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Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific are bucket-list destinations for many travelers, in no small part due to the travel time and the cost of getting there. Because of that, it makes sense to try and use airline miles to offset the cost and/or fly more comfortably on the long journey. Unfortunately, the popularity of the region means demand is very high and award space can be hard to come by – particularly in premium cabins. That said, it isn’t impossible either.
This post outlines the best options available to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (Oceania) in using frequent flyer rewards programs available to the major US transferable currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou points and Wells Fargo Rewards.
What are transferable currencies?
If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of a number of airline programs. This is appealing because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:
- Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide
- Bilt Rewards Complete Guide
- Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide
- Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide
- Wells Fargo Rewards Complete Guide (coming soon)
Best ways to get to Oceania with points and miles
The deals below are sorted alphabetically, not in order of best to worst. Remember that the lowest price isn’t always the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges and the ease of amassing the miles for your chosen award. Each description describes where to search, how to book, and which partners you can use to transfer for the given award. It’s always best to confirm availability before transferring miles to be sure that the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- The short story: Alaska has excellent rates to Oceania on several nice partners - and you can include a stopover for free on a one-way award.
- Miles required: Alaska has a distanced-based award chart, but business class awards start at 75k-85k each way.
- How to find awards: Partner award space shows up at AlaskaAir.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com.
- Key warnings: Finding premium cabin space on any of these partners can be a challenge.
- Transfer from: Bilt
ANA Mileage Club
- The short story: ANA offers very good pricing for business class between North America and Oceania and also offers a wide range of partner options. You can route via Canada, most of East / Southeast Asia or fly Air New Zealand.
- Miles required: From 130K round trip in business class on ANA metal during low season and from 145K round trip in business class on Star Alliance partners. ANA has eliminated fuel surcharges on many/most of its flights, making routing on ANA an even better deal.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at ANA’s website. (you’ll need to create a free ANA Mileage Club account and log in to search for space)
- How to book awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or ANA's website (though ANA requires searches to be round trip, so it is easier to find availability by searching one way at United first).
- Key warnings: You must book round trip. High fuel surcharges are assessed by some carriers, others have little to none. The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards, so there is risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- Transfer from: Amex
Air Canada Aeroplan
- The short story: Aeroplan's Oceania region includes Australia, New Zealand and Eastern Asia. While award pricing to Oceania is on the high side, members can now book a stopover in eastern Asia en route to Australia or New Zealand for 5K additional miles one-way and lap infants are just $25 CAD or 2,500 miles per direction (far cheaper than what most programs charge).
- Miles required: 55K-115K each way in business class or 90K-140K each way in first class from North America to the Pacific zone, though practically for most North America-based flyers, distance bands start at 75K / 115K each way. See more detail here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Aeroplan.com (you’ll need to create a free Aeroplan frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at Aeroplan.com. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone.
- Fuel Surcharges: Aeroplan no longer charges fuel surcharges on partner award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Marriott
Avianca LifeMiles
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles might have somewhat hackable awards if you could find premium cabin space on the long-haul.
- Miles required: 80K miles in business class from the US to Australia / New Zealand / Oceania, but see Avianca LifeMiles' awesome mixed-cabin award pricing for info on how this might be hackable if premium space exists. Note also that Air New Zealand economy class flights price lower than the chart shows for flights to/from Los Angeles. Business class may also price lower if you can find availability.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you'll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
British Airways Avios
- The short story: British Airways offers an award chart for travel on a single partner and a lesser-known chart for travel on two partners. That second chart could save you some Avios if you were to mix AA and Qantas for example. The Avios price of your trip is based on the cumulative distance of your flight segments, as opposed to pricing each segment individually (like a normal BA award).
- Miles required: From around 200K "round trip" in business class from most US cities (can vary based on distance). See the mixed partner chart along with an excellent explanation for how to leverage it here. In short, you could turn this into a multi-stop, multi-carrier journey and the number of miles required will vary some but still be less than booking separately via British Airways.
- How to find awards: Search for available space on each segment separately at britishairways.com.
- How to book awards: Book over the phone. There isn’t always a clear methodology for pricing mixed-cabin awards and some agents may be less well versed in this mixed chart. There is a maximum of eight flight segments and seven stopover and travel must be completed within twelve months. One open-jaw is allowed and you can only use oneworld partners.
- Key warnings: This is a lesser-known chart and some agents may not be well versed in using it. Be prepared to hang up and call again.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.
HawaiianMiles
- The short story: Hawaiian may be a good option for those who can position to Hawaii cheaply, particularly for Pago Pago or Papeete.
