or UA to check as well.

They are stingy. Other than a spurt of opening AKL-IAH and AKL-LA flights this year the only flight that is regularly offered is PVG-AKL on their 787. I flew them last week and got a 787 between AKL-SYD. I was shocked. Found it last May. I really haven’t looked at regional availability but it looks like this route isn’t daily making it more difficult.

However a tip on if you end up needed to buy the ticket, monitor their website everyday. They are constantly adjusting fares. I had a premium economy ticket from MEL-AKL that I couldn’t get a reward on. The business fare was $250 more. So I monitored the site everyday and then one day the business class fare was only $35 more than the PE fare I’d paid for. And there wasn’t any change fees, just $35 to upgrade. Good luck in your search.