This is because of a little - known peculiarity in
the MileagePlus award system that prices award flights to Oceania cheaper than award flights to Australia and New Zealand, even if you fly to Oceania via Australia or New Zealand.
Not exact matches
Tickets issued by United but operated on Star Alliance or
MileagePlus partners will earn mileage via the new
system, but tickets issued by those airlines directly will earn
award miles based on distance flown and the purchased fare class.
I fear all the legacies will be going to a revenue - based
system in the coming years and
MileagePlus will one day add fuel surcharges to redemptions, but right now United's
award charts, Star Alliance partners, generous routing rules, lack of fuel surcharges, and ability to quickly and easily book more
award travel online makes it a program much better than even AAdvantage in terms of
award redemption.