- Miles required: 65K miles one-way in business class to Australia or New Zealand; 47.5K miles one-way in business class to Pago Pago or Papeete.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Hawaiian Airlines’s Hawaiian Miles site (you’ll need to create a free Hawaiian Miles account).
- How to book awards: Book online at Hawaiian Airlines’s Hawaiian Miles site.
- Key warnings: Availability can be hard to come by, but if you find it it may be worth it.
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for Jetstar)
- The short story: Qantas's low-cost-carrier Jetstar flies between Hawaii and several Australian cities and can be booked with Qantas points.
- Miles required: 61,500 miles one-way in business class from Honolulu to Sydney.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Key warnings: Jetstar flights can be quite cheap. While their business class is much more expensive than their economy class fares, it's worth comparing to cash fares to be sure you're getting a decent value.
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for Emirates)
- The short story: While the award cost here is substantially higher than most others, it may be worth it to those who really want an indulgently long experience in Emirates business class. It is possible to spend upwards of ~30 hours in A380 business class by routing via Dubai (note that some US cities have 777 service, which is likely angled in business class).
- Miles required: 159,000 miles one-way in business class between North American cities and those cities served by Emirates in Australia and New Zealand.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Key warnings: Choose A380 routes to get a fully-flat aisle access business class seat with a bar at the rear of the plane.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
United MileagePlus
- The short story: United gives you access to Star Alliance and has more lenient routing rules than many other programs. For instance, you could fly via Canada, China, or South Korea, giving you access to more availability (although still somewhat limited).
- Miles required: From 85K/100K miles each way in business class on United; 110K each way in business class on partners
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
- How to book awards: Book online at United.com
- Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so we see highly variable pricing for award tickets.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Air New Zealand)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers very good deals for Air New Zealand premium cabin flights - if you can actually find availability.
- Miles required: 62.5K each way in business class between New Zealand to North America.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Air New Zealand space does not show up at VirginAtlantic.com).
- How to book awards: Book over the phone with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500. You'll need the dates that you found saver award availability on United's website.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately (i.e. an itinerary with a single connection will cost 25K miles), so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries. Furthermore, Air New Zealand business class award space is extremely rare.
Also consider: ANA Around the World ticket
- The short story: ANA (a Star Alliance airline) offers an incredible around-the-world award chart that offers some amazing value to those who have the time for a big multi-stop trip.
- Miles required: Varies based on cabin and distance. Business class is probably the sweet spot, with some amazing redemptions possible for 125K, 145K, or 170K miles (see the chart below for all distance bands and prices).
- Award availability: Star Alliance award space is often plentiful for flights outside of the US, making it relatively easy to put together an itinerary once you’ve locked down your flights to and from the US.
- How to find awards: Search united.com segment by segment to find availability.
- How to book awards: Book over the phone with ANA Mileage Club.
- Transfer from: Amex
List of transfer partners
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio | Chase Transfer Ratio | Citi Transfer Ratio | Marriott Transfer Ratio | Capital One Transfer Ratio | Brex Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | ||
| Alaska MileagePlan | 60K to 25K | |||||
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | ||||
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 3K to 1K | 1 to 1 | 1,670 to 1K | |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | ||
| Hawaiian Miles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax | 60K to 25K | ||||
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | 1,670 to 1K | |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via BA | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 | 60K to 30K | ||||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 |
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[…] If you were looking to go in that part of the world: Best ways to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific using miles. […]
A couple other thoughts. JetBlue is (still) an option for Hawaiian Award pricing can be better than Hawaiian, but availability is much slimmer. There’s decent availability on the HNL-PPT route for 20K JetBlue points for economy, which compares to 24.5K Hawaiian miles.
It’s not the South Pacific, but United has decent saver rates and availability on their Micronesia routes. This includes the fabled Island Hopper (which I’m definitely doing one day).
The Virgin Atlantic section is confusing and inaccurate. For one, the award space on Air New Zealand is not “extremely rare.” Yes, they rarely release award space far in advance (similar to many programs). But take a look at Seats.aero and you will find dozens of flights with award space close in (usually they start releasing a given flight 4 weeks in advance at 1am AKL time). Yes, booking a vacation that close to departure is not always easy. However, Greg often talks about booking something you are ok with, in case what you really want opens up–so find a different/more expensive option, and then switch to this if/when space opens up. With transfer bonuses this can be less than 50k Amex points for business class to New Zealand–that is a steal! And why I have done it several times in recent years…
I am also confused by what you mean by the 25k connecting itinerary comment. Yes, you have to add the miles for each segment together. But there can be advantages to booking connecting itineraries, with lower taxes. Award flights between New Zealand and Australia can have pretty high taxes ($58 from AKL to SYD, and $115 from SYD to AKL, even in economy). Last summer with booked SFO-AKL-BNE, because award space was readily available, and connecting through AKL resulted in much lower taxes (less than $50 since it was one ticket).
