Originally Posted by
Vunder31
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.
Thank you SO much! This information was very helpful. So, we've just booked on Qantas, on O class, which should give us 50% on AA for the AKL-SYD-LAX segments, and 100% on AA for the LAX-IAD segments. And, it was relatively inexpensive as well--a total of $1440 per person through Vayama, after the $31 July discount from Vayama for both tickets together.
We had to play around with dates a bit to get the best fare. We're departing IAD Oct. 28, returning from AKL on Nov. 20 and from SYD to IAD on Nov. 21. Had we chosen to depart on Oct. 27 would've increased the air fare a lot. Moving both these itineraries forward by a week for all flights also raises the fares a lot.
You guys are the greatest. Vineeta