Australia/New Zealand to NYC One Way Help

JDH

Level 2 Member
Hi all,

I'm following MarcusBWI's lead and creating a thread asking for help. I'm planning a trip to Australia/New Zealand from late December 2015 into mid-January 2016. I am using Delta Sky Pesos for a one way (only benefit of the recent change!) on Virgin Australia outbound from NYC and don't think that booking will be a problem. What I really need help is getting home...

1. What route are you looking for? Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, or Auckland to NYC
2. What dates do you want to travel (mention how flexible you are)? mid-January and somewhat flexible
3. Do you want to fly first, business, or coach? (maybe also "are you willing to fly coach for a positioning flight") business but fine with coach on positioning/short flights
4. How many passengers? 1
5. How many points do you have, in which programs? 79K Chase UR and 16K United so *A/United is my only bet
6. What points-earning CCs do you have? Ink Plus, Amex Delta Gold, Amex SPG
7. Are you willing to sign up for new credit? Not enough time :)

Any help would be much appreciated. I'm worried that there won't be seats on the non stops into LAX and SFO on United. I'm more than willing to fly through Asia, I just don't want to make too many stops. THANK YOU!
 

druiddation

Level 2 Member
Not necessarily a prediction of January 2016 but looking at some dates in mid to late Jan 2015 there is award space in business (and first) on United for the non stops from SYD to LAX & SFO, but continuing on from those cities to JFK or EWR was only showing economy.

Leaving BNE would give you the option of routing through TPE on EVA Air, but they don't seem to be releasing as much business space as in the past. Thai flys out of BNE and MEL so might be able to do something with a routing through BKK.
 

cloudsurfer1

Level 2 Member
There's usually pretty decent *A availability in C if you route BNE-BKK-NRT and then points east. December is pretty wide open right now. You can do TG's a380 BKK-NRT and ANA's triple 7 directly to JFK.
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
You can easily watch CX availability on BA and know in advance what will open up for AS. I know you don't think you have time but you can do a 2BM for two identical AS cards and get 50K miles within about a week. Do you have 10K SPG points or the ability to MS $10K quickly? Check the FT AS card thread for datapoints, you'll probably need to call the Spanish-language recon line to get one of the cards approved.

When I was planning our return on CX I found the most J availability on the Australia-HKG flights leaving from ADL, BNE and PER, but there was some from MEL and SYD as well. Routing would as good as you'll find via Asia with just one stop.
 

AIM

Level 2 Member
I don't have much to add to this but there is a tiny chance Air NZ will open up a seat AKL-NRT. They should be running a 787 all the time by then (right now it's a mix of 767 I think). I only see NZ space going through PVG on the 787 at the moment for December but that might change.
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
I need to research this and then do a blog post, but Virgin Atlantic miles from UR might now be a good possibility on Virgin Australia and Virgin America flights. Virgin Australia has removed fuel surcharges from all of their flights.
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
Thanks! I was wondering the same thing, actually. I still haven't transferred those points to United and am wondering if I should just use Virgin both ways. Do you know how many Virgin Atlantic miles it would be one way?
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
No clue, but Virgin Atlantic used to collect surcharges that should now be gone. From what I could see there is no published chart from Virgin Atlantic - turns out I was on a mobile website that doesn't show the chart. Thanks @AIM !
 
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JDH

Level 2 Member
Thanks, @AIM . Couldn't find that when I searched either! I'm also looking at Asiana biz SYD-ICN-JFK for 80k United miles.
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
@KennyBSAT, thanks so much for the post! I don't think I'll have enough Virgin Atlantic miles in time to make my booking so I'm eying the United option you mentioned-
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
@KennyBSAT, thanks so much for the reply and the post! I won't have enough Virgin Atlantic miles for the return flight in time so I'm thinking of shooting for the United option you mentioned (SYD-ICN-JFK on Asiana at 80k United miles looks like the best option for me!) I guess I could try for the 70k United flight into SFO or LAX but I don't see any availability online ever for it. Is that something I could ask for over the phone if I don't see online and am not an elite?

Also, when it comes to redeeming Virgin Australia space with SkyMiles, it's tough for me to find JFK-LAX-SYD/BNE but easy to find LAX-SYD/BNE. Is it possible for me to snag the LAX-SYD/BNE leg and then add the JFK-LAX leg separately ,either online or by phone? I don't mind if the domestic leg is in economy, just not sure how to book it.

Thanks again so much to you and everyone else here for your help with this.
 

rpsandiego

New Member
I don't have much to add to this but there is a tiny chance Air NZ will open up a seat AKL-NRT. They should be running a 787 all the time by then (right now it's a mix of 767 I think). I only see NZ space going through PVG on the 787 at the moment for December but that might change.
I've been trying to watch this too but I don't see Air NZ doing it for dates in Feb... might also be the case for March. I just my return on CHC-SYD-LAX with UA.
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
I'm amazed you were able to find SYD-LAX space on United! I have had very little luck seeing Air NZ space as well.
 

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
I'm amazed you were able to find SYD-LAX space on United! I have had very little luck seeing Air NZ space as well.
I hate to say it, but I've never, ever seen Air NZ premium space across the Pacific. Ever! UA space isn't great either, but usually shows up at least a few days a month.
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
Agreed, @TheBOSman. I gave up on that idea before I even started! Of course United has now removed Asiana space from their website for no apparent reason so I'm going to enjoy searching for that now...at least View from the Wing has a work-around.
 

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
United is always touchy about booking or viewing OZ space, I do think it is due to a system conflict for whatever reason. EVA has really cut back on the amount of available award space, I don't know if this is due to higher awareness and booking rates, or if they have cut back. You can also book CA (Air China) through PEK, but since a leg is in first class, it seems to exceed the number of points you have available at 130,000 UA miles needed. You may wish to wait to see if UA releases seats on their nonstop SYD/MEL-LAX flights if you are flexible enough, they do release them intermittently.
 

Tom (@A6BN)

Level 2 Member
I'm looking at AKL as well, it seems the KE JFK-ICN-AKL is generally available for J or F, but downside is about a 12 hour connect time in ICN. It's not so bad on the return.
 

JDH

Level 2 Member
I ended up booking Asiana business Sydney-Seoul-JFK. I'll have a 15 hour overnight connection in Seoul, hopefully enough to meet a friend who lives there for dinner and get a good night's sleep before the final leg!
 
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