East coast of US to Auckland,NZ

[pmjnh]

Hi there,

we are considering a cruise in NZ (never been) and the idea of flying there is daunting. 

If you have flown to NZ , what were your experiences and recommended airlines...looking for ideas to keep manageable as far as number of hours in a plane...multiple stops, Hawaii possibly?

 

What has your experience been?

 

Thank you

[the mice]

We went in October-November 2019, so pre-COVID which might not be that relevant now..  Went to Australia and New Zealand.  Flew business class using miles.   We flew Air Canada in paid economy to Vancouver where we stayed overnight and then flew in AC business using miles to Melbourne.  For our return, we flew Air New Zealand business on miles from Auckland to Houston and then United economy (on miles) from there to LaGuardia.    We slept on both of the long business class legs.

 

You didn't say what class of service and if you are paying or plan to use miles.  Business class tickets can be a challenge using miles, especially if your dates are not flexible.  

 

So, before anyone can really provide useful advice, you need to provide some more information on your potential plans.  NZ is wonderful. 

[pmjnh]

33 minutes ago, the mice said:

We went in October-November 2019, so pre-COVID which might not be that relevant now..  Went to Australia and New Zealand.  Flew business class using miles.   We flew Air Canada in paid economy to Vancouver where we stayed overnight and then flew in AC business using miles to Melbourne.  For our return, we flew Air New Zealand business on miles from Auckland to Houston and then United economy (on miles) from there to LaGuardia.    We slept on both of the long business class legs.

 

You didn't say what class of service and if you are paying or plan to use miles.  Business class tickets can be a challenge using miles, especially if your dates are not flexible.  

 

So, before anyone can really provide useful advice, you need to provide some more information on your potential plans.  NZ is wonderful. 

We will not be using points or miles. Forgive me, I am not sure I understand the relevance is to the best flight  routes and length of flights. Am I missing something?

[the mice]

No, you are not.  I just mentioned what we flew.  We were happy with our choices but 4 years later, that probably is not relevant to flying there today. I only mentioned it because we slept well in business class.

 

It helps to know that you are paying, not using miles. 

 

But it would be useful to know:

Where from the east coast do you want to fly from?   Boston, NY, DC, or other? 

What class of service,

as that might determine routes and number of stops.  If flying business class, you might be able to sleep so could perhaps handle a longer flight.  If flying premium economy you would need to find airlines offering it.  If flying economy, you would have to decide how long you would like any one segment to be. 

Different airlines/planes have different seating in each class of service which affects recommendations.   

How many stops total?  1 or 2? Will you break up the flights with an overnight stay? East coast nonstop to Hawaii is around 11 hrs.  Or you can stop on the west coast.   If you want to use Hawaii as a stop, then you need to look at flights from there to NZ.  If you are making such connections you would want to be sure all flights are issued as one ticket.  You don't want any separate tickets as that's asking for trouble. 

These things help answer your question. 

 

Hope this is helpful. 

 

 

[Gardyloo]

No idea if this might be of any interest to you, but you might benefit from something like a "Circle Pacific" air ticket or even a "Round the World" (RTW) ticket if this trip is one of a couple of different cruises or other trips you have planned, especially if you're interested in riding in business class.  

 

Based on your posting history it looks like you've been on overseas cruises a couple of times this year and plan for more next year.  When would the NZ cruise occur and is it a round trip from NZ to NZ, or a one-way trip, perhaps ending in Australia?  Sometimes when you can foresee trips a year or even two in advance, you can concoct an air travel plan that is considerably more cost-effective than multiple there-and-back ones.  

 

For example, say your cruise calendar looked like this (or you could make it look like this.)

 

November 2024 - NZ cruise

February/March 2025 - Caribbean cruise from Miami or San Juan

May/June 2025 - Alaska cruise from Vancouver

October 2025 - Mediterranean cruise from Rome

 

(The Caribbean cruise could be from anywhere else, or it could be a Mexico cruise out of San Diego; or the Med cruise could be out of Barcelona or anywhere else in Europe - this is all imaginary anyway.)

 

Because round-the-world tickets have prices that vary hugely depending on where the travel begins and ends (not on where you live) it's often best to travel to some "cheap" origin point on your own dime, then "activate" the RTW ticket there.  The tickets are good for a year and include up to 16 flights for one price, so you'd have to plan to return to the "origin" country within 12 months from the first flight.  Let me illustrate using the above imaginary schedule.

