If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling to New Zealand, with its spectacular landscapes, breathtaking national parks and natural wonders like Milford Sound, there’s excellent award availability this April using Star Alliance Miles. Best of all, you can travel non-stop in business class from the West Coast.
Air New Zealand currently offers generous non-stop availability from both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Auckland Airport (AKL) on many dates in April.
Related: I Flew 14 Hours on a ‘Couch’ – Here’s Whether Air New Zealand’s Skycouch Was Worth It
You can easily check monthly availability on the United Airlines MileagePlus website, where you can book one-way flights for 110,000 miles plus $43.30 in fees and taxes each way.
There are also limited seats on direct service from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in April and May.
An even better deal is booking the same flights with Air Canada Aeroplan points, paying just 75,000 points each way in business class. However, please note that there is a slightly higher surcharge of $95 for fees and taxes.
There is some availability for return flights to the US in April at the same price, although your options are much wider if you travel to the Land of the Long White Cloud.
It’s worth noting that Air New Zealand offers reclining seats with direct aisle access and a decent soft product, but the seats lack privacy and storage. The airline will introduce a brand new and much improved business class seat in 2024, although this won’t be the case on these dates in April.
Related: Aboard Air New Zealand’s first flight from NYC to Auckland, the fourth longest flight in the world
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How to earn Star Alliance miles
This offer once again illustrates the value of earning transferable points. If you only earn United Miles, you will have to pay 110,000 miles each way for these flights. However, if you have transferable points, you can choose to transfer them to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio from the following programs:
The following cards currently all offer strong welcome bonuses with points and miles that you can transfer to your Aeroplan account:
Related: Credit card transfer partners: guide to transferring points and miles to airlines and hotels
In short
Finding a 13-hour nonstop business class flight in a recliner for just 75,000 credit card points plus minimal fees and taxes is an excellent deal. If you’ve ever considered visiting the spectacular country of New Zealand, consider taking advantage of this prize availability.
Although Air New Zealand doesn’t have the most advanced business class seats, you can sleep all the way to the South Pacific for this price.
