Flying to Australia and New Zealand with Points in Economy {Guide}

Australia and New Zealand are exciting destinations with so much to offer. Because they're a long distance from the United States, flight costs to get there are often high. But by using points and miles to offset the cost, you can make this dream destination a reality for your family.

Even though it's so far away, there are many options for getting to Australia and New Zealand using points. In this article, I'll show you what the options are, how to earn the right points, and include booking tips. 

If you're new to booking flights with points, be sure to check out this overview for important background information. You can also sign up for our free course. You'll want to be sure you understand how to find the best routes, price compare with Google Flights, how to search for available flights, and how to leverage transfer partners and airline alliances.

Earn More Points

Each airline option I list in this article has more than one credit card that can earn you a welcome bonus and the points you need to fly to Australia or New Zealand. This article is already long enough without listing out every single card you could get for each of these programs to earn points.

So how can you figure out how to earn the right points? First step: get our free airline transfer partner guide — inside we have a chart that shows which kinds of points transfer to which airlines. Then work backwards! Let's say you figure out that you want to fly on American but you want to book via Cathay Pacific (this article explains exactly how to do that).

You can look at the chart in my Travel Points 201 guide and see that American Express Membership Rewards®, BILT Rewards, Capital One miles, and Citi ThankYou® Points all transfer 1:1 to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Then you could browse my Best Offers page, where I list all my favorite current offers–to see which cards currently have good bonuses and earn those kinds of points.

Pro Tip: Transfer Bonuses

Most points transfer 1:1 when you transfer from a program like Chase Ultimate Rewards® to an airline or hotel. But! Banks run promos throughout the year and certain transfers may offer a bonus. I don't currently maintain an updated list of transfer bonuses but you can find one here.

Top Three Options: American Airlines, Qantas, and Alaska Airlines

These programs offer a balance of good pricing and lower taxes and fees. What makes the most sense for you may depend on your home airport, preferred routings, and what type of points you have.

Keep in mind that you can use one type of airline points going one direction and a different one on the return.

And don’t forget that booking via a bank’s travel portal is still a strong option. It’s not uncommon for flights to Australia and New Zealand to be in the $800-$1200 range. You could book a $1,000 flight in a travel portal like Chase Travel℠ or Capital One Travel for 100,000 points with taxes included. 

If you’re looking at flights in the travel portal, consider flying into Brisbane. You can often find cheaper rates to Brisbane than other major cities like Sydney and Melbourne. 

American Airlines non-stop from Los Angeles to Sydney

A roundtrip from Los Angeles to Sydney costs 70,000 miles and around $100 in taxes and fees when booked through American. 

The great thing about American Airlines is that it usually doesn’t cost any more miles to add a connection from your home airport. You might have to be flexible with dates to find a flight at the lowest price, but it’s usually possible.

American Airlines also doesn’t charge any fees to change or cancel your flight.

Sample Card Strategy for a Family of Four

Citi offers both co-branded cards and cards that can transfer points to American Airlines. You’d need 280,000 AA miles for 4 people to fly round trip from Los Angeles to Sydney. How can you get that? Earn the following sign up bonuses:

• CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® – The standard offer is 65,000 miles – Each parent can get one of these. That’s 130,000 miles.
• Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite Mastercard^®  – This is the personal version of the card. The bonus is often 80,000 miles. If both parents open this card, that’s another 160,000 miles.
•  
• Alternatively, you could open the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card or Citi Strata Premier® Card to earn miles that can be transferred to American.

With both parents getting one personal and one business card, you would have enough miles to get a family of four round-trip tickets!

Using Qantas to go to New Zealand

To fly from the west coast to Auckland booked with Qantas costs about 86,000 miles and $220 in taxes and fees roundtrip. 

Qantas tends to have more award availability to/from New Zealand than other programs, which makes this a nice option. Plus, you can transfer points from several different banks, so it’s easy to earn a lot of points with Qantas.

Though Qantas is based in Australia, it offers a nonstop route from JFK to Auckland, New Zealand, which is a strong option from the East Coast. 

