If the gorgeous hikes, beautiful countryside, and stunning beaches of New Zealand are calling you, your points and miles can get you there. If you’re taking the family, chances are you’ll need to fly in economy (or at least book seats in economy and potentially upgrade with cash or more points if this option is available).

Booking this trip in a premium cabin is both challenging and expensive. Pam was lucky enough to find a mistake fare to get home from New Zealand in business class last year, but then she spent lots of American Airlines miles to get there in business, too. 

If you’re determined to fly to New Zealand in a premium cabin, I’d suggest subscribing to an alert service like Thrifty Traveler Premium to be notified when fares drop. 

Luckily, if you are headed to New Zealand in economy class, you have lots of options, and the prices can be surprisingly good considering the length of the flight. In this post, we’re going to look at how to get to New Zealand with each of the three major airline alliances. 

There are three major airline alliances in the U.S.—Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance. If you have a particular airline’s miles, it’s useful to know what alliance your airline is in because you can often book multiple airlines in the alliance with one type of miles. Additionally, if you have miles with a particular airline, you can prioritize using those first and save your flexible currencies for other trips. 

 

Oneworld (American and Alaska)

If you have American Airlines or Alaska Airlines miles, you can fly from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, for a reasonable points price in economy. Even in peak (New Zealand) summer, I found lots of availability on American Airlines for around 40,000 points one way. On Dec. 10, for example, you could fly a family of four from Los Angeles to Auckland for 35,000 points plus $40 per person. 

 

No AA miles? No problem. I also found the same flight for four people using Qantas Frequent Flyer Rewards for 43,200 miles plus $63 per person. You can transfer points to Qantas from American Express, Citi (transfer ratio varies by card), and Capital One. 

 

In addition to American, Alaska, and Qantas miles, you can also search for this route using Qatar Airlines Avios (though I couldn’t find availability for four on this particular flight). We love Avios because you can earn them in any major currency, they can be transferred among participating airlines, and there are often transfer bonuses to stretch your miles further. 

 

Star Alliance (United)

You can also get to New Zealand using your United miles. United flies direct from San Francisco to Auckland. If you have United miles, you can book a family of four on this flight for 55,000 miles plus $40 per person or 49,500 miles plus $40 per person if you have a United credit card. 

 

If you don’t have United miles (which can be transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Bilt Rewards), you could also book this flight through another Star Alliance partner airline. I typically find the most availability through Air Canada Aeroplan. 

 

In this case, you could book this flight for 55,000 miles plus about $90 per person. Air Canada can be a great option for booking United flights because you can transfer miles from nearly all major programs, and there are occasional transfer bonuses. (Though keep in mind Air Canada may charge a fee to cancel or change an award ticket.)

 

SkyTeam (Delta)

Delta flies (seasonally) nonstop from Los Angeles to Auckland, which you can book with your Delta SkyMiles. If you have a lot of SkyMiles, this might be a great option. I’ve found seats available on many dates for around 90,000 SkyMiles per person. 

For example, you could book a family of four in economy on this route in January for 84,000 SkyMiles plus $40 per person. 

 

 

You’ll also want to search for this same flight on partner airlines like Air France and Virgin Atlantic. We love these options because it gives you more flexibility in booking, as all the major points programs transfer to at least one of these airlines. Additionally, Air France’s Flying Blue program offers 25% discounts on points tickets for kids ages 2 to 11, so this can be a significant savings on a family trip. Both programs occasionally have transfer bonuses from the various programs. 

On Jan. 22, 2027, for example, a family of four could take this flight for a total of 157,500 Flying Blue miles. That’s an excellent price for such a long flight! 

 

 

Similarly, Virgin Atlantic has better pricing than Delta for flights to New Zealand. On Jan. 24, I found pricing for four people to fly totaling 292,000 miles (65,500 miles per person). While higher than Flying Blue, this could be ideal if you already have Virgin Atlantic miles or can time your booking for a transfer bonus. 

 

 

Bonus Option: Hawaiian Airlines via Honolulu 

If you’re in the western part of the U.S. (or just have lots of time and flexibility for your journey to New Zealand), you could position to Hawaii for a few days and then fly to New Zealand from there. While not the most efficient route, this could help you adjust to the time change somewhat and make the economy trip to Auckland shorter and more tolerable. While it’ll take you around 13 hours to get from California to Auckland, you can fly to Auckland from Honolulu in only about 9 hours. 

For example, on Feb. 5, 2027, you could book the family from Honolulu to Auckland on Hawaiian Airlines for only 44,000 Atmos Rewards points plus $40 per person. 

This would be a particularly useful option for a family based in the western U.S. who has the Southwest® Companion Pass. You could fly one family member for free (or two if you have two passes) to Honolulu, which would cover a significant part of the trip. 

 

 

Bottom Line

Getting to New Zealand on points is not easy, but there’s so much waiting for you if you go!

 

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