Australia is an undeniably far-flung destination for Americans. The continent is located at least 14 hours by nonstop flight from the contiguous U.S. (excluding Hawaii). But its remoteness is no doubt part of what compels many travelers to head there in the first place.
Known for its awe-inspiring nature and rich indigenous culture, Australia is one of the top tourist destinations on the planet. But, flying to Australia can be a huge logistical undertaking, especially if you don’t know where to start planning your trip.
Although using points and miles can reduce the cost of flights, you’ll definitely want to save up for business or first class if you can, simply due to the grueling nature of these ultra-long-haul flights.
Today, we’ll present the top ways to fly to Australia with points and miles, especially in premium cabin redemptions. Because some airlines are notorious for not releasing any seats for award bookings to Australia, we’ll integrate award availability into our rankings.
Nonstop Routes Between North America and Australia
Since Australia is one of the most difficult destinations to access, particularly from the U.S. and Europe, there are going to be fewer routes you can take.
There are a total of 7 airlines that operate nonstop flights from the U.S. (including Hawaii) to Australia. These are:
- Air Canada
- Vancouver (YVR) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
- American Airlines
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- Delta Air Lines
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- Jetstar Airways
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- Qantas
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Sydney (SYD)
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
- United Airlines
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Melbourne (MEL)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
In all, there are 10 routes with nonstop service to Australia from North America.
Hot Tip: Nonstop from New York (JFK) to Sydney (SYD)? Qantas has just ordered the A350-1000 for what will be the world’s longest flight starting in 2025.
Best Programs for Booking Flights
Generally speaking, award availability, especially in business/first class is extremely difficult to find. More than ever, the importance of flexibility and being open to positioning flights can’t be overstated.
If you are flexible, you should be able to book at least a solid lie-flat business class seat to Australia using points and miles with minimal cash outlay — let’s take a look at the best ways to do so.
All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
United Airlines’ lie-flat business class, though not the true Polaris product, can be found on numerous flights to Australia. Image Credit: United Airlines
Our top choice for flying to Australia is using All Nippon Airways’s loyalty program, ANA Mileage Club. It consistently gets rave reviews, whether it’s the amazing redemption prices or its variety of partners.
Although it’s a relatively complex program, there’s so much value to be had when redeeming ANA miles for flights to Australia. ANA offers excellent redemption rates with tons of sweet spots and an awesome stopover/open-jaw allowance. And, making it even better, there are loads of ways to earn ANA miles.
ANA has 2 main award charts:
With All Nippon Airways, you can only redeem for round-trip tickets — one-way tickets are not allowed. If you can avoid booking one-way tickets, ANA offers some excellent business class pricing. Here’s the partner award chart for round-trip tickets:
| Class of Service |
ANA Mileage Cost |
| Economy |
75,000 |
| Business |
120,000 |
| First |
225,000 |
The 2 main carriers offering nonstop flights that you’ll want to book to Australia using ANA miles are:
- Air Canada
- Vancouver (YVR) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
- United Airlines
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Melbourne (MEL)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
In general, Air Canada has a reputation for offering a superior premium cabin product. However, other things can factor into your decision, such as proximity to the departing airport, willingness to connect in Canada, and more.
Total taxes and fees will usually run you at around $10 to $50 for United Airlines and Air Canada, which is great.
The seats on these United Polaris-equipped flights are usually arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. Although all the seats are 100% lie-flat, not all of them have direct aisle access, and the seats aren’t as private as the true Polaris business class. Currently, there are no United Airlines routes to Australia that feature the true Polaris business class.
Air Canada’s product consists of reverse herringbone seats in a clean, airy cabin. If possible, we’d recommend you book Air Canada’s business class product over United’s in this scenario.
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Round-trip in United Airlines business class for 120,000 ANA miles + $40 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Round-trip in United Airlines economy for 75,000 ANA miles + $40 in taxes and fees
- San Francisco (SFO) – Melbourne (MEL); Sydney (SYD) – San Francisco (SFO)
- With an open-jaw in Melbourne in United Airlines business class for 120,000 ANA miles + $40 in taxes and fees
- Vancouver (YVR) – Melbourne (MEL); Brisbane (BNE) – Vancouver (YVR)
- With an open-jaw in Melbourne in Air Canada business class for 120,000 ANA miles + $40 in taxes and fees
To book any of these itineraries, follow these steps:
- Go to ANA’s homepage.
