Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific are bucket list destinations for many travelers at least in part due to distance and expense. It makes sense that many people would look to use airline miles to offset the cost and to perhaps fly more comfortably for the long journey. Unfortunately, the popularity of the region means demand is very high and therefore award space can be hard to come by (particularly in premium cabins). However, with the wide range of award chart sweet spots that exist, it is far from impossible to snag a deal up front with some time and diligence in searching.
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 great 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
- Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide
- Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide
- Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide
Cheaper Paid Flights
While finding a “cheap” fare to Australia or the South Pacific may sound impossible, we do sometimes see good fare sales to this part of the world. Of course, Frequent Miler is likely to report the best of these fare sales (you’ll want to subscribe to our instant alerts if you want to be notified of those deals quickly).
However, beyond a lucky fare sale, your best bet in terms of getting a deal on a paid fare is to learn how to leverage Google Flights to search for deals to several cities at once. See: How to find great business class fares with Google Flights – the same techniques can be used to find economy fares if that is your preference). Keep in mind that you may sometimes find slightly cheaper pricing via small online travel agencies listed at Momondo or Skyscanner, though you might be sacrificing customer service if things go wrong with your flights.
Best Mile Deals
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Ironically, the best deal to Australia / New Zealand / Oceania comes from the airline with the most difficult miles to compile of the lot included here. Alaska is a Marriott Bonvoy transfer partner, otherwise you’ll need to use Alaska’s credit cards or shopping portal to pad your mileage balance.
- 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: Each partner has a separate chart, but the best values are business class for 55K each way on Qantas or Fiji Airways, business class for 60K each way on Cathay Pacific, first class for 70K each way on Qantas, first class for 80K each way on Cathay Pacific
- How to find awards: Qantas and Fiji Airways award space shows up at AlaskaAir.com. Search BritishAirways.com for Cathay Pacific space, but be aware that Alaska may have access to one fewer seat than shown by British Airways.
- How to book awards: Book online for Qantas or Fiji Airways (use multi-city for a stopover) or book over the phone for Cathay Pacific
- Key warnings: Finding premium cabin space on any of these partners can be a challenge and may require a constant eye on availability.
ANA Mileage Club
You’ll have to fly round trip and you might get a better value out of an around-the-world ticket (more on that below), but ANA can be a good choice for Star Alliance awards.
- The short story: ANA offers the best deal out of Membership Rewards partners for business class between North America and Oceania and also offers a wide range of partner options. You can route via Canada or most of east / Southeast Asia or fly Air New Zealand.
- Miles required: From 105K round trip in business class on ANA metal during low season up to 120K round trip in business class on Star Alliance partners or during high season. 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: Book online at ANA’s website.
- Key warnings: You must book round trip. High fuel surcharges are assessed by some carriers, others have none or low fuel surcharges. 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 or a week or more from Marriott, so there is risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- No fuel surcharges on: ANA (many/most routes, though a few still have surcharges) United (no surcharges to Europe; unfortunately, they do have charges to Asia), Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa, Ethiopian, TAP Air Portugal, or Singapore
- Low fuel surcharges on: LOT Polish
- Moderate surcharges on: Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish (higher than the others but low by comparison to some)
- Transfer from: Amex, Marriott
Air Canada Aeroplan
Don’t forget that Aeroplan is both an Amex transfer partner and a Capital One transfer partner.
- The short story: Aeroplan significantly changed its award chart for travel between North America and Oceania in 2020. Oceania is now included in the same region as Eastern Asia. While awards to Oceania mostly increased in price, members can now book a stopover in eastern Asia en route to Australia or New Zealand for 5K additional miles one-way. Lap infants are now 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 fist 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. Can also book via phone. 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 (coming in 2021), Capital One, Marriott
Avianca LifeMiles
The nice thing about Avianca is that even if you don’t have the necessary points/miles, you can often buy them for less than 1.4c each.
- 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: First class for less 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
In this case, British Airways Avios are better than Iberia or Aer Lingus 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.
