Looking to get down to Australis from North America with points and miles? Know which program is most efficient to do so? Let’s chat.
Welcome to a new award series where we try to identify deals, steals, and everything else with points and miles. Our focus is an attempt to outline all the routings from North America to other destinations around the world. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try to book a flight because perhaps you just don’t know all the routes that can take you there. And depending on the award tool you use, you might not know other options exist.
On top of non-stop award options with each alliance (and sometimes non-alliance partners), we can also investigate logical one-stop routings. Here, “logical” means on the way. Sure, you can look at options that take you around the world, but that’s generally not too efficient with most programs these days.
We’ll start our series with checking out Australia. For this exercise, we’re assuming anywhere in Australia works as your starting point. Once you’re there, it’s simple enough to take a Qantas, Virgin Australia, or Jetstar flight to other cities.
Non-stop flights to Australia
For each table below, we’re going to highlight the best award price in each row (not considering the fuel surcharges) in bold. The results might surprise you. Some programs seem to have weird quirks where pricing might not be logical and the best program to use may vary by cabin and route.
One more note, we’re mostly limiting our award pricing results for airlines in the same alliance. Airlines partner with others outside of their own alliance, and award flights are generally possible, but for now we’re going to ignore this occurrence given how time-consuming the process is. We’d love to come back to this at some point in the future to add that pricing in. The one exception is using Air France / KLM Flying Blue miles for booking Qantas, which generally has better award rates than for its close partner Delta.
Non-stop oneworld alliance flights
First up are flights from oneworld partners Alaska Airlines (AS), American Airlines (AA), and Qantas (QF). American only currently operates two flights down to Sydney, while Alaska only operates via Honolulu (HNL). Qantas has plenty of flights, including the seasonal flight to Las Vegas (LAS).
Economy pricing
Generally speaking, Finnair has the best economy pricing between North America and Australia. That’s not always the case, as Finnair doesn’t price departures from Hawaii any cheaper than the rest of North America. There also seems to be a slight discount for flights on AA rather than Qantas. Perhaps that’s an indication they know AA isn’t as premium as Qantas?
Also, Air France sneaks in with the best economy pricing for the shorter flight out of Honolulu. Not expecting that one, right?
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Alaska Airlines | American Airlines | British Airways | Cathay Pacific | Finnair | Iberia | JAL | Qantas | Qatar Airways | Air France / KLM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | DFW | BNE | 42,500 | 40,000 (when Saver) | 40,000 | 47,000 | 38,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | N/A |
| AA | LAX | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 (when Saver) | 40,000 | 40,000 | 38,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | N/A |
| AS | HNL | SYD | 20,000 (when Saver) | 37,500 | 28,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 37,000 | 43,500 | 25,750 | N/A |
| QF | YVR | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 47,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 42,000 |
| QF | SFO | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 40,000 |
| QF | HNL | SYD | 37,500 | 37,500 | 28,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 28,500 | 37,000 | 36,200 | 25,750 | 27,500 |
| QF | LAX | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 40,500 |
| QF | LAX | MEL | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 47,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 43,000 |
| QF | LAX | BNE | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 38,500 |
| QF | LAS | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 47,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 41,500 |
| QF | DFW | SYD | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 47,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 46,500 |
| QF | DFW | MEL | 42,500 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 47,000 | 40,000 | 57,000 | 45,000 | 48,200 | 51,500 | 48,500 |
Premium economy pricing
Alaska currently doesn’t have premium economy on its own planes but ironically it’s the better program to use for premium economy awards. Additionally, Finnair doesn’t seem to have access to premium economy awards while Iberia seems to block all premium Qantas awards. We didn’t find any AA awards bookable by Iberia in premium economy, but it should be possible.