- Click ANA Mileage Club on the top-right side of the homepage.
- Find the Flight Awards section on the left side of the page. Click International, and then Award Reservation.
- Log in using your ANA Mileage Club account number and password.
- Type in your route pairing, travel dates, number of passengers, cabin class, and then click Search.
- Transfer your points to ANA. You might have luck holding awards when calling 800-235-9262, but this is the exception rather than the norm.
- After the points are deposited into your account, confirm your reservation by paying for taxes and fees.
Earning ANA Mileage Club Miles
As we mentioned above, earning ANA miles is super easy. ANA is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy, so there are many options for earning credit card points and transferring them to ANA.
Amex transfers at a 1:1 ratio, whereas Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points transferred.
There can be a bit of a delay when transferring to ANA. Amex usually takes around 3 business days to process transfers, while Marriott Bonvoy takes around 7 business days.
Recommended American Express Cards (Personal)
Business Owner? Check out our article on the best Amex business cards that earn Membership Rewards.
Bottom Line: ANA provides access to 2 carriers that operate nonstop flights to Australia, Air Canada and United Airlines, and offers attractive redemption rates, particularly in business class.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Enjoy a nice meal (or 2) on your journey to Australia in Qantas first class. Image Credit: Qantas
One of the best ways to book nonstop flights to Australia is to redeem Alaska Airlines miles. Although Alaska itself doesn’t operate flights to Australia, it has some great partnerships that can be instrumental in economically getting you to Australia in style, 2 of which are particularly noteworthy for nonstop flights to Australia:
- American Airlines
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- Qantas
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Sydney (SYD)
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
Qantas is the flag carrier of Australia, but we’ll be the first to mention that travelers usually have a love-hate relationship with the airline.
Qantas first class is one of the most aspirational products out there. With such a tight grip on award inventory, booking Qantas first class is very elusive, which likely contributes to the intense interest surrounding the product.
Here’s the award chart for the 2 airlines for one-way flights between the U.S. and Australia:
| Cabin Class |
Alaska Miles Cost for Qantas Flights |
Alaska Miles Cost for American Airlines Flights |
| Economy |
42,500 |
40,000 |
| Premium Economy |
47,500 |
N/A |
| Business |
55,000 |
80,000 |
| First |
70,000 |
110,000 |
As you can see, Alaska Airlines redemptions for Qantas business or first class are incredibly lucrative. If you couple this with the stopover allowance on one-way flights, there’s simply too much value to pass up.
There is 1 massive catch, however: Qantas is extremely stingy with award availability. It has gotten to a point where most of the time, you won’t see award space on any of the nonstop routes for the entire year. It’s almost as if booking Qantas is impossible.
You wouldn’t be wrong in most cases. Periodically, Qantas will dump an obscene amount of inventory in business/first class into the system. This is typically done for flights in January through March.
Other than that, you’re going to have a very difficult time nabbing these flights. If you do, however, you won’t be disappointed — Qantas makes an appearance on our rankings of the best international first class airlines in the world.
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Sydney (SYD) – Perth (PER)
- One-way in Qantas first class for 70,000 Alaska miles + ~$26 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Brisbane (BNE) – Darwin (DRW)
- One-way in Qantas business class for 55,000 Alaska miles + ~$26 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL) – Alice Springs (ASP)
- One-way in Qantas first class for 70,000 Alaska miles + ~$26 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD) – Hobart (HBA)
- One-way in Qantas first class for 70,000 Alaska miles + ~$26 in taxes and fees
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD) – Cairns (CNS)
- One-way in Qantas business class for 55,000 Alaska miles + ~$26 in taxes and fees
The process for booking Qantas and American Airlines flights using Alaska miles is easy:
- Go to Alaska Airlines’ website.
- Sign in using your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Number and Password.
- Search for your route pairing, dates, and number of passengers on the homepage (check off the box that says Use Miles).
- Select your flight and click Add To Cart.