- 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 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 at 1 800 452 1201. According to Head for Points, there isn’t a clear methodology for pricing mixed-cabin awards. I suspect some agents may be less well versed in this mixed chart.
- Key warnings: This secondary chart would save miles over the single-carrier chart, which would price a one-way to Australia at 154K one-way assuming a single carrier and single segment (add more for additional segments). However, as this is a lesser-known chart, some agents may not be well versed in using it. Be prepared to hang up and call again. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA (see: Phantom menace: an award search time suck). You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Marriott
Etihad Guest
An Amex transfer partner, Citi transfer partner, a Capital One transfer partner, it’s relatively easy to put together the miles for an award.
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers flights on American Airlines based on the old American Airlines chart (which itself devalued several years ago).
- Miles required: 62.5K each way in business class, 72.5K each way in first class
- How to find awards: Search for American saver award space on AA.com (you may want to double-check availability at Qantas.com)
- How to book awards: Call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings: Etihad phone agents have historically had trouble booking partner awards, though the new call center in Serbia appears to be quite competent. If your agent appears to be having trouble, you might want to HUCA (hang up, call again). Note that finding saver premium cabin availability on American Airlines is only slightly more likely than getting struck by lightning.
Hawaiian
Hawaiian is a decent program to consider if you’re on the west coast and can easily position to Hawaii, otherwise it might be adding more time than the mileage savings are worth.
- 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 for Jetstar
This won’t be a luxurious way to get to Australia or New Zealand, but it may be the cheapest.
- 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: 57,600 miles one-way in business class from Honolulu to Sydney on Jetstar before September 18, 2019, 61,500 miles thereafter.
- 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 for Emirates
If you’re looking to fly fancy, this is your ticket.
- The short story: While the award cost here is substantially higher than others included in this sweet-spot post, 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.
United
The keys here are lenient routing rules and more options via Star Alliance.
- The short story: United gives you access to Star Alliance and has more lenient routing rules than others, meaning you could fly via Canada, China, or South Korea for instance, giving you access to more availability (albeit still somewhat limited).
- Miles required: From 80K miles each way in business class on United; 90K 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 may eventually see many highly variable prices for award tickets, though we are told that the variable award pricing will not apply to partner awards (only awards on United metal). The $75 close-in booking fee for flights departing within the next 21 days reduces the value of United miles for bookings near departure, though beginning November 15, 2019 some elite members will no longer be charged that fee.
Virgin Atlantic for Delta
Finding this award space in premium cabins is roughly as likely as being struck by lightning, but if you find it this can be a great sweet spot.
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic used to offer a decent sweet spot for Delta flights to Oceania. Unfortunately, they changed to a distance-based award chart in early 2021 and prices have since skyrocketed. This option is only worth considering if you need multiple seats as Virgin sometimes has access to multiple seats on Delta flights (though availability is often tough to find to/from Oceania)
- Miles required: 165K miles each way in business class on routes of 6,000 miles or more (from the mainland US to Oceania), which makes this a relatively poor value.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com. See the distance bands here and use a tool like gcmap.com to calculate distance between airports.
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com. See: How to book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
Virgin Atlantic for Air New Zealand
Finding this award space in premium cabins is roughly as likely as being struck by lighting eight times in one day. And surviving. But the price is right if you find it.
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic also offers good deals for Air New Zealand premium cabin flights if you can actually find availability.
- Miles required: 45K each way for business class to/from Hawaii, 45K each way in business class from the "South Pacific" to :ps Angeles, 62.5K each way in business class from New Zealand to North or South America
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (I believe that Air New Zealand space does not show up at VirginAtlantic.com)
- How to book awards: Book over the phone with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
- 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
If you have some more time on your hands, it might not cost you many more miles to visit several regions.
- 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 115K, 125K, or 145K miles (see the chart below for all distance bands and prices).
- Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards (1:1) or Marriott Bonvoy (3:1, but get a 5K bonus when you convert 60K Marriott points — so 60K Marriott = 25K ANA).