 

Late October 2024:  You fly on your own dime to Oslo, Norway.  Why Oslo?  Because for the time being it's among the cheapest places in the world from which to begin or end RTW trips.  I'll mention prices in a minute.  Anyway, you enjoy the Norwegian capital for a couple of days (or tour around Norway on your own) then, using the ticket that you've purchased online months earlier, you board  plane in Oslo and fly east.  Maybe you connect in Doha, Qatar, or in Helsinki, Finland, and the next stop is, say, Singapore.  Spend a couple of days enjoying the best food in the world, then it's on to Sydney or Hong Kong.  Another stopover if you want (in order to get your body clocks adjusted) then on to Auckland for your cruise.

 

Cruise over (say mid-November) you cross the Pacific - maybe stop in Hawaii or just straight to LAX, change planes (with or without a layover) and home to the DC area.  Back to life as we know it.

 

Midwinter 2025:  Time for a sunbreak, so you hop on a flight to Miami or San Juan or wherever,  Cruise for a bit, or it could be just some island time if you don't want to cruise.  A week or two, than back home.

 

Spring/summer 2025:  Off to Vancouver for an Alaska cruise, then back home to DC.

 

September/October 2025:  Back to Europe.  Maybe a Med cruise from Rome, or Octoberfest in Germany, or the Scottish Highlands covered in purple heather.  You end up back in Oslo before the anniversary of the first flight.  Ticket over.  You'll have earned enough frequent flyer miles in the course of the year to fly home for free, or if you're an RTW addict by now (highly likely) you'll just buy another one and head home.  Here's an imaginary map showing the overall route for the year.

 

So that all might sound exhausting, and it could well be so.  But if it's not, then consider the cost/benefit picture.

 

Sitting in economy, an RTW ticket covering all those flights if starting in Norway will have a base price of $1912.  There will be taxes and fees on top of that (these vary depending on which airlines you use and which airports you stop at) which will likely add around $200 - $300 to the total.  

 

If you began and ended the same trip in the USA, the equivalent base price would be $5374. roughly three times the Norwegian price.  Can you get to Oslo from DC for $3500?  Oh yeah.

 

Now, say you want to ride in the pointy end on the same itinerary.  The business class price for the whole trip, starting in Norway, is $5467.  The US equivalent would be $11,071.  

 

To repeat, this is an imaginary trip.  You could use the same method to include South America, or more of Asia, or Africa... If it's overkill, so be it, but if you continue to cruise more than once a year or you have a travel bucket list involving faraway places, this might be of interest.  

 

So maybe you could share what your cruise and travel plans are looking like for the next couple of years and we could see if something like this might work for you.  Not trying to pry and if you say "nope" to the whole idea, so be it.  But it might make for an interesting "thought experiment."  

 

[pmjnh]

On 12/16/2023 at 5:20 PM, the mice said:

No, you are not.  I just mentioned what we flew.  We were happy with our choices but 4 years later, that probably is not relevant to flying there today. I only mentioned it because we slept well in business class.

 

It helps to know that you are paying, not using miles. 

 

But it would be useful to know:

Where from the east coast do you want to fly from?   Boston, NY, DC, or other? 

What class of service,

as that might determine routes and number of stops.  If flying business class, you might be able to sleep so could perhaps handle a longer flight.  If flying premium economy you would need to find airlines offering it.  If flying economy, you would have to decide how long you would like any one segment to be. 

Different airlines/planes have different seating in each class of service which affects recommendations.   

How many stops total?  1 or 2? Will you break up the flights with an overnight stay? East coast nonstop to Hawaii is around 11 hrs.  Or you can stop on the west coast.   If you want to use Hawaii as a stop, then you need to look at flights from there to NZ.  If you are making such connections you would want to be sure all flights are issued as one ticket.  You don't want any separate tickets as that's asking for trouble. 

These things help answer your question. 

 

Hope this is helpful. 

 

 

Thank you for your input, especially the one ticket..our flights have always been either domestic or easy  non-stops to/from  Europe. Flying to NZ is new to us and a bit daunting but I think I have a handle now on what we need to do.

[pmjnh]

17 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

No idea if this might be of any interest to you, but you might benefit from something like a "Circle Pacific" air ticket or even a "Round the World" (RTW) ticket if this trip is one of a couple of different cruises or other trips you have planned, especially if you're interested in riding in business class.  

