NWA to NZ
 

I am new to flyer talk. Hope this is posted in the right place. In the past I have used world perks without problem. Now I am trying to book a flight to NZ in Jan/Feb with NWA perks. Their partner is Malasya air which will take me to Kuala Lampur but wont make a seat available to Auckland. Does anyone have a suggestion, short of buying a ticket?

I also thought long and hard about using my NW miles Toronto to Auckland, but Malaysia had no suitable dates for January which is when I am travelling....I paid $1200US for my open return ticket via EWR,Dubai and KUL, and from EWR, the ticket earns 31400 return, so its like paying less than 4¢/mile...instead of using up 80000 miles for an award ticket...
if affordibility is not a concern, a paid ticket is definetly a better deal than using miles....

keep in mind that the EWR-DXB-KUL route doesnt operate every day, and neither does the KUL-AKL flight...there are several options to minimize layover time, but dont expect smooth connections, i know, i tried...
and gave up and decided to spend a couple days in Dubai and KLumpur each, you can also get a stopover in Brisbane and/or Karachi (ok maybe not the best idea)

I have now found that NWA also has Garuda as a partner and I am ticketed from KUL thru DPS (Denpasar) to Auckland

Do you still have to do overnights in KUL both directions, since you're using Garuda now?

Using MH you dont technically have to do an overnight, if you fly out of EWR on Tuesday, arrive at DXB Wed morning, and leave Wed evening, arrive KUL Thursday morning, and leave Thu evening, arrive Auckland Friday morning.
No overnights, just long daytime layovers.
I believe the same works for departing on a Friday

There appears to be only a 2 1/2 hour wait for my flight out of KUL. On my return, I skip KUL entirely...AKL-DPS-NRT-MSP...eliminating one stop! Much happier now