[Expired] [Award Alert] Last-Minute Award Space in Business Class to Auckland for 49K Points

Update:The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

Finding business class award seats to New Zealand is nearly impossible, especially since there are so few airlines that operate these flights.

However, we’ve seen a fairly last-minute smattering of seats available in business class on Air New Zealand starting at 49,000 miles — which is an incredibly rare occurrence. Let’s take a closer look.

Award Deal — Details

Your best bet is to use the calendar function on United’s website to search for awards, but you won’t want to book through this program.

• Class: Business
• Route: Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) to Auckland (AKL)
• Cost: 49,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points
• Travel Dates: April to June 2024
• Award Seats: Up to 2 passengers per route

Here’s how it looks from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL). Those operated by Air New Zealand will be shown as 110,000 miles one-way.

United’s pricing isn’t the best, so once you find these seats you’ll want to move to a different website. Here’s how it looks via Air Canada’s Aeroplan:

But wait — both American Express and Capital One are currently offering 30% transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This program charges just 62,500 points for Air New Zealand awards to the mainland U.S, so you’ll need to transfer just 49,000 points or miles to book this flight once you find the award space on United.

If you have American Express Membership Rewards points or Capital One miles, you’ll pay 49,000 points one-way for Air New Zealand flights thanks to its transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic. Otherwise, Virgin points are easy to earn since they also partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

Be aware that these Air New Zealand flights can’t be booked online — you’ll need to call Virgin Atlantic to book.

Final Thoughts

This is an insanely good deal for business class flights to New Zealand, and we’re seeing quite a few dates over the next two months with availability. Book now, or you might regret it later!