- Complete your booking by paying with miles and for any taxes and fees using a credit card.
Earning Alaska Airlines Miles
Alaska Airlines’ only transfer partner is Marriott Bonvoy. The transfer ratio is 3:1 with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred. Transfers usually take around 2 business days to complete.
There are also several different ways to earn Alaska miles, including opening the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card or buying Alaska Airlines miles when there’s a big sale.
The biggest sales have featured a 60% bonus on all purchased miles, which is a big deal. This can effectively get you a Qantas first class flight, which typically retails for $15,000+, for only $1,000 to $2,000!
Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards
Bottom Line: Redeeming Alaska Airlines miles for Qantas or American Airlines flights is a great way to fly to Australia, as long as you can find award availability.
United Airlines MileagePlus
Hawaiian Airlines business class on its Airbus A330-300. Image Credit: Hawaiian Airlines
Award flights booked through United Airlines MileagePlus are priced dynamically.
Here’s the approximate award chart for one-way flights between North America and Australia:
| Cabin Class |
United Miles Cost for United Flights |
United Miles Cost for Air Canada Flights |
United Miles Cost for Hawaiian Airlines Flights |
| Economy |
40,000 to 100,000 |
44,000 |
38,500 |
| Business |
80,000 to 200,000 |
99,000 |
60,000 |
| First |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Using United miles rarely represents the absolute best value for your points. However, using MileagePlus to book your awards has the following benefits:
- Miles are easy to earn, particularly for Chase loyalists
- Easy booking process
- No fuel surcharges on most flights
- Star Alliance network of routes
There are 3 airlines on which you can book nonstop flights to Australia:
- Air Canada
- Vancouver (YVR) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- United Airlines
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Melbourne (MEL)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
- Honolulu (HNL) – Brisbane (BNE)
- One-way in Hawaiian Airlines first/business class for 60,000 United miles + ~$65 in taxes and fees
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Hawaiian Airlines economy class for 38,500 United miles + ~$65 in taxes and fees
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in United Airlines business class from 80,000 United miles (saver award) + ~$6 in taxes and fees
- Vancouver (YVR) – Melbourne (MEL)
- One-way in Air Canada business class for 99,000 United miles + ~$6 in taxes and fees
To book using United miles, follow these simple steps:
- Visit United Airlines’ homepage.
- On the homepage, there’s a search box. Type in the city pairs, travel dates, number of travelers, and cabin class you’re booking.
- Click Find flights.
- Log in using your MileagePlus Number and Password.
- Locate your flights, and pay with miles. Pay for taxes and fees using any credit card to finish confirming your reservation.
Earning United MileagePlus Miles
There are so many different ways to earn United miles. The primary way is going to be transferring from Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Marriott Bonvoy.
Bilt Rewards points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 ratio instantly, while Marriott Bonvoy points transfer within 2 business days at a 3:1.1 ratio with a 5,500-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
You can also use Chase’s co-branded United credit cards to earn United miles directly.
Hot Tip: Want to earn loads of Chase points fast? Check out our in-depth guide now!
Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)
Business Owner? Read our article on the best Chase business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards.
Avianca LifeMiles
Air Canada Signature Class. Image credit: Air Canada
Avianca is a Star Alliance airline with plenty of transfer partners, and its frequent flyer program is called LifeMiles. Using LifeMiles is attractive due to the reasonable redemption rates and the plentiful ways to earn LifeMiles.
With LifeMiles, you’ll enjoy instant mileage transfers, lots of transfer partners, no fuel surcharges, and an easy online booking process.
There are several great ways to redeem Avianca LifeMiles for maximum value, and this is definitely one of them. Here’s the award chart for one-way flights from North America to Australia:
| Class of Service |
Avianca LifeMiles Cost |
Fees |
| Economy |
40,000 |
~$61 |
| Business |
80,000 |
~$61 |
The 2 airlines you’ll want to book flights on are:
- Air Canada
- Vancouver (YVR) – Brisbane (BNE)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Vancouver (YVR) – Sydney (SYD)
- United Airlines
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Melbourne (MEL)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
Here are some great examples of redemptions:
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- One-way in United business class for 80,000 LifeMiles + ~$31 in taxes and fees
- San Francisco (SFO) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in United economy for 40,000 LifeMiles + $31 in taxes and fees
- Vancouver (YVR) – Melbourne (MEL), Sydney (SYD), or Brisbane (BNE)
- One-way in Air Canada business class for 80,000 LifeMiles + $31 in taxes and fees
Once you’ve solidified your travel plans, here’s how you can book your flight using Avianca LifeMiles:
- Go to the LifeMiles website.
