Flying to Australia from North America on Air New Zealand and United

Feb. 28, 2014

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4 min read

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Air New Zealand and United are Star Alliance partners, and route all their North American flights through Los Angeles, San Francisco and/or Vancouver. The following are the flight numbers and schedules for all ANZ flights that route through Los Angeles (as well as their Auckland-Australia connections) and United's non-stop flights from LAX and SFO to/from SYD. A (2+) signifies a flight that arrives two days later than its departure. Also below, you'll find advice on mileage programs and credit cards associated with these airlines.

AIR NEW ZEALAND
From North America, Air New Zealand offers direct flights to Auckland, New Zealand from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver. Connecting flights travel from Auckland to these destinations in Australia: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney.

NORTH AMERICA-AUCKLAND CONNECTIONS

Los Angeles - Auckland
LAX-AKL: NZ0001 9:15/9:45pm - 5:45/7:15am (2+); NZ0005 10:30pm-6:30am (2+)
AKL-LAX: NZ0006 7:40pm-12:55pm; NZ0002 10:45pm-2:00pm

San Francisco -Auckland
SFO-AKL: NZ0007 9:15pm-5:25pm (2+)
AKL-SFO: NZ0008 7:15pm-12:15pm

Vancouver - Auckland
YVR-AKL: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday: NZ83 6:30pm-5:45am (2+)
AKL-YVR: Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: NZ84 8:00pm-12:15pm

AUCKLAND-AUSTRALIA CONNECTIONS

Auckland-Adelaide
AKL-ADL: NZ0791 8:00/8:20am - 10:20/10:40am (except Saturday)
ADL-AKL: NZ0792 11:20/11:40am - 6:05/6:20pm (except Wednesday)

Auckland-Brisbane
AKL-BNE: NZ0135 9:30am-11:10 am; NZ0139 4:05-5:50pm
BNE-AKL: NZ0136 12:25-5:25pm; NZ0734 6:55pm-12:05am

Auckland-Cairns
AKL-CNS: NZ0775 7:10am-10:50am or 9:15am-12:55am
CNS-AKL: NZ0776 11:50am-6:30pm or 1:55pm-8:35 pm

Auckland-Gold Coast
AKL-OOL: NZ0937 6:30am-8:10am
OOL-AKL: NZ0936 6:30pm-11:30pm

Auckland-Melbourne
AKL-MEL: NZ0123 8:30am-10:30am; NZ0725 3:30pm-5:30pm; NZ0721 7:00pm-9:00pm (this flight, Sunday only)
MEL-AKL: NZ0124 11:45am-5:15pm; NZ0726 6:30pm-11:59pm

Auckland-Perth
AKL-PER: NZ0175 2:30pm-6:10pm
PER-AKL: NZ0176 7:25pm-5:40am

Auckland-Sydney
AKL-SYD:
NZ0101 7:00am-8:30am
NZ0703 9:00am-10:30am
NZ0719 1:00pm-2:30pm
NZ0105 4:00pm-5:30pm (except Saturday)
5:30pm-7:00pm
SYD-AKL:
NZ0702 9:40am-2:45pm
NZ0104 11:30/11:45am - 4:35/4:45pm
NZ0119 1:00pm-2:30pm
NZ0118 3:30/3:45pm - 8:35/8:45pm
NZ0706 5:10/5:30pm - 10:15/10:35pm
NZ0708 6:40/6:45pm - 11:40/11:45pm

Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars are calculated with a simple formula: $1NZ = 1 Airpoint. In other words, if your flight costs NZ$3,500, it will require an exchange of 3,500 Airpoints.

Airpoints can be used with partner airline Virgin Australia, at the following exchange rates:
North America>New Zealand (r/t): Economy 1,500; Premium Economy 2,240; Business 4,080; First 5,160
New Zealand>Australia (r/t): Economy 460; Premium Economy 750; Business 1,440; First 1,890

To maximize your Airpoints, consider SPG Rewards cards like the Starwood American Express or Starwood Business American Express; Starpoints transfer at a 1:1 ratio to Air New Zealand. You can also redeem any Star Alliance miles (e.g., those earned by Chase Ultimate Rewards) for flights on Air New Zealand. Award availability on Air New Zealand is scarce, so it's advisable to visit ExpertFlyer to set seat alerts that will tell you when award seats become available.

UNITED
Beginning October 26th, United Airlines will begin running non-stop flights between Los Angeles and Melbourne, 6 days a week. At present, the airline offers the following non-stop, daily flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Sydney; however, note that with the addition of the LAX-MEL flights, these times are likely to change:

Los Angeles-Sydney
LAX-SYD: 9:50pm-6:10 am (2+)
SYD-LAX: 1:50pm-10:30am

San Francisco-Sydney
SFO-SYD: 10:10pm-6:25am
SYD-SFO: 2:45pm-11:20am

United MileagePlus Awards can be exchanged for North America>Australia round-trips at these general rates:
Roundtrip Saver - Economy 80,000; Business: 140,000
Roundtrip Standard - Economy 170,000; Business 350,000

Star Alliance/Star Awards can be exchanged for these general rates:
Economy 80,000; Business 160,000; First 260,000

To maximize your United MileagePlus miles, the United MileagePlus Explorer Card now comes with up to 65,000 miles (log into your MileagePlus account to find your own best offer), and the $95 annual fee is waived the first year. Or, consider Chase Ultimate Rewards cards like Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold, and SPG Rewards cards like the Starwood American Express or Starwood Business American Express; Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starpoints transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio to United.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.