Air New Zealand Air Points - Flying to Phuket

I want to fly to Phuket and need to know what is the best way to do this to maximise airpoints. Air NZ for a start does not fly there and want to know which of the star alliance airlines are the best to fly with in terms of comfort and points values to convert back to Air NZ. Happy to fly business if that makes things better! Any ideas welcome!

Hi, and welcome to FT, fellow newbie! :)

I'm assuming you're flying out of NZ - one way to go is to take the direct route AKL-BKK on Thai. They use the nice, newer A340-600. Business class or Premium Economy are good ways to fly that route. Once you're in Bangkok, you can easily take a direct flight to Phuket from there. The business class fare from BKK to Phuket is usually pretty cheap, and is a fairly short flight. Thai Airways is Star Alliance so will credit direct to your AirNZ Airpoints account.

The Thai Airways website is a place you can book - also, Expedia now has a NZ-based website that may be good as well.

I've been to Phuket once in 2006 - nice place. Enjoy your trip!

oh and btw, you can also fly Singapore - AKL-SIN direct, and connect to Phuket out of Singapore. The earning rates for APD will be the same, regardless of which carrier you fly.

One thing to note is earning rate on partner airlines ex New Zealand is hugely discounted. To maximize Airpoints earning, I would route AKL-HKG-HKT with first leg on NZ or -BKK and buy a separate TG BKK-HKT ticket.

To fly to Asia from New Zealand on non-NZ aircraft will earn 150 APD in J and 165 APD in P one way whereas on NZ aircraft you will earn 210 APD in J. Regional Flights in Asia less than 2,000 km will earn 40 APD in J and 60 APD in P one way, greater than 2,000 km is 60 and 90 respectively.

Hi, and welcome to FT, fellow newbie! :)

I'm assuming you're flying out of NZ - one way to go is to take the direct route AKL-BKK on Thai. They use the nice, newer A340-600. Business class or Premium Economy are good ways to fly that route. Once you're in Bangkok, you can easily take a direct flight to Phuket from there. The business class fare from BKK to Phuket is usually pretty cheap, and is a fairly short flight. Thai Airways is Star Alliance so will credit direct to your AirNZ Airpoints account.

The Thai Airways website is a place you can book - also, Expedia now has a NZ-based website that may be good as well.

I've been to Phuket once in 2006 - nice place. Enjoy your trip!

TG flights between AKL and BKK, TG989 and TG990, on the A340-600 have First, Business and Economy.

Ok, those are all very useful team. I guess it will come down to price of ticket and max airpoints returned, but will look at all options everyone has suggested. I used to view airpoints as a bit of a lark, but I am learning just how useful they can be if trips are planned properly. Have managed to can my Koru membership and maintaining gold status can be acheived by careful planning of overseas trips! Thanks guys.