Hello everyone! Hoping for some advice on a dilemma that I'm facing. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Due to a stint living in Atlanta, I have 170k FF miles on Delta/SkyTeam, and a negligible amount of miles (25-50K) on other alliances. (Yes, yes, I know it sucks!)

I am leaving Portland (PDX) to go to Manila in mid-September. It takes as many miles to fly RT as it does OW, so although I only want to be in the Philippines for three months, I thought I might but a RT ticket and then visit some other places before heading home in mid-April. Also, you need a ticket out of the Philippines to get into the Philippines, so I need a ticket that demonstrates that I'm leaving before my 90 day visa expires.

I would like to go visit a friend in New Zealand in December for an indefinite amount of time. Delta does not fly this route at all, from what I can tell. I am considering just buying a OW ticket because A) I don't want to commit to an end date and B) I don't necessarily want to return to Manila but C) OW tickets are hovering around $1000. Darn you holiday season!

Any thoughts on a better use of my miles other than just a RT ticket to Manila? Any suggestions on the best way to get from Manila to New Zealand? Fly through XYZ? Suck it up and pay cash or get a RT ticket? Swim?

Any thoughts or advice would be deeply appreciated.