- Award availability: Star Alliance award space is often plentiful for flights outside of the US, making it relatively easy to put together an itinerary if 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.
- No fuel surcharges on: ANA (many/most routes, though a few still have surcharges) United (no surcharges to Europe; unfortunately, they do have charges to Asia), Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa, Ethiopian, TAP Air Portugal, or Singapore
- Low fuel surcharges on: LOT Polish
- Moderate surcharges on: Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish (higher than the others but low by comparison to some)
How to get the miles
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, BA | 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, BA | 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 |
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] 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 […]
[…] the Best ways to get to Africa using miles, the Best ways to get to Europe using miles, and the Best ways to get to Australia / New Zealand / South Pacific using miles, we hadn’t published a similar guide on trips to the Caribbean & Central America. This […]
Booked most of this last month – before the Virgin AmEx 30% transfer bonus otherwise the 13 hours in the Delta One suites on the new A330-900neo would have been 46K MR + $5.60 instead of 60K.
You can find lots of Delta one suites key is looking for NS to PVG/PEK from Delta Hubs LAX/SEA/DTW/ATL/MSP Virgin charges per segment so If we booked from PDX and not SEA it would have been 82.5K VA instead of 60K VA
From Shanghai or Beijing you can use AA miles for J seat for 40K, F seats 50K, Econ IIRC 25K to Perth/NAN/SYD/MEL/AKL/CHC/Brisbane – I could have booked to CHC from SHA for 40K in J but we wanted to spend a few days in FIji first.
You could also book to Tokyo (harder to find seats but do able) with VA in Delta One
So we used 7K Skymiles to fly F to SEA for the checked bags), But If you booked far enough out, just watch for sales to the Hub city. It was a toss up to use Aspire airline credit as F PDX/SEA was $125ish (book tix with $50 GC)
Fiji/NZ/AU has been on our bucket list, so happy to stitch this 3.5 wk trip together
PDX-SEA-PVG-HKG-NAN-AKL-WLG-CHC-SYD-MEL-YVR-PDX
PDX-SEA F, DL 7K SM +$5.60 x 2 for checked bags -stage from SEA
SEA-PVG J, DL 60K VA +$5.60 x 2 D1 Suites on new A330Neo W-Ast on the Bund $100 Hilton Credit and points other nights in Shanghai.
PVG-HKG-NAN J, FJ, 40K AA +$57.50 x 2 23hour layover -Conrad HKG then Fiji Hilton Beach resort Aspire Credits/WE Certs
NAN-AKL TBD likely cash or AA
AKL-WLG Cash <$50 x2 Air NZ/FJ
WLG-CHC Cash <$50 x2 Air NZ/FJ
CHC-SYD F, EK USB AR pts @1.5cpp A380 w/Shower plus AS miles for cash tickets on Emirates
SYD-MEL Cash or Avios TBD SPG certs Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde park
MEL-YVR-PDX F, AC 90K UR +$75.55 x 2 787-9 SPG Certs Westin Melbourne
If your using AA or AS or UA (I forget the partner I saw) to book Air Fiji to NAN from West coast – Fly out of LAX to fly on true lie fly biz seats on new A350 vs older A330 angled biz seats from SFO/LAX.
If you can stage to ATL/DTW/LAX/SEA ~ 46K/92K MR (VA) for 12-16 Hrs in Delta one Suites to PVG/PEK 1W/RT (Shanghai /Beijing)
Examples of plentiful space for two or more people In Delta One Suites Mar-Oct 2020:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/139637597@N07/shares/3373Ae
AA F & J 50K/40K stage from Shanghai or Beijing to Perth/Melbourne or SYD/AKL – lots of mixed cabins, but also rare F on QF A380 can be found and J on CX for 40/50K AA thru HKG:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsmJNxF56
[…] Best Ways To Fly To The South Pacific On Miles: The South Pacific is on many people’s bucket list because it includes Australia, New Zealand, Bora Bora and many other beautiful spots to post on your Instagram! Getting there isn’t cheap so here are the best ways to use your miles. […]
Due to my wife being a teacher, we are pretty limitied to long trips being during her summer break. We are heading to Brisbane from LAX the 5th of June. This will be Qantas bus. class using Alaska points. From Brisbane we go to Fiji on Fiji airlines via Alaska miles. Doing a stay in Fiji at the Marriott Momo Bay on a Marriott travel package for a week, then on to Maui for a week, then doing a paid $200 flight to Seattle on United. A few days at AirBnB in Seattle (hotels are pricey in Seattle), then Amtrak in Family car to Chicago. Mostly all done on points. I used Wiki, expert flyer, juicy miles to put this together. I was very lucky to find saver level flights just on the dates I needed them. That is pretty rare. I had to try lots of airport pairs to find something that worked.
