UA Miles for Virgin Australia flight on Air New Zealand Metal?
 

Newbie here and I have found a ton of great info on this forum. I am looking at an itinerary that includes a flight from CHC to SYD on Virgin Australia flight (VA7402 code share) on Air New Zealand metal. Given that ANZ is Star Alliance, can I get United PQM and/or Award Miles for this flight? Thanks in advance.

Yes, UA MP (and *A in general) earning is always by operating carrier.

Welcome to FT, Carl235!

Yes. Mileage earning is based on operating carrier, so the fact that there's a VA flight number is irrelevant as long as it's operated by NZ. (I think mduell misread the question.)

It's actually more complicated....

Although you could be eligible to earn miles basd on NZ being the operating carrier, whether you will earn miles, or not, depends on the fare class that your ticket is flown in. There is a list of eligible fare classes here:

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/mark...spx?ItemId=379

Note that there are different eligibility for domestic, trans-Tasman, and International trips. Also note that the fare class you purchase through VA may map into a different fare class on NZ.

You'll have to call into NZ to find the actual fare class you'll be flying - if you want to know in advance (if, for example, you have other mileage options with VA or SQ that you might credit a fare class that would not get credit from UA). Or you can just take your chances and put in for mileage credit after your trip - as long as you don't get the flight credited to another program, which would mean not putting in any other mileage program number on that leg of the trip.

Thanks, fixed.

Thanks to everyone for the quick and helpful replies.

Most of my NZ flights across the ditch do not earn miles due to fare class while the intra-NZ flights (i.e. CHC-ZQN) do. If you need the miles, be careful when booking. If you are booking for $$ and "wish" for miles, I hope you do better than me.

Many times 2- one way flights are less than the r/t quote.

Let us know how it works out. That way we can build the knowledge base for people following in your footsteps.

So, I bought a ticket through NZ that is operated by Virgin.

United just told me that I won't get PQM's from this. NZ ticketing system did let me put UA number in, which makes no sense.

The operating carrier is the key component here?

No restrictions on what you put as your program. Using your MP account just willn't do anything useful in this case.

correct, and the Virgin operated flight will earn nothing if credited to UA MP.

If I book flights to and from Auckland on the United website on Air New Zealand, will I get PQM for a business ticket ? How about if I book it on the AZ site ? (this is for Dec 17/ Jan 18)

Thanks

In the Star Alliance system, PQM earning is independent of ticket stock (or booking on UA vs partner site). PQM earning and rates are based on the flight operator. Use this link to see UA MP earning for NZ operated flights.

Check the fare codes carefully. As PQM is determined by the operating carrier Air New Zealand's rates would apply. If booking through United website make sure the code is a ANZ business code - that would be J,Z,D, or C. United sometimes books ANZ codeshare flights into P which United uses for business but ANZ uses for economy.

Thank you both !

This is a little misleading. For a United marketed, Air New Zealand operated flight, you will earn according to the NZ metal earning chart for the translated booking code, and not the one shown on your receipt. There is no easy, public way I am aware of to perform this translation (you can see a mapping with a paid service like EF).

Since the JV, however, it's actually really easy. All Economy fares will earn 100%, and all Business fares will earn 200%. The only complicated one is which "full fare" tickets will earn 300% and I actually think it's an eclectic mix of J and C fares, but the determining factor is "if I price this fare component on NZ/NZ, what inventory does it use?".

The small print: