Thanks for the recommendation of the ANA Tool. I've been playing around with it and have read the tutorials available in other threads.

I'm looking at trying for a business class saver reward from IAD-AKL in early May for two people, which I figure isn't high season in New Zealand. I am indeed finding some availability in ANA Tool with the domestic segment on UA to LAX, SFO, or YVR and then Air New Zealand to AKL. The UA segment is never showing any business class availability. Is this an accurate representation of UA business class saver reward availability?

Also, in ANA Tool, ORF (my nearest airport) never comes up as a valid origin for the trip to AKL. Is it hopeless to expect the leg from ORF to IAD or ORD would be available for a saver reward. Should I just plan to start the trip from IAD? Or, can I develop the itinerary segment by segment, as I can indeed find availability if I just use ORF-IAD as the start and end points?

I guess the next step is to develop some options and call UA.