 

Based on your posting history it looks like you've been on overseas cruises a couple of times this year and plan for more next year.  When would the NZ cruise occur and is it a round trip from NZ to NZ, or a one-way trip, perhaps ending in Australia?  Sometimes when you can foresee trips a year or even two in advance, you can concoct an air travel plan that is considerably more cost-effective than multiple there-and-back ones.  

 

For example, say your cruise calendar looked like this (or you could make it look like this.)

 

November 2024 - NZ cruise

February/March 2025 - Caribbean cruise from Miami or San Juan

May/June 2025 - Alaska cruise from Vancouver

October 2025 - Mediterranean cruise from Rome

 

(The Caribbean cruise could be from anywhere else, or it could be a Mexico cruise out of San Diego; or the Med cruise could be out of Barcelona or anywhere else in Europe - this is all imaginary anyway.)

 

Because round-the-world tickets have prices that vary hugely depending on where the travel begins and ends (not on where you live) it's often best to travel to some "cheap" origin point on your own dime, then "activate" the RTW ticket there.  The tickets are good for a year and include up to 16 flights for one price, so you'd have to plan to return to the "origin" country within 12 months from the first flight.  Let me illustrate using the above imaginary schedule.

 

Late October 2024:  You fly on your own dime to Oslo, Norway.  Why Oslo?  Because for the time being it's among the cheapest places in the world from which to begin or end RTW trips.  I'll mention prices in a minute.  Anyway, you enjoy the Norwegian capital for a couple of days (or tour around Norway on your own) then, using the ticket that you've purchased online months earlier, you board  plane in Oslo and fly east.  Maybe you connect in Doha, Qatar, or in Helsinki, Finland, and the next stop is, say, Singapore.  Spend a couple of days enjoying the best food in the world, then it's on to Sydney or Hong Kong.  Another stopover if you want (in order to get your body clocks adjusted) then on to Auckland for your cruise.

 

Cruise over (say mid-November) you cross the Pacific - maybe stop in Hawaii or just straight to LAX, change planes (with or without a layover) and home to the DC area.  Back to life as we know it.

 

Midwinter 2025:  Time for a sunbreak, so you hop on a flight to Miami or San Juan or wherever,  Cruise for a bit, or it could be just some island time if you don't want to cruise.  A week or two, than back home.

 

Spring/summer 2025:  Off to Vancouver for an Alaska cruise, then back home to DC.

 

September/October 2025:  Back to Europe.  Maybe a Med cruise from Rome, or Octoberfest in Germany, or the Scottish Highlands covered in purple heather.  You end up back in Oslo before the anniversary of the first flight.  Ticket over.  You'll have earned enough frequent flyer miles in the course of the year to fly home for free, or if you're an RTW addict by now (highly likely) you'll just buy another one and head home.  Here's an imaginary map showing the overall route for the year.

 

So that all might sound exhausting, and it could well be so.  But if it's not, then consider the cost/benefit picture.

 

Sitting in economy, an RTW ticket covering all those flights if starting in Norway will have a base price of $1912.  There will be taxes and fees on top of that (these vary depending on which airlines you use and which airports you stop at) which will likely add around $200 - $300 to the total.  

 

If you began and ended the same trip in the USA, the equivalent base price would be $5374. roughly three times the Norwegian price.  Can you get to Oslo from DC for $3500?  Oh yeah.

 

Now, say you want to ride in the pointy end on the same itinerary.  The business class price for the whole trip, starting in Norway, is $5467.  The US equivalent would be $11,071.  

 

To repeat, this is an imaginary trip.  You could use the same method to include South America, or more of Asia, or Africa... If it's overkill, so be it, but if you continue to cruise more than once a year or you have a travel bucket list involving faraway places, this might be of interest.  

 

So maybe you could share what your cruise and travel plans are looking like for the next couple of years and we could see if something like this might work for you.  Not trying to pry and if you say "nope" to the whole idea, so be it.  But it might make for an interesting "thought experiment."  

 

Interesting concept.. will keep this in mind for future reference. Thank you

[Zach1213]

East Coast to Auckland is long as hell no matter how you get there (including the nonstop JFK-AKL), but minimal connections/stops get you there as quickly as possible. I am a very firm believer in "just get me there"...it's going to be a long trip no matter what, so I would rather not make it even longer by stopping off somewhere. To each their own, of course, and each person has their own opinion (that you probably won't really know until you actually do it). 