Sample Card Strategy 

Stockpile flexible points that transfer to Qantas. There are several ways to do this so you have plenty of options! Capital One, AMEX, and Citi all transfer to Qantas. You can also use FlyingBlue miles to book onto Qantas flights and this may be worth it when Flying Blue has transfer bonuses, which are fairly frequent. 

• Open cards that earn Capital One miles. One of my favorites for perks is the Capital One Venture X (earn 75,000 miles) but you can also earn 75,000 miles with a $95 fee Capital One Venture card.
• Open cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards® Points
• Open cards that earn Citi ThankYou® Points like the Citi Strata Premier® Card. This card also offers good travel insurance. 

Tip: You can transfer points from different banks to your Qantas account to pool your points there. So For example, you could transfer 150,000 points from Capital One and 150,000 points from Citi. Then you would have 300,000 points in your Qantas account, which is enough to book 4 roundtrip tickets to New Zealand.

Alaska Airlines with a stopover in Fiji

This is a fun option that includes a free stopover! Flights to Australia start at 37,500 points each way when booked with Alaska Airlines. Adding a stopover is free, even on a one way ticket.

You’d need to depart from LAX, SFO, or Vancouver, Canada. 

Fiji is on the way to Australia or New Zealand geographically and would be a fun place to add a stopover. You can break up the long trip and enjoy an extra destination for free!

If you need to reposition to take advantage of this deal, Southwest Companion Passes are a great option.

Sample Card Strategy

• Sign up for the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Card. Refer the second parent to the same card to earn more miles. 
• Sign up for the Atmos™ Rewards Visa Business Card. Both parents can get this card as well.

To earn additional miles, use Atmos Rewards Shopping when shopping online. You can also check out BILT and earn more miles that way. BILT Rewards is the only transfer partner for Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards.

If you don’t have enough Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards miles for a roundtrip, consider booking a one way ticket and book your return flight using a different program. Since you can add a stopover on a one way flight, you could still do the stopover in Fiji!

Routing Tips for Flights to Australia and New Zealand

There are several non-stop routes from North America to Australia and New Zealand. For example, you can fly to Sydney non-stop from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and Vancouver.

Other major cities like Auckland, Melbourne, and Brisbane have a few non-stop options as well.

If you don’t live near an airport that offers a nonstop, flying to Australia or New Zealand will require one or more connections. If you can easily get to a large airport like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Dallas, you can then get one of the non-stop flights from there.

Route Through Asia

Another common way to get down under is to route through Asia. You can fly from the US to a major city like Singapore, Seoul, or Tokyo, then continue to Australia or New Zealand from there.

Check out this overview for important background information on how to find good routes to book with points.

Pro Tip: Add a Stopover

You can get a bonus trip by adding a stop over on your way to you final destination.

It’s a long way from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. It’s about the farthest you can go! One of the best strategies to help make the long travel time bearable is to intentionally add in stopovers. There are several airline programs that allow you to add a stopover for a couple of days for free.

This means a few days to explore an additional destination for little to no fee. Even an overnight stopover can really help break up the journey: you get off the plane, book an airport hotel and get a good night’s sleep, and then continue to your final destination.

We have a complete guide that walks you through how to add a stopover with Air Canada Aeroplan. Several other airlines allow you to add stopovers as well including Alaska Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and more.

Returning to the US

Something I discovered while researching this post is that it’s easier to find award availability returning to the US from Australia than New Zealand.

While decent award availability for flights TO New Zealand is common, flights returning to the US are much harder to find, especially when looking for the lowest “saver” fares.

If you’re interested in visiting both Australia and New Zealand, consider flying into New Zealand and then returning from Australia.

For example, you could fly into Auckland, spend some time in New Zealand, take a quick flight over to Australia, and book your return flight from a large city like Sydney or Melbourne.

And if you want to return from New Zealand, it IS possible to find award availability, you might just need to be a bit more flexible. Qantas is a good program to look at specifically for returns from New Zealand, they tend to have decent availability.

Consider Booking with Different Airlines

Another important thing to remember is that most of the time, you can book an outgoing flight with one airline program and return using a different program. It usually won’t cost any more in miles or taxes to do it this way and it can give you a lot more flexibility to help you find the best deals.

