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Best ways to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific using miles (2025)
Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific are bucket-list destinations for many travelers, in no small part due to the travel time and the cost of getting there. Because of that, it makes sense to try and use airline miles to offset the cost and/or fly more comfortably on the long journey. Unfortunately, the popularity […] The post Best ways to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific using miles (2025) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.
Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific are bucket-list destinations for many travelers, in no small part due to the travel time and the cost of getting there. Because of that, it makes sense to try and use airline miles to offset the cost and/or fly more comfortably on the long journey. Unfortunately, the popularity of the region means demand is very high and award space can be hard to come by – particularly in premium cabins. That said, it isn’t impossible either.
This post outlines the best options available to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (Oceania) in using frequent flyer rewards programs available to the major US transferable currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou points and Wells Fargo Rewards.
This guide has been completely updated for 2025 with award chart and policy changes.
What are transferable currencies?
If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of a number of airline programs. This is appealing because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:
- Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide
- Bilt Rewards Complete Guide
- Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide
- Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide
- Wells Fargo Rewards Complete Guide (coming soon)
Best ways to get to Oceania with points and miles
The deals below are sorted alphabetically, not in order of best to worst. Remember that the lowest price isn’t always the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges and the ease of amassing the miles for your chosen award. Each description describes where to search, how to book, and which partners you can use to transfer for the given award. It’s always best to confirm availability before transferring miles to be sure that the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- The short story: Alaska has excellent rates to Oceania on several nice partners - and you can include a stopover for free on a one-way award. Economy awards from Honolulu can also be a good deal using Fiji Airways to Kiritimati (Kiribati's "Christmas Island") or Hawaiian to Tahiti and Rarotonga.
- Miles required: Alaska has a distanced-based award chart, but business class awards start at 75k-85k each way and economy awards half that. Shorter flights from Honolulu to Kiritimati can be booked for 7.5K one way in economy on Fiji Airways, almost always a steal given the cash rates for the flight - but be aware that it only leaves once/week. Rarotonga and Tahiti on Hawaiian start at 25K in economy or 47.5K in business from Honolulu (both routes can currently be booked using HawaiianMiles for 24,750 miles in economy, but we assume those rates will synch up once the loyalty programs merge in Summer 2025).
- How to find awards: Partner award space shows up at AlaskaAir.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. There is a non-refundable $12.50 partner booking fee.
- Key warnings: Finding premium cabin space on any of these partners can be a challenge.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Marriott
ANA Mileage Club
- The short story: ANA offers very good pricing for business class between North America and Oceania with a wide range of partner options. You can route via Canada, most of East / Southeast Asia or fly Air New Zealand.
- Miles required: From 130K round trip in business class on ANA metal during low season and from 145K round trip in business class on Star Alliance partners. ANA has eliminated fuel surcharges on many/most of its flights, making routing on ANA an even better deal.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at ANA’s website. (you’ll need to create a free ANA Mileage Club account and log in to search for space)
- How to book awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or ANA's website (though ANA requires searches to be round trip, so it is easier to find availability by searching one way at United first).
- Change and cancellation fees: free to change / 3,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: You must book round trip. High fuel surcharges are assessed by some carriers, others have little to none. The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards, so there is risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- No fuel surcharges on: Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Etihad, United
- Low fuel surcharges on: ANA, Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish (higher than the others but low by comparison to some)
- Transfer from: Amex, Marriott
Air Canada Aeroplan
- The short story: Aeroplan's Oceania region includes Australia, New Zealand and Eastern Asia. While award pricing to Oceania is on the high side, members can now book a stopover in eastern Asia en route to Australia or New Zealand for 5K additional miles one-way and lap infants are just $25 CAD or 2,500 miles per direction (far cheaper than what most programs charge).
- Miles required: 55K-115K each way in business class or 90K-140K each way in first class from North America to the Pacific zone, though practically for most North America-based flyers, distance bands start at 75K / 115K each way. See more detail here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Aeroplan.com (you’ll need to create a free Aeroplan frequent flyer account to search).
- Change and cancellation fees: Changes cost "$100" for "Lowest" fare awards; there's no fee to change Flex or Latitude awards. Cancellations cost $150 for most standard awards if done online at AirCanada.com (or $175 online for most awards via a call center). Other flex awards are free to change or cancel.
- How to book awards: Book online at Aeroplan.com. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone.
- Fuel Surcharges: Aeroplan no longer charges fuel surcharges on partner award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- The short story: Air France has one of the few ways to get to Tahiti nonstop from the US with its nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti. Variable pricing means that business class isn't usually a great deal, but if you hit a transfer bonus and/or need to combine points from different programs to book an award (or just find it offered at a good price), this can be a great option for economy flights.
- Miles required: Varies, but seems to now price at ~113K one way in business class and 30K in economy. Keep in mind that connecting on Delta to get to/from Los Angeles can increase the price substantially, so you may be better off booking a separate positioning flight to Los Angeles.
- How to find awards: Use AirFrance.us to search and book (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search).