Again, Air France does well with the shorter flight from Honolulu.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Alaska Airlines | American Airlines | British Airways | Cathay Pacific | Finnair | Iberia | JAL | Qantas | Qatar Airways | Air France / KLM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | DFW | BNE | 55,000 | 65,000 (when Saver) | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | ??? | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | N/A |
| AA | LAX | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 (when Saver) | 80,500 | 55,000 | N/A | ??? | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | N/A |
| AS | HNL | SYD | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| QF | YVR | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 65,500 |
| QF | SFO | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 55,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 63,000 |
| QF | HNL | SYD | 50,000 | 50,000 | 57,000 | 55,000 | N/A | N/A | 46,000 | 73,800 | 51,500 | 43,000 |
| QF | LAX | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 55,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 63,500 |
| QF | LAX | MEL | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 67,000 |
| QF | LAX | BNE | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 55,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | ??? |
| QF | LAS | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 65,500 |
| QF | DFW | SYD | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | 72,500 |
| QF | DFW | MEL | 55,000 | 65,000 | 80,500 | 80,000 | N/A | N/A | 59,000 | 97,600 | 103,000 | ??? |
Business class pricing
Moving over to business class, it’s JAL’s turn to shine. The program tends to have favorable rates that match or slightly do better than AA’s pricing. Thus, if you don’t have AA miles, booking via JAL isn’t a bad option. Again, we weren’t able to find any AA saver award space that Iberia could book.
Air France has unique pricing for each route, but for the development of the table below, I couldn’t find pricing on Flying Blue’s website for some routes.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Alaska Airlines | American Airlines | British Airways | Cathay Pacific | Finnair | Iberia | JAL | Qantas | Qatar Airways | Air France / KLM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | DFW | BNE | 85,000 | 80,000 (when Saver) | 170,000 | 120,000 | 90,000 | ??? | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | N/A |
| AA | LAX | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 (when Saver) | 170,000 | 93,000 | 90,000 | ??? | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | N/A |
| AS | HNL | SYD | 60,000 (when Saver) | 65,000 | 85,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 60,000 | 108,000 | 77,250 | N/A |
| QF | YVR | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | 140,000 |
| QF | SFO | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 93,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | 153,500 |
| QF | HNL | SYD | 75,000 | 65,000 | 85,000 | 93,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 60,000 | 98,400 | 77,250 | 91,500 |
| QF | LAX | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 93,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | ??? |
| QF | LAX | MEL | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | ??? |
| QF | LAX | BNE | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 93,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | ??? |
| QF | LAS | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | 149,000 |
| QF | DFW | SYD | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | ??? |
| QF | DFW | MEL | 85,000 | 80,000 | 170,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 130,100 | 154,500 | ??? |
First class pricing
Fly Qantas and you can still fly in first class. Though AA is dropping the first class cabin, its AAdvantage program is the one to use for the mythical first class award. If you’re looking for these awards, look for routes in the next few weeks and generally awards departing Australia seem more plentiful, though still scarce. Don’t expect more than 1 seat per flight to be bookable with awards. And Air France doesn’t seem able to book Qantas first class.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Alaska Airlines | American Airlines | British Airways | Cathay Pacific | Finnair | Iberia | JAL | Qantas | Qatar Airways | Air France / KLM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | DFW | BNE | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| AA | LAX | SYD | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| AS | HNL | SYD | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| QF | YVR | SYD | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | SFO | SYD | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 135,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | HNL | SYD | 110,000 | 90,000 | ??? | 135,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 147,700 | 103,000 | N/A |
| QF | LAX | SYD | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 135,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | LAX | MEL | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | LAX | BNE | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 135,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | LAS | SYD | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | DFW | SYD | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
| QF | DFW | MEL | 130,000 | 110,000 | 227,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | N/A | 120,000 | 195,400 | 206,000 | N/A |
Non-stop Star Alliance flights
Both Air Canada (AC) and United Airlines (UA) make the journey from North America down to Australia for Star Alliance. Air Canada only has flights to Australia via Vancouver (YVR), while United’s flights are from San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), and Houston (IAH). While Copa Airlines also exists in North America (based in Panama), it doesn’t fly to Australia.