 

As far as airlines go, if you're flying economy, they're all largely the same. Air New Zealand and Qantas have solid economy options, slightly above of Delta, United and American (all three of whom fly between the US and Auckland). So you have a lot of choices. I would look at pricing, preferred airline/alliance, and what schedule you think works best. You mentioned Hawaii, and Hawaiian Airlines is a fine choice via HNL...but I personally would plop myself on that JFK-AKL nonstop (either ANZ or Qantas) and just get it the heck over with. 

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

Let me add one other option for you to consider.

 

Fiji Airways has a program where you can get a free stopover in Nadi at no additional cost for the air.  This is good for stops of up to 72 hours.  With this program, you get the stopover without disturbing the through fare from the USA to AKL.

 

Now, you are responsible for your own hotel, meals and other costs, but it would be another nice place to visit along the way, especially if you have never been there before.  There are some very nice hotels in the Denarau Island area to the west of the airport, with easy transportation to/from the airport and hotels.  And 72 hours gives you time to do either sightseeing or beach or both.

 

https://www.fijiairways.com/en-us/book/fiji-stopover/

 

The nice thing here is that you get the stopover without disturbing the fare.  If you spend a couple days in Hawaii, you can end up booking separate tickets for each segment, thus at a higher cost.

 

 

 

[the mice]

4 hours ago, pmjnh said:

Thank you for your input, especially the one ticket..our flights have always been either domestic or easy  non-stops to/from  Europe. Flying to NZ is new to us and a bit daunting but I think I have a handle now on what we need to do.

Happy to help.  

The only way to not have a single ticket would be if you have an overnight stay between flights, but depending on the time of year that you go, even that has some risk. 

For example, we flew in October from NY to Vancouver and stayed overnight to meet friends.  We flew to Australia the next day on a separate ticket, but both flights were on Air Canada. Not sure that would have helped if there were problems. Luckily no weather issues impacted either flight but it could have hsppened. 

Since you are flying from the east coast, and most people go to NZ in what is our winter, you have to take that into consideration.  If you are flying to take a cruise, do plan to arrive a few days early.  Auckland has lots to see and do. 

 

Good luck with your planning. Go and enjoy NZ - wonderful places to see. 

[SelectSys]

On 12/17/2023 at 9:14 AM, Gardyloo said:

Why Oslo?  Because for the time being it's among the cheapest places in the world from which to begin or end RTW trips.

Thanks for this tip.  I have been playing with Oneworld's trip planner to find a RTW ticket and I like your idea of embedding some US domestic travel as part of the overall trip as well as initiating the trip outside the US. 

 

Do you know of other locations to try above and beyond Oslo?  Thanks in advance for any help on this subject.

[Gardyloo]

14 hours ago, SelectSys said:

Thanks for this tip.  I have been playing with Oneworld's trip planner to find a RTW ticket and I like your idea of embedding some US domestic travel as part of the overall trip as well as initiating the trip outside the US. 

 

Do you know of other locations to try above and beyond Oslo?  Thanks in advance for any help on this subject.

For business class at present the lowest base prices (in USD) are mainly to be found in trips originating in Japan, Norway, Namibia, Algeria and Pakistan.  There are cases where people have been able to ticket Oneworld business class RTWs at good prices from Egypt, but not all the Oneworld members will issue ex-CAI tickets at present.  

 

Remember these are for base prices; country- and airport-specific taxes, as well as carrier-imposed surcharges, can make a big difference in the bottom line, so generalizing is not terribly reliable.  

[SelectSys]

16 minutes ago, Gardyloo said:

mainly to be found in trips originating in Japan, Norway, Namibia, Algeria and Pakistan. 

Thanks so much!.  I started punching in various departure countries into the Oneworld tool.  The tool will list base prices at the outset of a planning session.  I did note that a small reduction is possible for starting in Canada as opposed to the US.  Central and South America are worse.

 

19 minutes ago, Gardyloo said:

Remember these are for base prices; country- and airport-specific taxes, as well as carrier-imposed surcharges, can make a big difference in the bottom line, so generalizing is not terribly reliable.  

I noticed that as well.  It seemed anecdotally that Australia and New Zealand have high fees.  London Heathrow and maybe BA are best avoided as well.

 

Thanks again!  There is really lots to think about.  I guess once you are done planning, the tool ships the itinerary off to the airline for ticketing.  I am not sure if it's best to do this or simply call the airline directly once you actually have a planned trip.

 

BTW - It's a good thing Oneworld calls their planning tool a "beta."  It is super finicky and really doesn't work all that well.  It really takes effort to get a valid route with actual flights assigned.  