Star Alliance Sweet Spots

The best way to book flights onto these Star Alliance carriers is not necessarily with their own points and miles currencies. Star Alliance airlines release certain seats to other Star Alliance airlines to allow bookings with points. So you could use United miles to book onto ANA and vice versa.

The major options for booking Star Alliance flights with easy-to-earn points are via ANA, Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca Lifemiles, Singapore Krisflyer, and United Mileage Plus. As you’ll see, pricing in miles varies a lot — even within the same airline program. The airline you actually fly on can make a huge difference in both the mileage cost and the taxes and fees.

Note: Air New Zealand is a member of the Star Alliance and seems like a logical choice, but they don’t tend to release many award seats. If you want to fly with them and use points, try using your points by booking through a travel site like Chase Travel. 

How to search for Star Alliance award availability:

For United flights, search on United.com to see 30 day availability. Look for United awards marked “Saver” — these are the ones that will be released to alliance partners. Those are usually 55,000 miles each way but it’s possible to find them cheaper on occasion.

If you want to fly on ANA and plan to book directly with ANA – search directly on ANA for these — you may find increased availability over what partners show.

ANA Mileage Club: From 75,000 miles + $121 or 70,000 miles + $294

Best for: Paying less in miles. A downside, however, is that ANA tacks on fuel surcharges, which can result in significant taxes and fees. Flights operated by United and Singapore Airlines may have lower taxes and fees.

Cost: The mileage required for ANA and partner-operated flights is based on their award charts. There are different charts for ANA operated flights and partner flights.

Economy flights to Australia and New Zealand start at 70,000 miles round trip when flying on ANA and 75,000 miles round trip when booked with a partner airline.

ANA Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on United) 75,000 miles + $121

ANA Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on ANA) 70,000 miles + $294

Air Canada Aeroplan: from 100,000 miles + CA $267

Best for: When you want to add a Star Alliance stopover. Also can work for flights from smaller regional airports.

Cost: Rates start at 50,000 miles each way. Aeroplan uses a distance-based award chart, so the price varies depending on how far you fly. Since Australia and New Zealand are VERY far from North America, redemption rates can be high.

Notes: Aeroplan divides the world into zones for award pricing. Australia and New Zealand are part of the Pacific zone. The program offers separate award charts for partner and Air Canada-operated flights. Most fights to Australia and New Zealand fall into the highest two distance bands, meaning they cost between 50,000-110,000 miles each way. Partner flights are 50,000, 60,000 or 75,000 miles each way. You can find the cheapest rates from West Coast airports like LAX or SFO.

See the Aeroplan Award Chart

Aeroplan Booking Example: SFO to SYD (on United) 110,000 miles + CA $329

Aeroplan Booking Example: EWR to AKL (on United and Air Canada) 111,700 miles + CA $238

Note: Availability for the New York to Auckland route is hard to find on Air Canada. You’ll need to be flexible with dates in order to find the lowest prices.

Avianca LifeMiles: from 133,100 miles + $270

Best for: Nothing really, prices have increased significantly, so this isn’t a good deal anymore.

Cost: The standard price for an economy ticket to Australia or New Zealand is 66,500 miles each way. Taxes and fees are also somewhat high. 

Note: It’s hard to find availability to and from New Zealand. Flights to Australia are easier to find.

LifeMiles Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on United) 133,100 miles + $270

Singapore Airlines: from 121,000 miles + $137

Best for: Flying on Singapore Airlines and including a free stopover. Departures from LAX, SFO, SEA, and NYC airports. But overall, pricing is high, so we’d recommend avoiding this one. 

Cost: Singapore Airlines Saver Award fares to Australia and New Zealand start at 61,000 miles for a one way economy flight. It’s possible to book Star Alliance partner flights with Singapore Airlines, and those cost 69,500 miles each.

Singapore Saver Award Chart

Booking Tips (How to Book a Stopover): Singapore offers a lot of connecting flights to Australia and New Zealand. Certain Singapore Airlines itineraries may be eligible for a free stopover. You’ll receive an alert during the online booking process if a stopover is possible on your chosen route. This is typically available on a round trip itinerary but not a one way.

You can see that your route is eligible for a free stopover if you see this button while booking.