Economy pricing
There tends to be plenty of economy award space, which makes it simple enough to compile this list. United operates a flight down to Adelaide (ADL) but we didn’t find any Saver economy seats on the route. What might be surprising is exactly how high economy pricing is on Star Alliance carriers to Australia. Your best bet is using ANA, but that must be booked as a roundtrip. If you want better one-way pricing, stick to Lufthansa Miles & More or the oddball Avianca pricing for YVR to Brisbane (BNE).
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air Canada | ANA | Avianca | Copa | EVA Air | Lufthansa Miles & More | Singapore | TAP | Thai | Turkish | United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC | YVR | BNE | From 40,000 | 37,500 | 40,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 60,500 |
| AC | YVR | SYD | From 40,000 | 37,500 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 60,500 |
| UA | SFO | ADL | From 50,000 | 37,500 | ??? | ??? | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | SFO | BNE | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 55,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | SFO | SYD | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 55,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | LAX | SYD | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 55,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | IAH | SYD | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | LAX | MEL | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
| UA | SFO | MEL | From 50,000 | 37,500 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 42,500 | 69,500 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 100,000 | 55,000 (when Saver) |
Premium economy pricing
Most Star Alliance programs do not have pricing for the premium economy cabin. If you do want to book it, ANA has decent rates but, again, you’ll need to book as a roundtrip. United has the best pricing of Star Alliance carriers, but with amounts floored at 70,000, it’s still cheaper to stick to oneworld carriers. Air Canada is a bit of an anomaly on the other end. Pricing should be lower, but with flights on both Air Canada and United dynamically priced, it’s the cheapest price I found on my searches.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air Canada | ANA | Avianca | Copa | EVA Air | Lufthansa Miles & More | Singapore | TAP | Thai | Turkish | United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC | YVR | BNE | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | ??? |
| AC | YVR | SYD | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | ??? |
| UA | SFO | ADL | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | SFO | BNE | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | SFO | SYD | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | LAX | SYD | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | IAH | SYD | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | LAX | MEL | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
| UA | SFO | MEL | From 159,000 | 72,500 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 135,000 | N/A | From 70,000 |
Business class pricing
There is no first class cabin with Star Alliance to Australia, so business is the best you’ll get. Of the options, Lufthansa Miles & More has the theoretical best price. It’s even better than what oneworld airlines charge. Surprised? Just look at how high the other airlines charge and you’ll see just how uncompetitive pricing is. But emphasis needs to be placed on the word “theoretical” because we didn’t find any award flights a whole year out.
Instead, your best option might be United, which offers occasional pricing at 100,000 miles for cardholders. Air Canada might not be far behind, but all the routes we saw with the 102,500 price were connections with only a short leg in business class.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air Canada | ANA | Avianca | Copa | EVA Air | Lufthansa Miles & More | Singapore | TAP | Thai | Turkish | United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC | YVR | BNE | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | ??? |
| AC | YVR | SYD | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | ??? |
| UA | SFO | ADL | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | ??? | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | SFO | BNE | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | SFO | SYD | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | LAX | SYD | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | IAH | SYD | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | LAX | MEL | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
| UA | SFO | MEL | From 102,500 | 123,000 | ??? | 180,000 | 97,500 | 75,000 | 161,500 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 205,000 | From 100,000 |
Non-stop SkyTeam flights
Currently, SkyTeam has the biggest void with flights down to Australia, with only Delta (DL) operating flights. While Aeromexico (AM) also exists in North America, the airline doesn’t fly that far south. All of Delta’s flights to Australia operate out of Los Angeles (LAX). Delta does not operate a true first class cabin, thus those awards are irrelevant.
Further shortening the list of award programs you can use to book Delta flights, Aeromexico partner awards are only bookable via phone. And with how few saver awards Delta releases these days, it’s hard to use any partner miles to come down here. We’re limiting ourselves to just the main loyalty programs you likely have access to.
One final caveat on the rates below: Delta has a 15% discount if you have certain Delta-branded credit cards. That discount does not exist in the award pricing below. Sadly, with Delta SkyMiles using dynamic pricing for its own flights, we can just generalize the pricing.
