It really doesn’t get better…
If you like wine, you’ll find some of the most outstanding Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah out there. If you like nature, you may have found the most beautiful land in the entire world. New Zealand is the gift that keeps on giving, from tropical paradise in the North Island to jagged mountain wonder in the South.
Right now, there’s a unique opportunity to maximise your points and save major cash, thanks to great availability, a transfer bonus and more. That’s a good thing, because all that good wine and skydiving adventure isn’t cheap…
If you act fast, our friends Monkey Miles pointed out that there’s great availability to use points for flights between the USA and New Zealand right now. That’s particularly true between for flights between Los Angeles, Houston and Auckland during the months of July and August this summer.
Yes, spontaneity can be fun and in this case, save you a lot of money.
The great availability we’re talking about is for travel on Air New Zealand itself, which is neat because even if you’ve never heard of a loyalty program related to Air New Zealand, you can use points you probably have to book flights with them.
You can book these flights using: Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, Virgin Atlantic, Avianca LifeMiles, Aeroplan or United Miles.
As you know, being such a clever points and miles expert, even for the same flight on the same airline, which in this case is Air New Zealand, each loyalty program you can book with will charge different rates.
For these Air New Zealand flights booking with United Airlines miles would cost 90,000 points one way, whereas Air Canada or LifeMiles would charge 80,000. That’s all fantastic if you have those miles to burn.
But you can do better…
If you have US based Amex Points, you can do really really well right now. Amex is currently offering a 30% bonus on transfers to Virgin Atlantic, and Virgin Atlantic allows you to book these awesome Air New Zealand flights for just 62,500 miles each way. Thanks to the bonus, that means you only need 49,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points to create the 62,500 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles needed.
Basically: the best way to book these flights is via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. You can transfer your Amex, Citi, Chase or Capital One Points to Virgin Atlantic and lock these flights in for 62,500 one way or 125,000 round trip. That’s simply outstanding value, considering business class would set you back more than $3,000 per person using cash.
We wouldn’t leave you hanging like that! If you’re using United Miles to book these Air New Zealand flights, simply search in July or August on the United.com website. The same idea goes for Aeroplan or LifeMiles users, who can use either of those websites to book.
If however you want the better value, by booking with Virgin Atlantic, read this guide which tells you every single detail you’ll need.
To summarise before you click over: you’ll call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, ask to put the Air New Zealand flights on hold, using space you found on United.com, you’ll then top your account off or transfer points to get 62,500 points per person one way (or 125,000 round trip) and then you’ll have about 48 hours to get the points in the account and call back to book.
Just read the guide, it’s easier.
Is this a Business Class booking?
Yes indeed.