[…] Comprehensive post on Best ways to get to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific using miles from the US. […]
Great post. Do you have a similar one for Asia? Trying to get to japan (from PIT) with at least one way in business. My wife and I have tons of spending coming up and I’d like to start my plan
This is nice but it would be good to get an idea of award availability. Which programs have the best availability for 2 or 4?
Agreed. Is there a post on that or one forthcoming?
Great post. I guess I was struck by lighting this past summer booking 2 Delta One Suites LAX-SYD via Virgin Atlantic. Cathay Pacific also offers a compelling option to fly that way, in my opinion, via their OW multi-carrier award chart, if one can find availability on Qantas and American (and can possibly nest a few NA-restricted trips) to maximize the mileage in the 25k band.
I think you do a small disservice by not mentioning CX for flights to/from Australia. Business class o/w at 85k to the US and plentiful MEL-HKG flights for connecting to the US. Amex transfer partner with instant transfers and occasional transfer bonuses. Otherwise, awesome post!
That is, booking CX direct and not through AS. Apologies if I was unclear.
Truly a great summary. Now, let’s say I were looking to be struck by lightning 8 times in one day and survive, do you have any recommendations on how to attract the lightning or what to wear?
Although I understand that AAdvantage miles through American Airlines can be expensive and difficult to use, your post did not include AA at all, which I think is a mistake. One of our most enjoyable trips ever was a cruise that started in Tahiti and went throughout the South Pacific, but required us to get from Chicago to Tahiti first. We used AA miles flying their partner Air Tahiti Nui, and because we were ready and called in the first day of availability we got the seats we wanted in business class, with a stopover in Los Angeles. I might add that Air Tahiti Nui sometimes offers cash flights at sale prices too. As one of the few airlines to fly into Tahiti, I think not mentioning them is an oversight.
Good point. Perhaps that is an oversight and I’ll add it. I skipped them for a few reasons: 1) they are not a transfer partner with the major programs, 2) their pricing isn’t particularly good to the region 3) your only options are AA (which rarely ever releases premium cabin space) or Air Tahiti Nui (which does release 2 seats on many flights, but they only have 1 US gateways, so it’s very limited). Still, you’re not wrong that 80K can be good. I know I included other options that cost 80K each way, but for example with United, that price point gives you a LOT of Star Alliance options (ANA, Air China, Asiana, EVA, Thai (connecting as they don’t fly from the US), and Air New Zealand), which makes it easier to reach a larger number of destinations and also if you are booking round trip you additionally get the excursionist perk, which could be put to good use to see both Australia or New Zealand and a Pacific island.
Still, AA miles are easy to come by via welcome bonuses, so as you say it is probably worth a mention.
By the way, you noted a stopover in Los Angeles, but AA doesn’t allow stopovers on awards. Perhaps you meant a layover? That brings to mind another limitation: Although AA has been opening more saver availability over the past year, domestic saver space is known to be very hard to come by — so it can be quite difficult to book unless you can originate (or position to) LAX. It’s definitely not impossible, but it seems less like a top value and more like a lucky win (though I did include Virgin Atlantic for flying Air New Zealand, which would require significantly more luck).
I’ve been looking @ ORD> SYD using Singapore points transferred from TY but Nutting ever comes up .
Could I be doing it wrong ???
CHEERS