Economy pricing
Delta not only has better pricing in economy on its own flights, the pricing is actually competitive across any alliance. So much for Delta SkyMiles getting a bad rap for value, right? If you want better value, consider the route to Brisbane (BNE) over Sydney (SYD) or Melbourne (MEL).
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air France / KLM | Delta | Korean Air | SAS | Virgin Atlantic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL | LAX | SYD | 48,500 | From 41,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 65,500 |
| DL | LAX | MEL | 51,500 | From 40,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 65,500 |
| DL | LAX | BNE | 46,500 | From 39,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 65,500 |
Premium economy pricing
With Air France / KLM pricing as it is for the one route we found between LAX and SYD, it very well may be the lowest pricing for all routes. However, with no award space to confirm, the default winner goes to SAS. Still, the dirty secret is that Air France has access to more availability with Qantas and it costs fewer miles too. Pricing within SkyTeam is better than how Star Alliance treats the cabin, but that’s not saying much.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air France / KLM | Delta | Korean Air | SAS | Virgin Atlantic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL | LAX | SYD | 63,500 | From 110,000 | N/A | 67,500 | 115,000 |
| DL | LAX | MEL | ??? | From 110,000 | N/A | 67,500 | 115,000 |
| DL | LAX | BNE | ??? | From 88,000 | N/A | 67,500 | 115,000 |
Business class pricing
Interested in business class? Well, the theoretical winner is SAS, with awards that should only cost 90,000 miles each way. But, like with the premium economy section, Delta just doesn’t release much space to partners. If you want to fly Delta, you’re going to have to stick to what Delta releases to its own members. If you do that, don’t fly to Sydney, which appears to have an inflated price. Fly to either Melbourne or Brisbane, book in advance for more availability, and you’ll save yourself some miles.
Or, better yet, fly with another alliance, like oneworld. Award pricing and availability is much better there.
| Airline | Origin | Destination | Air France / KLM | Delta | Korean Air | SAS | Virgin Atlantic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL | LAX | SYD | ??? | From 335,000 | 92,500 | 90,000 | 165,000 |
| DL | LAX | MEL | 171,000 | From 245,000 | 92,500 | 90,000 | 165,000 |
| DL | LAX | BNE | ??? | From 235,000 | 92,500 | 90,000 | 165,000 |
Non-stop non-alliance flights
None! There is no airline not in an alliance that flies between North America and Australia.
One-stop flights that are logically along the way
We’re not going to include round-the-world routings that exist, like U.S. to Europe to Australia. Instead, we’re going to focus on routings that we’re going to consider to be “in logic”:
- Via Oceania (New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti)
- Via South East Asia (Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong S.A.R.)
Additionally, it can get messy to list out every single route with each airline alliance as above. Thus, we’re going to stick to generalizations on award pricing and availability.
Routes via Oceania
If you thought it was tough to find award space going down to Australia directly, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening if you look at the rest of Oceania. Routes include the following:
- Via New Zealand
- IAH – AKL on Air New Zealand
- JFK – AKL on Air New Zealand
- LAX – AKL on Air New Zealand
- SFO – AKL on Air New Zealand
- YVR – AKL on Air New Zealand
- DFW – AKL on American Airlines (seasonal)
- LAX – AKL on American Airlines (seasonal)
- JFK – AKL on Qantas
- SFO – AKL on United Airlines
- SFO – CHC on United Airlines
- Via Fiji
- DFW – NAN on Fiji Airways
- HNL – NAN on Fiji Airways
- LAX – NAN on Fiji Airways
- SFO – NAN on Fiji Airways
- YVR – NAN on Fiji Airways
- Via Tahiti
- LAX – PPT on Air France
- LAX – PPT on Air Tahiti Nui
- HNL – PPT on Alaska / Hawaiian
- SFO – PPT on French Bee
- SFO – PPT on United Airlines
Right off the bat, flying in economy should be doable with any program, with pricing comparable to what it takes to go down to Australia. But, the problem is that premium cabins on any of these routes will be hard to come by. You could do what we did with United to Tahiti and hope for better award pricing to turn up right before the flight. But it’s a gamble. Consider any premium award space to open up, especially to New Zealand, to be a “unicorn”.
