Number of points/miles for NZ1 vs NZ38

[shearsense]

Folks,

i know that the number of points actually acquired for a particular flight may vary slightly when comparing Great Circle Mappers vs number of miles listed in airline timetable and databases, but looking at LHR to AKL and there are two vastly different options with NZ going opposite ways around the globe. NZ1 goes via LAX But the *A timetable lists them as covering the same distance. Leaving aside the earning rates for different booking classes, does anybody have any ideas or experience as to what miles actually post for the two different routings?

IF they do earn the same miles, under the idea that it is minimum distance between the origin and destination, not the actual route flown, than this may have some implications for round the world itineraries and total points covered, yes? Or at least some implications on whether a sector with the same flight number, but a stop within it, being booked as a single sector or as two sectors (think the OneWorld equivalent where it makes sense to book Australia to Europe as two sectors via an Asian hub, even when the flight number does not change)

 

[serfty]

GDS's are pretty simply - NZ1 goes from AKL to LAX and AKL-LHR.

Most point earning/zone/burning calculations are based on "Great Circle Distance", aka "As the Crow Flies".

So if booking NZ1 AKL-LHR, 'tis the same distance as NZ38.

Great Circle Mapper

 

[shearsense]

Most point earning/zone/burning calculations are based on "Great Circle Distance", aka "As the Crow Flies".

Even if the crow actually flies in completely the opposite direction?

So in reality it is impossible to get more points for a flight than half the globe's circumference because the points will always be calculated the shortest possible route. I can't think of any flights (including multiple segments with a single flight number) that exceed this distance of ca 20000 km. NZ1 is about 19250 km.

Trivial but interesting discussion concerning ultra-long haul flights.

 

[SeaWolf]

How they post depends on the crediting airline. I'll give you two examples that I've done.
I post my *A miles to Asiana club.
I flew SIN-MUC-MAN on SQ328. This credited to my account as SIN-MAN, which was less miles than SIN-MUC-MAN.
I flew BKK-NRT-SFO on UA838. This credited to my account as BKK-NRT and NRT-SFO, which was more miles than BKK-SFO.

Unfortunately I've never done it with NZ so I'm not sure how they handle it.

 

[shearsense]

How they post depends on the crediting airline. I'll give you two examples that I've done.

Curiouser and curiouser. So sometimes points credited not as the crow flies - even flying backwards