Originally Posted by TexasFlyer
Delta does not have rights to fly to AU or NZ. I know CO once flew the route(and may still have rights to fly it) but CO and UA are the only American carriers that have flown to AU. This route is a cash-cow and Qantas guards it closely. Singapore is trying to break into the route, but no luck so far. Don't waste your breath worrying about what metal will fly there--it's all tied up in the rights. And, 9-10 years ago, Air New Zealand was a Delta partner.
Northwest was also flying the SYD route, at the same time that CO was. In fact, so many airlines (I think Hawaiian also was flying there then) began service to SYD at about the same time that it started a fare war. I was able to fly round trip coach for $825 on CO with double Onepass miles (basically enough for a free domestic trip). I applied a travel voucher worth $400 to the fare, so my net cost was $425 (which I was able to write off on my taxes). Plus, because of a service disruption (the need to change an engine) CO put me and most of the rest of the pax up in a Waikiki hotel for about twelve hours on the way back to LAX, with two meal vouchers. PLUS, that flight was enough miles for CO to give me Silver Elite (equivalent to current Gold Elite) in Onepass (all of the bonus miles counted as status miles; I don't think Onepass differentiated back then). This all took place in 1989 or 1990.
BTW, the meal service on the flight was awful (even for coach) and the hotel's food was nothing to write home about either. And I was extremely NOT impressed with Waikiki beach.