United Brings Back Nonstop Service to Melbourne from San Francisco

G’day Melbourne: United is relaunching nonstop service from San Francisco (SFO) to Melbourne (MEL).

When the route restarts on June 2, 2022, United will be the only U.S. airline offering services between the 2 cities.

“We are thrilled to resume our San Francisco to Melbourne service and see a bright future ahead for United, for Melbourne, and for US-Australia travel,” said Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of International Network and Alliances at United.

Here are the details about United’s Pacific hop to Melbourne.

Table of Contents

San Francisco to Melbourne Is Back
Booking a Flight to Melbourne With United
Final Thoughts

San Francisco to Melbourne Is Back

Nonstop service between San Francisco and Melbourne is making a welcome return this summer as United’s fourth nonstop service between the U.S. and Australia.

The outbound flight will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while the inbound service back from Melbourne will depart on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with the following schedule:

Depart San Francisco (SFO) 10:45 p.m. — Arrive Melbourne (MEL) 7:30 a.m. (+2)
Depart Melbourne (MEL) 9:30 a.m. — Arrive San Francisco (SFO) 7:05 a.m.

As of October 27, 2022, United will up the frequency to a daily service in line with the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere, and flight times will be slightly different:

Depart San Francisco (SFO) 11:15 p.m. — Arrive Melbourne (MEL) 10 a.m. (+2)
Depart Melbourne (MEL) 1 p.m. — Arrive San Francisco (SFO) 8:35 a.m.

United Airlines' route map from SFO to MEL — United Airlines’ route map from SFO to MEL. Image Credit: Great Circle Mapper

United is putting its 2-class Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the route with 48 lie-flat seats in Polaris, 88 Economy Plus seats, and 116 seats in regular economy.

Booking a Flight to Melbourne With United

As it stands, the cheapest return economy fare we’re seeing is a hefty $1,938, while the cheapest Polaris business class fare starts at a cool $9,500!

This is an example of one of the rare times when doing a redemption to book an economy ticket would give you real value for your points.

You can expect to pay 40k United MileagePlus miles plus ~$20 in taxes and fees for a one-way ticket. As per Upgraded Points’ current miles valuations, 40k MileagePlus miles have a value of around $520, so booking this way would save you around $1,400.

For comparison, the lowest business class redemption you can expect to find would be 200k MileagePlus miles plus ~$20 in taxes and fees. That’s a total value of around $2,600 — a total saving on the cash price of around $7k.

Hot Tip: Want to go to Australia but would rather not spend the cash? No matter — there are many ways to earn a stack of United MileagePlus miles and be on your way “Down Under” quicker than you thought possible.

Final Thoughts

United is bringing back its nonstop service between San Francisco (SFO) and Melbourne (MEL) ready for travel this summer.

The cash fares for the ~15-hour hop are expensive, so be sure to check out the redemption options available to you before spending your hard-earned dollars.