[Gardyloo]

13 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

Thanks so much!.  I started punching in various departure countries into the Oneworld tool.  The tool will list base prices at the outset of a planning session.  I did note that a small reduction is possible for starting in Canada as opposed to the US.  Central and South America are worse.

 

I noticed that as well.  It seemed anecdotally that Australia and New Zealand have high fees.  London Heathrow and maybe BA are best avoided as well.

 

Thanks again!  There is really lots to think about.  I guess once you are done planning, the tool ships the itinerary off to the airline for ticketing.  I am not sure if it's best to do this or simply call the airline directly once you actually have a planned trip.

 

BTW - It's a good thing Oneworld calls their planning tool a "beta."  It is super finicky and really doesn't work all that well.  It really takes effort to get a valid route with actual flights assigned.  

Oneworld's RTW tool has been in "beta" (more like alpha-minus) for over a decade.  It's really hopeless; if you get to the actual purchase phase it'll likely freeze or tell you that flights are unavailable (when they actually are.)  The gold standard is the American Airlines RTW desk - 1-800-247-3247 - who can book RTW tickets efficiently and quickly.  As a rule, AA wants at least one over-water segment in the RTW to be on AA metal or booked with an AA codeshare flight number.  

 

It's easiest to pull off when you know all the answers first.  A subscription to Expert Flyer is very useful in this regard.  EF can tell you which flights have availability in the RTW ticket booking classes (L for economy, D for business and A for first class RTWs) so if you contact the RTW desk and have a complete listing of flights by date, while knowing that there are seats in the proper fare bucket for that flight, the RTW desk people can book the ticket badda bing.  They'll send off to their rates desk for final pricing; that usually takes less than 24 hours, then you phone with a credit card and the e-ticket comes back pronto.  Piece of cake.  

 

Oh, meant to add, the Canadian v. US pricing difference isn't to be sneezed at - for a 4-continent business class RTW the base price ex-Canada is over US$3000 less than the US price. Well worth a hop up to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.  

Edited December 21, 2023 by Gardyloo

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, Gardyloo said:

For business class at present the lowest base prices (in USD) are mainly to be found in trips originating in Japan, Norway, Namibia, Algeria and Pakistan.

 

And as I always do, as CC's resident Namibian, I urge everyone check out Namibia 🙂

 

To be fair, though, all those countries are awesome. 

[Gardyloo]

19 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

And as I always do, as CC's resident Namibian, I urge everyone check out Namibia 🙂

 

To be fair, though, all those countries are awesome. 

Unfortunately for Oneworld RTWs the point is moot for the time being as no Oneworld carrier serves WDH since Comair (South African affiliate of BA) went tango during Covid.  

[Zach1213]

5 minutes ago, Gardyloo said:

Unfortunately for Oneworld RTWs the point is moot for the time being as no Oneworld carrier serves WDH since Comair (South African affiliate of BA) went tango during Covid.  

Ah I forgot that Qatar was (apparently) discontinuing WDH. It was 3x weekly year round, then it looked like they were discontinuing Nov23 - Apr24, but now it looks like they may not be coming back at all 😞

[SelectSys]

4 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

Oneworld's RTW tool has been in "beta" (more like alpha-minus) for over a decade.  It's really hopeless;

Wow!  I had no idea it had been that long.  It can't be a real priority as while constrained route planning/scheduling is a hard problem it at least is a well understood problem for the airlines.  Maybe they don't really want it to work...

 

4 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

The gold standard is the American Airlines RTW desk - 1-800-247-3247 - who can book RTW tickets efficiently and quickly

Okay

 

4 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

s a rule, AA wants at least one over-water segment in the RTW to be on AA metal or booked with an AA codeshare flight number.

Seems only fair for AA.  Fortunately, more and more flights seem to be codeshared these days.  

 

4 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

Canadian v. US pricing difference isn't to be sneezed at - for a 4-continent business class RTW the base price ex-Canada is over US$3000 less than the US price.

That is what I thought.  It really is a trade-off in terms of cost versus convenience.

 

Thanks again for all your help.  These tickets really look to be a good deal if you can plan ahead and have sufficient time/resources to travel. 

 

 

[Gardyloo]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

Thanks again for all your help.  These tickets really look to be a good deal if you can plan ahead and have sufficient time/resources to travel. 

Even better when you factor in the frequent flyer benefits, especially with premium cabin bonuses.  Lots of redeemable miles, elite FF status, etc.  