Singapore Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Singapore) 121,000 miles + $137

Singapore Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on United) 139,000 miles + $126

Singapore Booking Example: JFK to AKL (on Singapore) 143,000 miles + $181

United Airlines: From 98,100 miles + $99

Best for: If you want to book a United nonstop from San Francisco or LAX.

Cost: The standard “Saver Award” fare price for flights to Australia and New Zealand is 55,000 miles each way. United technically uses dynamic pricing so it’s possible to find flights priced slightly lower.

United Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on United) 110,000 miles + $121

United Booking Example: LAX to AKL (on United) 98,100 miles + $99

Note: These flights route through San Francisco, but because of dynamic pricing, in this case it’s cheaper to start in LAX. The same departing flight starting in San Francisco costs 55,000 miles instead of 47,000.

United Booking Example: EWR to AKL (on United) 110,000 miles + $99

oneworld Sweet Spots

The major options for booking oneworld flights to Australia and New Zealand are via American Airlines, British Airways Avios, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

Overall, American Airlines typically offers the lowest cost in both miles and taxes & fees.

American Airlines: From 70,000 miles + $104

Best for: low points cost and reasonable taxes and fees.

Cost: The cost of award tickets for American-operated flights uses dynamic pricing, but starts at 35,000 miles each way. Taxes and fees are also low, usually around $100 roundtrip.

AA Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on American) 70,000 miles + $104

AA Booking Example: JFK to AKL (on American and Qantas) 80,000 miles + $94

Alaska Airlines from 75,000 miles + $165

Best for: Booking free stopovers, even on a one way flight. Especially good for booking a stopover in Fiji which is on the way there geographically.

Cost: Flights start at 37,500 miles each way. Alaska uses a distance-based award chart. This means that longer routes take more miles.

Alaska Partner Award Chart

Notes: While Alaska Airlines doesn’t fly directly to Australia or New Zealand, they offer partner availability with access to Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, Qantas, and others.

Alaska Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Fiji Airways) 75,000 miles + $165

You can use the Alaska program to book a non-stop flight from LAX to SYD flying on American Airlines or Qantas, but it costs more miles.

Alaska Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on American) 85,000 miles + $138

Alaska Booking Example: EWR to AKL (on Qantas) 85,000 miles + $119

British Airways Avios from 103,000 miles + $193

Best for: British Airways charges a lot of miles and high taxes and fees so I generally don’t recommend booking with them. That being said, if you can utilize a transfer bonus or you happen to have a lot of Avios, it may make sense for you. The best value they offer is booking onto Qantas.

Cost: British Airways uses a distance based award chart. Their prices vary depending on what airline you’re flying and where you’re going. British is notorious for passing on fuel charges, so their taxes and fees are typically high, even when booking partner airlines.

British Airways Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Qantas) 103,000 points + $193

British Airways Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on American) 103,000 points + $402

This is more expensive both in points and taxes than either Alaska or American Airlines, but since all major banks transfer to Avios this may make sense for booking Qantas with a transfer bonus.

Cathay Pacific from 80,000 miles + $163

Best for: If you have transferrable points and want to book onto American Airlines.

Cost: Cathay Pacific uses a distance based chart. The longest distance caps out at 38,000 Asia Miles each way for Cathay flights which means all economy round trips cost a max of 76,000 miles plus taxes. Partner awards to Australia and New Zealand cost 40,000 miles each way. 

Cathay Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on American) 80,000 miles + $163

Cathay Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Cathay) 76,000 miles + $736

Finnair from 80,000 miles + $352

Best for: Nothing really, but it’s an option if you have a lot of Avios or transferrable points.

Cost: Finnair uses an award chart for booking partner airlines. The price from North America to Australia is 40,000 miles each way, plus taxes and fees. Taxes and fees are high due to fuel surcharges.

Finnair Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Qantas) 80,000 miles + $352

Japan Airlines: From 55,000 + $114

Best for: Round trip flights on oneworld partners like American Airlines, Qantas, and Fiji Airways

Cost: Japan Airlines prices its partner awards by distance. When booking a round trip, the price is based on the total mileage, not the mileage per segment. For example, a one way ticket from the west coast to Australia might fall in the 6,001-8,000 mile range and cost 45,000 miles. If you book it as two one way tickets, you would need to pay 45,000 miles each way (90,000 total). A roundtrip ticket for the same trip might fall in the 14,001-20,000 mile range. The price for that is just 70,000 miles. For this reason, it’s best to book round trip when booking through Japan Airlines.

