Earning VA SC on Air NZ flights via the Pacific Islands

Earning VA SC on Air NZ flights via the Pacific Islands

I'm planning a trip to Vegas for a conference next year, and flying Air NZ looks like a good status earner if I fly PER-AKL-RAR-LAX-LAS (Last hop probably on Delta on NZ itinerary) and back the same way, and specify Velocity as the points/status earner (At this stage I'd prefer to earn Velocity credits than *A). The extra hop in Raratonga will boost the balance a bit, but the fine print has this wording "Status Credits cannot be earned on Pacific Island flights with Air New Zealand" and there is a link to a list that includes Raratonga. Is a "Pacific Island flight" just when the intinerarary ends on an island or would I miss out on all 4 of my long flights (AKL-RAR-LAX and back) just because they have to stop and refuell?

From the booking page it looks like I can go AKL-LAX direct and skip the islands but all the returns must stop in RAR anyway. Does this mean that no one can earn VA SC on the return flight from USA?

Hi tronek

I'm not sure on the SC earn if you go via RAR however you can certainly fly firect from LAX to AKL on Air NZ without having to stop in RAR. 

Thanks nd. 

The only return trips the booking engine offered me were on Saturdays (1st and 8th of July) and only one flight on those days via LAX and RAR. Saturday the 1st was what I selected anyway so I didn't look at anything else at the time. I just checked what was available earlier in the year and there are flights on other days, including direct, as you said. Perhaps June is too far away to see all the options. I'd still be interested to know if there's a difference between Status Credits on flights VIA the Cook Islands on a through itinerary compared to flights TO the Cook Islands, if anyone knows.

You'll miss out and earn no points on AKL-RAR and RAR-LAX. Source: I tried last year.

You could credit the points to Singapore's KrisFlyer and then back to Velocity, but it's a hassle and many fare classes on this route are discounted and ineligible to earn with KrisFlyer. Those that do, earn few points.

Velocity really want you to fly on Virgin planes here, so you'd probably be better off flying AKL-RAR return on Virgin. Or if you just want a stop in the Pacific, consider Honolulu, which isn't listed as a Pacific Island.

tronek one other point which may be useful (my family are from/live in RAR so I'm familiar with limited flights to and from there), there is only 1 flight a week from LAX to RAR on Air NZ and your search confirms it is on a Saturday - I think you'll find if you look any other day the flight will be direct to AKL.

Thanks Jim, nd.

I really want the most status credits - where I stop on the way doesn't matter so much. RAR would be fun to stop at for dinner, but not if I lose all the SC on the long flights so thanks for the confirmation. I might end up booking VA1&2 direct SYD<->LAX if that works out to be the overall best earner, but I'll keep looking for more hops, at least those that are offered to me by the booking engines. On international flights sometimes I find some odd but surprisingly inexpensive flight combinations right at the bottom of the list.

You could also fly PER-BNE/SYD-HNL-LAX-LAS or PER-BNE/SYD-HNL-LAS.

Flying VA to East Coast then Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu and then Hawaiian Airlines or Delta to LAX or Hawaiian Airlines direct from Honolulu to Las Vegas. 

If all you care about is status credits and not points, it will be much cheaper to book flights marketed and operated by same airline (VA going on to HA on to DL / VA going on to HA). If you book the VA coded flights operated by Hawaiian from SYD, they will most likely be more expensive but you could get more/less points and elite bonus. All of this info for partner earnings is on the velocity page. There are a few discount economy fares ineligible for status credits but I doubt you will book into those. The info is on the status credit fare page for partner airlines.

Status Credit Calculation:

PER-SYD-LAX-LAS = 20+40+10 = 70 or 140 return

PER-SYD-HNL-LAX-LAS = 20+40+20+10= 90 or 180 return

PER-SYD-HNL-LAS = 20+40+20 = 80 or 160 return

Based on these calculations:

Your best bet would be to fly VA to SYD and then HA to LAX via HNL and then DL to LAS. It may be cheaper to book seperate return segments such as a VA ticket just for PER-SYD-PER and an HA ticket for SYD-HNL-LAX-HNL-SYD and a DL ticket for LAX-LAS-LAX. In my experience, thats the cheapest but in terms of getting all on one ticket for disruption protection and other factors, you pay a higher price. Hawaiian also allows free stopovers too so you could spend one night in Waikiki or take the redeye to LAX and spend the day on the beach etc.

I assume flying VA all the way to LAX and then on DL to LAS is the fastest travel time and cheapest so youd have to factor in the value of time spent with stopovers

Thanks for the ideas Sean. I hadn't considered HA, but I'll throw that into the mix. Not looking to book until early next year anyway. I don't even know if I'm going to the conference yet, but I'm hoping. I'd be booking J as I want to hit Platinum, so the extra cost of the ticket will partially be offset by the 4 free upgrades (which are best value on coast to coast flights, which I fly a few times a year anyway, living in Perth with family in Sydney and occasional work reasons to fly to Melbourne)