I currently see UA website offer OW 110K SFO-AKL in the next two weeks. Does this mean I can call VS and they will let me book for OW 62.5K ?
Yes! IME if UA shows availability, VS should be able to book.
Hi FM team, some suggested improvements for the HawaiianMiles section. Hawaiian also flies to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The HNL-Papeete and -RAR routes saver economy is 24.5K and widely available (~2 cents/point – probably the best use of HA points). I’ve done many searches and never found HNL-Pago Pago for less than 77K one-way economy(!). I’ve also only found business saver space on the RAR route once (and for one seat) and never on the PPT route. Also, HNL to Auckland is 35K for economy (saver) and relatively available, so could also be worth highlighting.
Can you post the miles required for Economy also, especially with kids , not all can afford bus class
Another option that would not be considered one of the “best” ways would be using JetBlue miles to book a Hawaiian airlines flight. I just booked LAX to AKL in March.
Thanks!
Ever since the first LOTR movie, NZ has been top of our bucket list. Thanks to Frequent Miler (and TravelFreely, and being fired in 2021), we are going to Australia and New Zealand in Qantas biz class next year!
Traveling with my partner is always the best thing … except flying, before miles and points. But now, with biz class (which we flew for the first time in June, thanks to points) and lounges, travel days are actually … fun!
Just a piece to say Thanks to all of you.
Heard that BA recently screwed up Avios on AS/AA, but if chart on FJ is still same:
HNL-APW (13k, Y); 5.5 hrs
APW-NAN (9k, Y); 2 hrs
That’s probably manageable for a cheap way into the region. Theoretically could do HNL-CXI weekly for 7.5k AS, but never seen availability to or onward for CXI-NAN (13k BA). Moreover, you’d either transit it, or be stuck there a week. Not sure Christmas island is better, but Tarawa (also Kiribati) is supposedly extremely primitive
Hi Eddie, I’ve been eyeing the HNL-Apia on Fiji Airways too. Samoa looks beautiful and super affordable. And at 26K Avios roundtrip for a ~$1000 flight it’s a solid value redemption (~4 cents/point for economy! *without even factoring in the transfer bonus). I’ve also been looking at HNL-CXI, but haven’t found economy availability, only business with max 2 seats (I need 3 seats). Seems like most people go to Christmas Island for fishing, but snorkeling/diving looks decent too – could be an interesting week trip. Note that if you’re trying to get to Fiij, HNL-NAN direct is 20.5K Avois for economy and there’s solid availability. Fiji is awesome – highly recommend.
You can book Fiji Airways with BA Avios for about 77k One way in Business.
We are flying DTW-AUK (via LAX) in 1/25 in Delta One for a ridiculous 348K miles each (but we have a ton of DL miles). BUT, we are returning via Singapore Air (SYD-SIN, 23 hour layover to get a quick tour) and then SIN-JFK, all for 169.50K miles each in business class with KrisFlyer miles (transferred in from the Chase Reserve). Fees were $155 each on SQ.
Yikes- 520k miles r/t per person. Ouch.
We are also going to AKL (from MKE) in January on DL. Round trip in D1 was ‘only’ 297k pp (after DL AMEX 15% off). While a lot of miles compared to other airlines, not terrible for DL miles.
348k for one person one way?? Personally I would look close in to see if Air New Zealand opens up space. The article says the space is extremely rare, which is factually incorrect. Months in advance, yes. But one month out there is tons of award space (and has been for a couple years now). With transfer bonuses to VS, we have booked several trips in recent years for less than 50k Amex points per person each way. United also opens up space close in.
While it might have been excluded for not being a “best” way, Air France flies from LAX to Tahiti.
[…] Australia pricing at 105K round trip. That was fewer than the 120K I had noted in my post about the best ways to get to Australia / New Zealand / Pacific islands. When Stephen pointed out the pricing, I realized that I had left something out: when writing about […]
[…] Best ways to get to Australia / New Zealand / South Pacific using miles […]
[…] Best ways to Australia / New Zealand / South Pacific using miles […]
[…] We have previously covered the best ways to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean / Central America, and Australia / New Zealand / the South Pacific, so see those posts for other regions. This was A350 regional business class between Brisbane and […]