Some programs might let you add in a stopover (such as Air Canada), which can be fun if it works out. If you make it to Fiji or New Zealand, you should have decent options on Qantas or Virgin Australia to take you the rest of the way. It might be a little tougher from Tahiti given you’re only halfway across the ocean.
Via South East Asia
This is the more reliable way to get to Australia from North America, which is via South East Asia. For definition purposes, we’re going to include anything Hong Kong and further south (but exclude Mainland China).
- Via Hong Kong, S.A.R.
- YVR – HKG on Air Canada
- BOS – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- DFW – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- JFK – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- LAX – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- ORD – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- SEA – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- SFO – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- YVR – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- YYZ – HKG on Cathay Pacific
- LAX – HKG on Delta Air Lines
- YVR – HKG on Hong Kong Airlines
- LAX – HKG on United Airlines
- SFO – HKG on United Airlines
- Via The Philippines
- YVR – MNL on Air Canada
- LAX – MNL on Delta Air Lines
- HNL – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- JFK – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- LAX – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- ORD – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- SEA – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- SFO – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- YVR – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- YYZ – MNL on Philippine Airlines
- SFO – MNL on United Airlines
- Via Singapore
- YVR – SIN on Air Canada
- EWR – SIN on Singapore Airlines
- JFK – SIN on Singapore Airlines
- LAX – SIN on Singapore Airlines
- SEA – SIN on Singapore Airlines
- SFO – SIN on Singapore Airlines
- SFO – SIN on United Airlines
- Via Thailand
- YVR – BKK on Air Canada
- Via Vietnam
- SFO – SGN on Vietnam Airlines
First off, there are a lot of flights that transit Hong Kong, which can unlock more options with awards via oneworld partner Cathay Pacific. But to get the most availability, you’ll want to use miles from Cathay’s own program. If you’re strictly looking at award pricing for the leg from HKG to Australia, expect to pay 20,000 miles for economy, 38,000 for premium economy, 58,000 for business, and 90,000 for first.
Manila is less out-of-the-way than Hong Kong is, and now that you can book Philippine Airlines flights with programs like Alaska, it might open up more opportunities. But Philippine Airlines is also known for cheap cash prices, so check what the price is before committing to using miles. On the MNL to Australia leg, you’ll pay 30,000 Alaska miles for economy and 60,000 for business, but it’s more efficient if book the entire journey from North America to Australia in one go.
Singapore Airlines has a large hub at Singapore and has a focus on premium cabins. However, with all the devaluations over the years, pricing isn’t great. Flights to Western Australia cost 60,500 KrisFlyer miles, 103,500 in business, and 178,500 in first. If you can find awards with a partner like Air Canada, you’ll save some miles. But generally you can’t book premium cabins using partner miles.
Flying via Bangkok, Thailand is only going to help if you’re coming in from Canada or making the drive from Seattle to Vancouver. Thai Airways does operate flights out of Bangkok, but don’t use their miles. Instead, use Air Canada or United to book those flights.
Booking Vietnam Airlines using Air France / KLM miles is decent, but it’s not the best if you’re looking to connect. Vietnam has rather strict rules for connections and who needs visas, so unless you’re looking to stop off in Vietnam to spend time there, we wouldn’t recommend it as a layover.
With all of the above destinations, if you’re building out your own stopover, consider using oneworld programs to fly Qantas. It’ll be cheapest to use AA miles (30,000 miles in economy, 35,000 in premium economy, 40,000 in business, 50,000 in first).
What about other connections?
Other popular connections include via The Middle East (on Emirates or Qatar), via Europe (on British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa), or via North Asia (on JAL or ANA). If you’re connecting via the United States, it’s going to be inefficient with pricing and your time to travel around the world to get here.
Award pricing is generally not efficient getting here through The Middle East or Europe given the distance you’ll travel. North Asia isn’t too bad, especially if you use AA miles to book JAL, which is the same price as from South East Asia except for an extra 10,000 miles for first class.
Do you have plans to get to Australia?
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