Delta Air Lines to New Zealand
#31
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Ridgecrest, CA, USA
Posts: 2
I thought United and Delta still had an arrangement whereby you could earn/use miles on each other's flights. I know Ive earned DL miles when flying United. If that is, or ever was true, then could you use DL miles for United to get to NZ?
#32
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: San Francisco, CA USA, DL FO
Posts: 344
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SinWithZin:
I thought United and Delta still had an arrangement whereby you could earn/use miles on each other's flights. I know Ive earned DL miles when flying United. If that is, or ever was true, then could you use DL miles for United to get to NZ?</font>
I thought United and Delta still had an arrangement whereby you could earn/use miles on each other's flights. I know Ive earned DL miles when flying United. If that is, or ever was true, then could you use DL miles for United to get to NZ?</font>
#33
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 19
Best time to New Zealand with Miles (if possible)
Could not find existing thread on this topic.....is there a "best" time to use miles for flights to New Zealand? I am a Delta Diamond with close to 220000 miles to kill and would like to go with fam...any thoughts or ideas would be great
#34
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,417
DL doesn't fly to NZ, so your choices are either to use DL miles to get to SYD and then purchase a ticket or use your miles on a partner to connect through Asia. Partner awards cannot be searched on delta.dumb; you must call. I'm not sure how large your family is, but 220K miles might not be realistic.
#35
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Delta DM, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, MTA Rust, Hertz Five Star something or other
Posts: 2,858
Your can go through Seoul on Korean (tons of blackout dates for months at a time), Kuala Lampur on Malaysian or through Sydney and buy a ticket
I'd imagine going in their summer (our winter) will be peak season and it will be easier to get award seats during our summer (their winter)
I'd imagine going in their summer (our winter) will be peak season and it will be easier to get award seats during our summer (their winter)
Last edited by thepointsguy; Dec 10, 2010 at 12:08 pm Reason: Edit
#38
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Delta DM, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, MTA Rust, Hertz Five Star something or other
Posts: 2,858
#39
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 19
Your can go through Seoul on Korean (tons of blackout dates for months at a time), Kuala Lampur on Malaysian or through Sydney and buy a ticket
I'd imagine going in their summer (our winter) will be peak season and it will be easier to get award seats during our summer (their winter)
I'd imagine going in their summer (our winter) will be peak season and it will be easier to get award seats during our summer (their winter)
Early summer is the plan....I have done Sydney 3 times and it was almost always in April....I looked into the various routes through Asia and they look absolutley brutal for the fam (not a problem for me).....we are talking 29 hrs....Sydney and tik looks like it.
#40
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVPG, DL GM, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,266
4 hours MSP-LAX
3 hour layover in Los Angeles(1 hr could be tight late in the day)
15 hours LAX-SYD
3 hour layover in Sydney
3 hours SYD-AKL
Total trip time 28 hours.....So 29 hours to get to NZ through Asia doesn't sound too bad. Not sure exactly what you are expecting. Unfortunately Air New Zealand is not DLs partner so you can't fly non-stop LAX-AKL.
#41
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 19
DL doesn't fly to NZ, so your choices are either to use DL miles to get to SYD and then purchase a ticket or use your miles on a partner to connect through Asia. Partner awards cannot be searched on delta.dumb; you must call. I'm not sure how large your family is, but 220K miles might not be realistic.
#42
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 19
You are going to be looking at 24 hrs +++ no matter what you do. I don't know where you are located and trying to fly from but for me to get to NZ via Australia would be:
4 hours MSP-LAX
3 hour layover in Los Angeles(1 hr could be tight late in the day)
15 hours LAX-SYD
3 hour layover in Sydney
3 hours SYD-AKL
Total trip time 28 hours.....So 29 hours to get to NZ through Asia doesn't sound too bad. Not sure exactly what you are expecting. Unfortunately Air New Zealand is not DLs partner so you can't fly non-stop LAX-AKL.
4 hours MSP-LAX
3 hour layover in Los Angeles(1 hr could be tight late in the day)
15 hours LAX-SYD
3 hour layover in Sydney
3 hours SYD-AKL
Total trip time 28 hours.....So 29 hours to get to NZ through Asia doesn't sound too bad. Not sure exactly what you are expecting. Unfortunately Air New Zealand is not DLs partner so you can't fly non-stop LAX-AKL.
#43
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: MLB
Programs: DL PM 1.6MM, CO PE
Posts: 1
Try Air Tahiti Nui out of LAX. We just booked 4 Y tickets for May/June travel to AKL with a stopover in PPT on the way back. 100K miles each including the DL connecting flights to/fm LAX. Good award availability, and much easier than flying all the way to ICN first.
#44
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: TUL
Programs: AA Plat, DL FO/1MM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, National Exec Elite
Posts: 2,102
Welcome to FT to both the OP and you, jon330cic. Great first post, thanks for pointing out something it seems the rest of us have missed! To the OP, I'd suggest looking into this option. The DL LAX-SYD flight is a really tough flight to find low mileage seats on and the Trans-Tasman flights can be pricey (from my limited research the couple times I've flown the route). Perhaps VA is easier to get in Y on LAX-SYD, I have no experience booking with them. Since you are already spending 100k miles RT for coach tickets (the highest "low" award in the system I believe), why not get all the way to your destination. The routings I just looked at via PPT all had 1.5-2 hour layovers or just enjoy a free stopover en route in PPT!
#45
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage (Exec Plat), United, Delta
Posts: 270
Using SkyMiles US-New Zealand
Flying to New Zealand this fall. Would like to use my SkyMiles account (currently 210,000+) to obtain two Premium tickets.
When I spoke to an amazingly ill-informed Delta international rep, I was first told the only partner serving Auckland was Korean, via Seoul. With a little more digging I got her to acknowledge that Air Tahiti Nui and V Australia also fly the route (a bit more directly perhaps?).
Questions: Are there any other SkyTeam partners flying to Auckland I should be aware of?
I'm hoping to fly in to Auckland and home from Christchurch or Queenstown. Do any of these carriers allow for such a routing?
Air Tahiti Nui is the most convenient to Auckland, with nonstops from LAX. But beyond that, do any of these carriers rank higher than the others in terms of the quality of their "premium" cabin or in the availability of seats in the "low" category (traveling in Oct).
Would happily use my AA miles to fly the route on Qantas, but it's time to empty out my SkyMiles account. Thanks for any guidence provided.
When I spoke to an amazingly ill-informed Delta international rep, I was first told the only partner serving Auckland was Korean, via Seoul. With a little more digging I got her to acknowledge that Air Tahiti Nui and V Australia also fly the route (a bit more directly perhaps?).
Questions: Are there any other SkyTeam partners flying to Auckland I should be aware of?
I'm hoping to fly in to Auckland and home from Christchurch or Queenstown. Do any of these carriers allow for such a routing?
Air Tahiti Nui is the most convenient to Auckland, with nonstops from LAX. But beyond that, do any of these carriers rank higher than the others in terms of the quality of their "premium" cabin or in the availability of seats in the "low" category (traveling in Oct).
Would happily use my AA miles to fly the route on Qantas, but it's time to empty out my SkyMiles account. Thanks for any guidence provided.