Originally Posted by 24left

Are you looking for someone to tell you how to look for flights?
Have you searched on Aeroplan?

Can you explain what you mean by "What are the better ways to get such tickets or are they even available"?

Your question:
"Is there an easy way to tell availability? what about using star alliance partners?"

That will be your only way. AC does not fly to New Zealand but NZ does from YVR. Direct flights may not be available from YVR but you can do stops. AC flies to SYD and BNE so you would still need connections. You can try to search for seats YYZ-LAX-AKL, but from what I've seen even those are often hard to get.

Jerry Hung has a fantastic thread with some really helpful info.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...demptions.html

Perhaps others here on AC FT can offer more suggestions.