If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling to New Zealand, with its spectacular landscapes, stunning national parks and natural wonders like Milford Sound, there’s excellent award availability using Star Alliance miles in April. Best of all, you can travel non-stop in business class from the West Coast.
Air New Zealand is currently showing generous non-stop availability from 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 see availability by month on 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 nonstop service from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in April and May.
An even better deal is to book the same flights with Air Canada Aeroplan points, where you’ll be charged just 75,000 points each way in business class. However, please note that there is a slightly higher charge 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 more plentiful when traveling to the Land of the Long White Cloud.
It’s worth noting that Air New Zealand offers lie-flat seats with direct aisle access and a decent soft product, but the seats lack privacy and storage. The airline will introduce an all-new and much-improved business class seat in 2024, although this will not be available for these April dates.
Related: Aboard Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight from New York to Auckland, the fourth longest in the world
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How to earn Star Alliance miles
This offer once again illustrates the value of earn transferable points. If you only earn United miles, you’ll pay 110,000 miles each way for these flights. However, if you have transferable points, you can choose to transfer them to Aeroplan on a 1:1 ratio from the following programs:
Currently, the following cards 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
Bottom line
Finding a 13-hour nonstop business class flight in a lie-flat seat for just 75,000 credit card points plus minimal fees and taxes is a great deal. If you have ever considered visiting the spectacular country of New Zealand, consider taking advantage of the availability of this award.
While Air New Zealand doesn’t have the most modern business class seats, for this price you can sleep all the way to the South Pacific.