[oakridger]

On 12/18/2023 at 7:26 AM, FlyerTalker said:

Fiji Airways has a program where you can get a free stopover in Nadi at no additional cost for the air. 

 

I'm seriously considering Fiji Airways from SFO to Auckland as the flight timing and price looks good.  

Their business class reviews look positive. I just read this week that Fiji Airways is now partnered with TSA in the US so it will help a little at the departure at SFO. @FlyerTalker have you ever flown on them?

 

 I also looked at Air New Zealand and their business class seat arrangement just looks so "weird" to me that I discounted them for that reason.  The seats face the aisles so you can't look out the window easily. 🙁

 

 

~Nancy

 

[FlyerTalker]

17 minutes ago, oakridger said:

Their business class reviews look positive. I just read this week that Fiji Airways is now partnered with TSA in the US so it will help a little at the departure at SFO. @FlyerTalker have you ever flown on them?

 

 

Flew FJ business from NAN to SFO earlier this year on their A350 aircraft.  Seats are the Collins Super Diamond, which are widely used in the business class world.  Service was quite good - nothing earth shattering but a good experience.  Fiji business lounge at NAN was comfortable with decent food and drink.  Seats may be different on other aircraft - check what is being used.

 

They aren't in the class of Qatar or Singapore or Cathay, but a definite solid choice.  Be sure to check out the specifics of their oneWorld affiliate status....not full OW, but you do get FF credits.

 

If staying in Fiji, I can endorse the Sheraton Fiji on Denarau Island.  Great staff and a solid property.  And relatively close to the airport, for easy transfers.

 

 

[oakridger]

2 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

They aren't in the class of Qatar or Singapore or Cathay, but a definite solid choice.

 

Your comments probably made my decision, thanks!  I don't expect Singapore quality, but the Fiji prices aren't Singapore prices either!  😁

 

~Nancy

[DCThunder]

I'm looking to book flights going the other way (Sydney back to East Coast USA) as I'll get to Oz via a Trans-Pac cruise.  I've looked at Asiana (Sydney to Seoul to SFO or LAX), Fiji, and Philippines Air (via Manila) as well as Qantas/American, and United.

 

Has anyone done the SYD-DFW flight on Qantas and is 15 hours (even in business) as bad as It appears to be? 

[aungrl]

7 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I'm looking to book flights going the other way (Sydney back to East Coast USA) as I'll get to Oz via a Trans-Pac cruise.  I've looked at Asiana (Sydney to Seoul to SFO or LAX), Fiji, and Philippines Air (via Manila) as well as Qantas/American, and United.

 

Has anyone done the SYD-DFW flight on Qantas and is 15 hours (even in business) as bad as It appears to be? 

I've done the SYD-DFW flight on Qantas, continuing on to DCA on American, more than once.  Everyone's experience will differ, but FWIW, I found it to be perfectly pleasant/acceptable in business class.  I think it really depends on your tolerance for that length of non-stop flying, which you can't really know until you do it.

[Dididi]

OP, I'm sharing our experience because we flew from Washington Dulles to Auckland in August in economy.  

 

Outbound we flew via San Francisco on United, with a long layover to visit family and take showers before the midnight flight to Auckland.  That one was almost 14 hours.  Economy.  I got an aisle and a window seat.  Fortunately for us, no one sat in the middle seat so we had extra room.  We felt asleep as soon as we boarded because it was 3am Eastern time.  So the flight was not bad.  Five hours after we landed, we were on the ferry to Waiheke Island for zip lining.

 

For the inbound flight, we flew Air New Zealand to Houston and tried the "Skycouch." It was less roomy than I envisioned but then again, I'm tall.  But it was confortable with its comforter/mattress pad, many pillows and adjustable footrests.  Meals were better than on United.  The connecting flight home was on United.  A three-hour layover to allow time for delays/passport control/picking up luggage.

 

We considered Air New Zealand's Chicago to Auckland flight, but the 16 hour duration seemed daunting to us.  Our original booking was IAD-LAX-NAN-AKL with the Fiji Airways segments in business class.  Because we decided to leave a day earlier, that option wasn't available with Alaska Airline miles.  We didn't consider stopping in Seoul, Taipei or Singapore because that would have added a LOT of more flight hours.  Flying via Honolulu would add a considerable number of hours to your journey too.

 

In sum, it was a better than we expected but those are very long flights.  Good luck!