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone or app when the website returns errors.
- Change and cancellation fees: €70.
- Key warnings: Air France's website is buggy and will often return errors when trying to complete a booking. If that happens, try calling. Note that Air France does pass along surcharges which come to a couple hundred bucks each way on this route.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
Avianca LifeMiles
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles might have somewhat hackable awards if you could find premium cabin space on the long-haul.
- Miles required: From 80-100K miles in business class from the US to Australia / New Zealand / Oceania, but see Avianca LifeMiles' awesome mixed-cabin award pricing for info on how this might be hackable if premium space exists.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Marriott.
British Airways Avios
- The short story: British Airways offers an award chart for travel on a single partner and a lesser-known chart for travel on two partners. That second chart could save you some Avios if you were to mix AA and Qantas for example. The Avios price of your trip is based on the cumulative distance of your flight segments, as opposed to pricing each segment individually (like a normal BA award).
- In addition, BA also still offers somewhat appealing pricing from Hawaii to Fiji or Kiritimati on Fiji Airways in economy class.
- Miles required: From around 200K "round trip" in business class from most US cities (can vary based on distance). See the mixed partner chart along with an excellent explanation for how to leverage it here. In short, you could turn this into a multi-stop, multi-carrier journey and the number of miles required will vary some but still be less than booking separately via British Airways.
- Honolulu to Kiribati on Fiji Airways can be booked for 11K one-way in economy, while the onward flight to Fiji is ~20K.
- How to find awards: Search for available space on each segment separately at britishairways.com.
- How to book awards: Book over the phone. There isn’t always a clear methodology for pricing mixed-cabin awards and some agents may be less well-versed in the mixed chart. There is a maximum of eight flight segments and seven stopovers, and travel must be completed within twelve months. One open-jaw is allowed and you can only use oneworld partners when utilizing the mixed partner chart.
- Change and cancellation fees: $55. If the taxes & fees on your ticket were less than $55, British Airways allows you to instead forfeit those fees rather than pay $55. However, in practice, they sometimes still refund the taxes.
- Key warnings: This is a lesser-known chart and some agents may not be well versed in using it. Be prepared to hang up and call again.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for Jetstar)
- The short story: Qantas's low-cost-carrier Jetstar flies between Hawaii and several Australian cities and can be booked with Qantas points.
- Miles required: 61,500 miles one-way in business class from Honolulu to Sydney. On 8/5/25, this will increase to to 73,800 miles one-way.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change / 6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: Jetstar flights can be quite cheap. While their business class is much more expensive than their economy class fares, it's worth comparing to cash fares to be sure you're getting a decent value.
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for Emirates)
- The short story: While the award cost here is substantially higher than most others, it may be worth it to those who really want an indulgently long experience in Emirates business class. It is possible to spend upwards of ~30 hours in business class by routing via Dubai.
- Miles required: 159,000 miles one-way in business class between North American cities and those cities served by Emirates in Australia and New Zealand. On 8/5/25, this will increase to 182,900 miles one-way.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account).
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change / 6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: Choose A380 routes to get a fully-flat aisle access business class seat with a bar at the rear of the plane.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
United MileagePlus
- The short story: United gives you access to Star Alliance and has more lenient routing rules than many other programs. For instance, you could fly via Canada, China, or South Korea, giving you access to more availability (although still somewhat limited).
- Miles required: From 85K/100K miles each way in business class on United; 110K each way in business class on partners. Economy flights start at ~38K each way.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at United.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: There are no fees to change or cancel award tickets.
- Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so we see highly variable pricing for award tickets.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Chase, Marriott.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Air New Zealand)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers very good deals for Air New Zealand premium cabin flights. Availability is very hard to find unless booking less then 30 days in.
- Miles required: 62.5K each way in business class between New Zealand to North America or 45K one way between Hawaii and Auckland. Economy flights are 30K from Hawaii to Auckland.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Air New Zealand space does not show up at VirginAtlantic.com). Flights that United is selling for 110K should be bookable via Virgin as well.
- How to book awards: Book over the phone with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500. You'll need the dates that you found saver award availability on United's website.
- Change/Cancellation fees: If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are often not a good choice for connecting itineraries. Furthermore, Air New Zealand business class award space is rare, unless booking close-in (and even that can be difficult in peak season).
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Marriott, Bilt, Wells Fargo
Also consider: ANA Around the World ticket
List of transfer partners
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio | Chase Transfer Ratio | Citi Transfer Ratio | Marriott Transfer Ratio | Capital One Transfer Ratio | Brex Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | ||
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 via Hawaiian | 60K to 25K | ||||
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | ||||
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 3K to 1K | 1 to 1 | 1,670 to 1K | |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | ||
| Hawaiian Miles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax | 60K to 25K | ||||
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via Qatar | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 | 1,670 to 1K | |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 via BA | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 via BA | |
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 | 60K to 30K | ||||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 60K to 25K | 1 to 1 |
The post Best ways to get to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific using miles (2025) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.
