Since Air New Zealand canceled its LAX-NAN flight, what's the easiest way to get to NAN using United miles? Obviously SFO/LAX-AKL-NAN on NZ is an option, but the scarce award availablity (at least in C) from the US to New Zealand is a problem.

Is it possible to fly SFO/LAX-SYD (on UA) -AKL-NAN (on NZ) as a valid award routing? (Actually it would be JFK-SFO/LAX-SYD-AKL-NAN.)

Are NZ's SYD-AKL and AKL-NAN flights (in any class) easier to get than USA-AKL flights? ANA tool shows lots of availability, but does anyone have experience trying to book these flights with UA miles?