- Click the flag icon in the top-right corner and choose English.
- Click Log in at the top-right side of the page.
- Enter your LifeMiles number and password.
- Click Fly at the top banner to search flights.
- Enter your route pairing, number of passengers, and cabin class. Click Find Flights.
- Click your flight date(s).
- Find your flights and pay with LifeMiles and for any taxes and fees using a credit card.
Earning Avianca LifeMiles
As we mentioned above, LifeMiles has transfer partnerships with a number of transferable currencies: American Express Membership Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Amex, Brex, Capital One, and Citi points transfer at a 1:1 ratio instantly, while Marriott Bonvoy points transfer in around 1 to 2 business days at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Amex and Citi have both offered transfer bonuses of up to 35% in the past, so be sure to hold out for transfers until you see one of these, if possible. Capital One’s transfer bonuses, when offered, have usually been around 20% to 25%.
You can also buy LifeMiles — Avianca is known to offer giant sales with up to a 200% bonus on purchased miles, so you’ll absolutely want to wait for the right time to buy LifeMiles.
Recommended Capital One Cards
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qantas Airbus A330 Business Class Window Seat 4K. Image Credit: Greg Stone
If your points budget is unlimited and you just want the highest probability of landing Qantas’ first or business class, the best way to accomplish this is by using Qantas’ own frequent flyer program: Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Qantas first class is arguably the greatest unicorn in points travel. In our guide covering when airlines release award seats, we outline why booking Qantas first class is much more probable using Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Chiefly, Qantas first and business class is easier to book for 2 reasons:
- Qantas releases award seats exclusive to Qantas Frequent Flyer members redeeming Qantas Frequent Flyer points
- Qantas’ schedule opens up 353 days in advance, compared to Alaska’s 330 days and AAdvantage’s 331 days, effectively giving you a 22- to 23-day head-start
If you’re wondering why Alaska miles are so hard to redeem for Qantas first class, it’s because all of the availability is gobbled up by Qantas members, 22 to 23 days in advance. By the time Alaska or American Airlines have access to this award space, all of the very few seats are already taken.
There are 3 airlines on which you can redeem Qantas points for nonstop flights to Australia:
- American Airlines
- Jetstar
- Qantas
Here’s the award chart for flights between Australia and the U.S.:
Qantas Classic Flight Reward Table (applicable for Qantas, Airnorth, Fiji Airways, Air Vanuatu, American Airlines, and Emirates)
|
| Zone |
One-Way Distance (in miles) |
Economy |
Premium Economy |
Business |
First |
| 1 |
0 to 600 |
8,000 |
13,800 |
18,400 |
27,600 |
| 2 |
601 to 1,200 |
12,000 |
20,600 |
27,600 |
41,500 |
| 3 |
1,201 to 2,400 |
18,000 |
31,000 |
41,500 |
62,200 |
| 4 |
2,401 to 3,600 |
20,300 |
42,200 |
57,000 |
85,500 |
| 5 |
3,601 to 4,800 |
25,200 |
51,300 |
68,400 |
102,600 |
| 6 |
4,801 to 5,800 |
31,500 |
61,500 |
82,000 |
123,100 |
| 7 |
5,801 to 7,000 |
37,600 |
71,100 |
94,900 |
142,300 |
| 8 |
7,001 to 8,400 |
41,900 |
81,300 |
108,400 |
162,800 |
| 9 |
8,401 to 9,600 |
51,200 |
94,900 |
126,500 |
189,800 |
| 10 |
9,601 to 15,000 |
55,200 |
108,400 |
144,600 |
216,900 |
Here’s the award chart for flights on Jetstar:
| Jetstar Classic Flight Reward Table (applicable for Jetstar, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, and Jetstar Pacific only) |
| Zone |
One-Way Distance (in miles) |
Economy |
Business |
| 1 |
0 to 600 |
6,400 |
13,800 |
| 2 |
601 to 1,200 |
9,600 |
20,600 |
| 3 |
1,201 to 2,400 |
14,400 |
31,000 |
| 4 |
2,401 to 3,600 |
18,000 |
42,200 |
| 5 |
3,601 to 4,800 |
21,500 |
51,300 |
| 6 |
4,801 to 5,800 |
26,000 |
61,500 |
| 7 |
5,801 to 7,000 |
32,000 |
71,100 |
| 8 |
7,001 to 8,400 |
35,600 |
81,300 |
| 9 |
8,401 to 9,600 |
43,500 |
94,900 |
| 10 |
9,601 to 15,000 |
