wco81

flybie

So is it true that Air NZ only releases award space 90 days before departure? I am seeing a few in June and July but nothing in Dec/Jan.

wco81

Or they only release when it's winter down there, rarely if ever for Nov to March, when it's high season.

flybie

How about UA Polaris route. What’s their pattern?

Mwenenzi

Dec/Jan (mid summer) is a peak time for NZ travellers. Schools & universities finish the academic year late Nov/Dec and start again late Jan/Feb. Many people take 1~2~3 weeks holidays(vacation) at this time.

samyoull

There's a bunch of I space at the moment on NZ3 (LAX-AKL) due to it being retimed as a day flight, as well as NZ6 AKL-LAX.

Nothing as far out as the southern summer though.

jsloan

It's extremely difficult to find UA longhaul award space, and SFO-AKL is one of the tougher routes given the fact that there's a ton of demand for paid seats and its only thrice-weekly. When it goes year-round in 2019, you might see some shoulder-season availability. In general, though, there's no real pattern for UA availability, except that they'll often open up a few seats at the last minute if they have extras, and you can always waitlist for a business award, which would get you last-seat availability.

While the award calendar isn't accurate in general, it shows exactly one date with SFO-AKL I space on UA metal in December/January -- the Monday, January 7 flight is R9 I2 right now. So, anybody who wants to go to New Zealand after the New Year, act now.

findark

In the past they have only released I space within 90 days of departure. It's also much more common (read: only found) in the southern winter.

That's an outstanding deal. Book it!

wco81

I managed to get a saver award, SFO-AKL-WLG and AKL-SFO in January.

The plan is to end the trip in Queenstown and buy a separate ticket for ZQN-AKL on the morning of my outbound, which departs at 15:30.

So I figure I could take a flight that is scheduled to land at AKL at 12:15 but the FTers on the NZ forum is saying that's not reliable.

1. NZ doesn't interline to UA. Maybe because they want people to buy tickets which includes checked bags or pay for checked bags separately?

2. They say the NZ lounge (not sure if it's for *A business class or for general *A gold members) is 1.7 km from the gate.

3. Departures for the USA require additional screening like questions and so on.

So the recommendation is to either fly the first flight out of ZQN apt 6:40 AM or spend the night before in Auckland (which I found to have overpriced hotels, on a previous visit there).

Has anyone dealt with linking up outbound itineraries on separate NZ and UA tickets?

It can't be so complicated?

Aussienarelle

I have not had separate tickets in AKL, but did fly NZ LAX-AKL-SYD-AKL-SYD last Christmas/January in PE with a separate UA SAN-LAX-SAN ticket in Y.

1. NZ is part of Star Alliance and was able to interline my bag both ways. I have also interlined with some more obscure airlines out of SAN (Star Alliance) and it takes a bit of work for the check-in agent but it is very doable.

2. The lounge is a bit of a walk but they make announcements and I enjoy the walking between flights to get the blood flowing. The lounge is airside and very nice. The ordering for coffee is a bit confusing when you are jetlagged, ;-)

3. Normal every single place I fly from

It is not complicated, although the screening for transit passengers is a tad frustrating as it is full screening (so if you are used to TSA-pre you need to be prepared, although again it is the same way in many other international airports.)

The one thing I did notice during my stopovers in AKL were a fair number of delayed domestic flights at AKL, so for the ZQN-AKL you may want to arrive in AKL the night before the day of departure. It is summer and all the usual tropical weather that can entail. I appreciate the hotel at AKL may be more expensive but what would be the cost of missing the flight due to a delay out of ZQN?

hayleigh

How can i use united miles to fly business class on air New Zealand. I can't seem to find any flights

UAPremExecflyer

NZ releases very few award seats Award seats to AKL and https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...7-forward.html

Mwenenzi

hayleigh Welcome to FT

What route? USA to NZ? When?
Air NZ release very few long haul awards to partners. Some time awards are released a few weeks before.

A few years ago I booked a UA ff award AKL-SFO on Air NZ 3 weeks before the flight.

UA fly SFO-AKL
SFO-AKL JV w/NZ, all year UA metal, 77W Nov18-Mar19, 772 Apr19-Oct19 (+newORD-AKL NZ)
New UA SFO-AKL service from 1st July '16

FoxFlyer

I once found a AIR NZ award in business and was super excited, as it seemed like the holy grail of award bookings with United miles. And TBH, I was disappointed in the experience. While their business class may have been ahead of its time when it was introduced, it now feels dated (at least the hard product). Soft product is still good, but I would try for an award booking on UA's SFO-AKL route, especially since it has the new Polaris product, which is light years ahead of AirNZ. (Granted - finding award space on that flight may be equally difficult.)

Kacee

I think much depends on time of year . . . December, forget it. June, maybe.