Originally Posted by Aphrodite91
Oh, sorry, I wasn't clear in what I wanted, I guess. So I meant I want to use as part of the award travel the LAX-SYD, somewhere else-MEL, MEL-LAX legs so it's not quite a stopover in SYD since it's like a stopover/open-jaw combo in Sydney. Maybe that is how you interpreted it and if I misunderstood, I'm sorry.
That would be an open jaw, assuming you will SYD-XXX-MEL flights yourself, presumably on QF/DJ.
Originally Posted by Aphrodite91
On another note, when I search on ual.com for awards, does it cover the AirNZ search too? Maybe I can get an award on AirNZ from LAX-MEL with a stopover in NZ for the same 60,000 miles? And if so, how would I execute this search for availability on AirNZ?
Not at all. United.com does not show *A partners at all for award bookings. You should be clear that you are allowed one stopover, or open jaw enroute. So you could do LAX-AKL (stopover) AKL-MEL (destination) LAX. You can transfer fairly liberally though, and as long as your stop for less than 24 hours, it does not count as a stopover.