Booking Tips: While it’s best to book round trip for the best price, you don’t have to arrive and depart from the same city. It’s possible to fly into Sydney and out of Melbourne, for instance. Japan Airlines makes it easy to book multiple stops on the same itinerary. You could fly from Los Angeles to Sydney, fly from Sydney to Auckland, and then Auckland back to Los Angeles all on one ticket. The mileage price of the ticket is based on the total distance flown, regardless of how many segments are included. Taxes and fees can vary by airport and airline flown.

Japan Airlines Booking Example: LAX-SYD (on American) 70,000 + $111

Japan Airlines Booking Example: LAX-AKL (on Fiji Airways) 55,000 + $114

Qantas: from 86,400 miles + $223

Best for: Flights to New Zealand, especially from the West Coast. Good availability for award tickets in general.

Cost: Reward flights booked through Qantas are based on distance. The farther you go, the more miles it will cost. Taxes and fees can be high, but there are some reasonable options.

Notes: Qantas has better availability for flights to and from New Zealand than many other carriers. If you’re having a hard time finding availability, it’s worth giving Qantas a look! Also note that though Qantas is in the oneworld alliance, it also partners with Flying Blue which can be another option for booking these flights. See the SkyTeam section for more details.

Qantas Airways Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Qantas) 96,400 miles + $332

Note: You can pay less in taxes and fees by flying Fiji Airways, but it includes a stop in Fiji. Qantas does not offer free stopovers, but layovers under 24 hours are included so you could enjoy a long layover and break up your journey home.

Qantas Airways Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Fiji Airways) 96,400 miles + $260

Qantas Airways Booking Example: LAX to AKL (on Fiji Airways) 86,400 miles + $223

Qantas Airways Booking Example: JFK to AKL (on Qantas) 117,800 miles + $333

SkyTeam Sweet Spots

SkyTeam has a few airlines that offer routing from the US to Australia and New Zealand. There aren’t a lot of great options, but it’s helpful to know what’s possible for comparison. 

Delta Airlines from 76,000 miles + $139

Best for: When Delta has a sale, which is unpredictable.

Cost: Delta uses variable pricing so prices change regularly. If you can catch a sale, there are definitely good deals to be had, but it’s not something I would count on. However, if you have Delta points or a lot of AMEX points, it’s worth checking because you may get lucky.

Delta Booking Example: LAX to SYD 76,000 miles + $139

Delta Booking Example: JFK to AKL 136,000 miles + $99

Virgin Atlantic: from 124,000 miles + $155

Best for: flights booked on Korean Air

Cost: Virgin Atlantic uses a distance based chart. This means that flights from the West Coast are cheapest and then further east will be more expensive.

Note:  It’s usually possible to book Delta flights with Virgin, but it’s very hard to find availability to Australia and New Zealand this way. I couldn’t find a single flight available to book, even when checking on multiple different occasions. 

Virgin Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Korean Air) 124,000 miles + $196

Virgin Booking Example: LAX to AKL (on Korean Air) 124,000 miles + $155

Virgin Booking Example: JFK to AKL (on Korean Air) 136,000 miles + $155

Flying Blue from 81,000 miles + $281

Best for: Reasonable point prices on Qantas flights, especially if you can utilize a transfer bonus. 

Cost: Cost will depend on your route. Award flights to Australia and New Zealand with Flying Blue start at 40,500 miles each way. Transfer bonuses are frequent, which can make for an even better deal.

Taxes and fees are higher than some other options, but the low point price may make it worth it, especially when paired with the child discount and/or a transfer bonus. With a 25% transfer bonus, you would only need 64,800 miles to book an 81,000 point flight.

Note: Flying Blue and Qantas aren’t in the same alliance, but they do partner together. That means you can use Flying Blue points to book onto Qantas and vice versa.

Flying Blue Booking Example: LAX to SYD (on Qantas) 81,000 miles + $281

Flying Blue Booking Example: LAX to AKL (on Qantas) 101,000 + $292

Flying Blue Booking Example: JFK to AKL (on Qantas) 95,000 miles + $267