Air New Zealand Air Points - Fares that earn FF Miles?

I'm a UA 1-K. My partner and I will be in Australia and NZ in February. I have absolutely no experience with NZ (the carrier).

We have to fly MEL-AKL, then back to SYD. We thought it would be fun to try Air NZ, since the last time we went to Australia, we flew QF.

When I tried to make our booking, I was surprised at two things. One, QF doesn't allow open jaw bookings on line. And second, I was surprised that when trying to book Air NZ, most all of the nonstop flights in each direction did not earn air miles. It's a decent number of EQMs for each of us, so we'd be willing to pay a little bit more to get to a fare that earns miles, if it weren't too much more. BTW, hooray for NZ's booking engine that at least allows one to price such itineraries.

Regarding mileage-earning fares, Is this something I have to do directly with Air NZ? We're on UA C awards coming down from the US, and couldn't make our MEL-AKL-SYD needs work with those tickets. Now, I'm just not sure what our best option is.

thanks for your input.

I'm a UA 1-K. My partner and I will be in Australia and NZ in February. I have absolutely no experience with NZ (the carrier).

We have to fly MEL-AKL, then back to SYD. We thought it would be fun to try Air NZ, since the last time we went to Australia, we flew QF.

When I tried to make our booking, I was surprised at two things. One, QF doesn't allow open jaw bookings on line. And second, I was surprised that when trying to book Air NZ, most all of the nonstop flights in each direction did not earn air miles. It's a decent number of EQMs for each of us, so we'd be willing to pay a little bit more to get to a fare that earns miles, if it weren't too much more. BTW, hooray for NZ's booking engine that at least allows one to price such itineraries.

Regarding mileage-earning fares, Is this something I have to do directly with Air NZ? We're on UA C awards coming down from the US, and couldn't make our MEL-AKL-SYD needs work with those tickets. Now, I'm just not sure what our best option is.

thanks for your input.


Hi Shinbal

On most international fares NZ have 3 broad bands of fares

SMART SAVER - no points
FLEXI SAVER - earn points
FELXI - earn points


on NZs site there is a dropdown box marked "fare preference" which defaults to "lowest available" - if you change the option to "Flexi Saver" or "flexi fare" these are higher levels which earn airpoints in Air NZ's scheme and usually earn airpoints in other *A carriers FF programmes - but since you are wanting to earn on UA you will need to check with them directly .

hope this helps

Hi Shinbal

On most international fares NZ have 3 broad bands of fares

SMART SAVER - no points
FLEXI SAVER - earn points
FELXI - earn points

on NZs site there is a dropdown box marked "fare preference" which defaults to "lowest available" - if you change the option to "Flexi Saver" or "flexi fare" these are higher levels which earn airpoints in Air NZ's scheme and usually earn airpoints in other *A carriers FF programmes - but since you are wanting to earn on UA you will need to check with them directly .

hope this helps

Unfortunately, the fare differences don't seem to be offered on the US site. We can choose "coach" or "business" on the main page for booking o/w or return. On the multi-city page, It gives, "lowest available, no advance purchase, no restriction, and full fare". The first three options are all "no points" options.

Guess I have to call and price this out on the phone between the two carriers.

Book on the NZ or australian sites www.airnz.co.nz or www.airnz.com.au - will most likely be cheaper and will allow those options.

The only reason, IMHO, to book on US site is if you're travelling through on one ticket and want the added protection for misconnects and/or higher baggage allowance. In your case you have a separate award tix so nothing to gain using the US site.

You'll be able to get e-ticket on this itin.

Unfortunately, the fare differences don't seem to be offered on the US site. We can choose "coach" or "business" on the main page for booking o/w or return. On the multi-city page, It gives, "lowest available, no advance purchase, no restriction, and full fare". The first three options are all "no points" options.

Guess I have to call and price this out on the phone between the two carriers.

The booking engine used on the international site (countries other than Aus and NZ) only gives the lowest fare available, which is often a non-points earning fare. You can check whether your fare earns points by clicking on the "fare rules" option, and seeing if the fare code ends with SMART, SAVER, or FLEXI (there are various fare codes/buckets within these). SMART is the cheapest, it does not earn miles. The others do.

It is possible to use the airnz.co.nz site to book/pay in NZ dollars even if you have a non-NZ credit card, however I've found that the NZ$ fares are more expensive due to differences in the taxes and fees charged.

What I do is use the airnz.co.nz site to check fare availability - its more user friendly anyway - and if I can't book the fare I want using the Canada (airnz.com) site, I'll call in to book it. The fares when you book by phone are slightly different again, but "close enough" to what you'll see on the US site.

Book on the NZ or australian sites www.airnz.co.nz or www.airnz.com.au - will most likely be cheaper and will allow those options.

Hmm, I've booked 6 separate flights this year (within NZ and trans-tasman) and the .com site (paying in CAD) was cheaper every time - sometimes by over $50!