Originally Posted by
vintyma
True, we could do that, but that would make the holiday that much more expensive. It looks like we may be able to travel on Qantas for a similar fare, and get points, as well as more baggage allowance (2 bags of up to 50 lbs each) opposed to just one bag of 50 lbs on Air NZ. The only catch is there's a 7 hour layover at LAX on the way back.
Vineeta
Since I don't know exactly what dates you're travelling, the results I got may not be 100% applicable for you, but it still shows that points earning fares do not have to be that much more expensive.
I used the following dates: IAD-AKL October 22, AKL-SYD November 5, SYD-IAD November 16.
IAD-AKL-SYD-IAD on Qantas ($1700):
IAD-AKL-SYD booked in Qantas N fare class, no miles for AA or BA FF accounts for LAX-AKL-SYD operated by QF, IAD-LAX on AA should earn 100% AA miles.
SYD-IAD Qantas O fare class, 50% miles on AA & 25% on BA for SYD-LAX on QF, LAX-IAD should earn 100% miles on AA.
IAD-AKL-SYD-IAD on NZ ($1800):
All flights booked in NZ L fare class. No miles on UA for the LAX-AKL-SYD NZ operated flights, but should UA earn miles for the IAD-LAX and SYD-SFO-IAD flights operated by UA.
IAD-AKL-SYD-IAD on NZ ($2000):
IAD-AKL-SYD in NZ W fare class, 100% miles on UA MP for IAD-LAX on UA and LAX-AKL-SYD on NZ)
SYD-IAD booked in NZ L fare class, but should earn 100% miles for UA members since the flights are operated by UA SYD-SFO-IAD.
So it looks like you could earn 100% miles on all flights by paying a little extra when flying NZ, and even if booking in NZ L class for all flights you can still earn miles on most flights. The Qantas flights, on the other hand, earn no miles or partial miles.