Thanks for all the info. Guess now I wait and see if the flights will be available when I need to travel, February 2018. I would rather fly E on NZ from AKL-SYD then the alternative of 30 hours going through ICN or PEK.
But just to mix it up, if I could get a saver E ticket on NZ SFO-AKL-SDY, can I pay to upgrade it to E Premium on the SFO-AKL leg? If so may be worth the savings of 40k miles