frequent flyer miles
 

i do have a lot of frequent flyer miles on delta and continental. can i use these effectively to get business class tickets to new zealand? are their other options i should look at?

Perhaps you should ask George O'Leary? Wasn't he the CEO of both airlines earlier in his career? Sorry, I'm a Michigan man and just couldn't resist. Now to your question, my wife and I are using frequent flyer miles on USAirways to fly to New Zealand in business class. First we are flying to Los Angeles on USAirways and then onto Aukland on Quantas, which is a USAirways partner. If neither Delta nor Continental flies to New Zealand, you should check to see whether any of their partners do. For example, I believe Quantas is a partner with Continental and, if its program is like USAirways, you should be able to use your Continental miles for a free ticket on Quantas.

I am not sure about New Zealand but you have to use 120,000 miles to get from USA to Australia. They deduct US to Tokyo and then again Tokyo to Australia. American Airlines only use 60,000 or 80,000 miles. I am talking about coach not even business.

I too have Delta and Continental and just went on Cont/Qantas. Delta (&partners) can't get you there. If you can, go First class 135,000 mi. It's worth it!

Qantas does allow at least three stopovers on their award. We flew to Auckland and spent a week on the North Island, then flew to Christchurch and spend another week on the South Island, then flew home to the US via Sydney after spending another week there.<BR><BR>We had to fly coach because first class and even business class awards are not as readily available. Coach on Qantas was bearable.

We tried with a variety of dates to use miles on Continental/American/Delta for business class and were unable to get it. If you are willing to go coach American Express Platinum Card has a deal with Quantas where you pay for one coach ticket and get the second one for $429 plus 20,000 points. We opted for this when a free ticket became too hard to get. Good luck!