Originally Posted by
tabTX
So I'm looking to cross the Pacific, and am weighing CO(Mike), NZ and UA, but I cannot find any info on what *G will get you with NZ. Anyone have better info?
Has anyone sampled all 3 carriers? I can do CO IAH-GUM-CNS for about $2500 M-fare plus 50k miles to get BF IAH-GUM, but then I have to get from Cairns to Sydney & Melbourne. Or, I can do NZ econ+ for $2100 LAX-AKL-SYD. UA is asking $3k for 744 econ.
Thoughts?
I've done Mike to CNS, and the outbound wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. You land in Cairns about bed time (local), so the time change is pretty easy if you ironman-it and stay awake straight through. The return is pretty brutal, though. You really need to be able to sleep on the plane to make the time change work. Personally, I'd go the most direct route possible with the fewest layovers if I were doing it again.
As others have mentioned, the GUM-CNS route is very limited, so if you aren't thinking "Great Barrier Reef", then go for something that puts you directly into the southern cities.