46,900 |
108,400 |
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Qantas business class for 82,000 Qantas points + ~$60 in taxes and fees
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Jetstar economy for 26,000 Qantas points + ~$60 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- One-way in Qantas first class for 162,800 Qantas points + ~$60 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Qantas first class for 162,800 Qantas points + ~$60 in taxes and fees
Again, you’d really only want to use Qantas points if you desperately need award availability to show up, at the expense of paying more points. Follow these steps to book your flight online:
- Visit Qantas’ website.
- In the top-right corner, log into your account using your Qantas Frequent Flyer number, last name, and PIN number.
- In the flight search box, enter your city and date pairings, number of passengers, and click the button that says Use points.
- Click Search flights.
- Click the date(s) that works for you.
- Select your flights and click Continue.
- Pay using points and for any taxes/fees using a credit card.
Earning Qantas Frequent Flyer Points
There are numerous ways to earn Qantas points. If you’d like to transfer points, Qantas has transfer relationships with American Express Membership Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Amex, Brex, Capital One, and Citi points transfer at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Amex transfers almost instantly to Qantas, Brex takes up to 1 business day, Capital One takes around 36 hours, and Citi takes around 2 business days. Marriott Bonvoy takes the longest at around 6 business days.
Recommended Citi Cards
Bottom Line: Qantas Frequent Flyer offers 1 advantage: more award availability. Using this method can dramatically increase your chances of booking Qantas first/business class. However, you’re going to pay more points.
American Airlines AAdvantage
American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Business Class cabin. Image Credit: Stephen Au
Our second-to-last method to book nonstop flights to Australia is by using American Airlines AAdvantage. American miles are great for booking flights on these airlines:
- American Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Qantas
Here’s the award chart for one-way flights from the U.S. to Australia:
| Cabin Class |
AAdvantage Miles Cost for AA Flights |
AAdvantage Miles Cost for Qantas Flights |
AAdvantage Miles Cost for Hawaiian Airlines Flights |
| Economy |
40,000 to 90,000 |
40,000 |
37,500 |
| Premium Economy |
65,000 to 155,000 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Business |
80,000 to 195,000 |
80,000 |
65,000 |
| First |
110,000 to 260,000 |
110,000 |
90,000 |
Here are some great example routes you can take:
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Qantas business class for 80,000 AAdvantage miles + ~$40 in taxes and fees
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Hawaiian Airlines business/first class for 65,000 AAdvantage miles + ~$20 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Brisbane (BNE)
- One-way in Qantas business class for 80,000 AAdvantage miles + ~$40 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in American Airlines Flagship First Class from 110,000 AAdvantage miles (saver availability) + ~$11 in taxes and fees
To book your AAdvantage award, follow these steps:
- Perform an award search using Alaska Airlines’ search engine (method outlined in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan section). For Hawaiian Airlines, you may need to use a search tool such as ExpertFlyer.
- Call AAdvantage at 800-433-7300 and tell them your flight numbers, dates, number of passengers, and class of service.
- Pay using AAdvantage miles and a credit card for the taxes and fees to ticket your reservation.
Earning American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
Earning American Airlines AAdvantage miles is easy. Whether it’s using the Citi or Barclays co-branded AAdvantage credit cards or transferring from Marriott Bonvoy or Bilt Rewards, there are plenty of ways to earn AA miles quickly.
Marriott Bonvoy is a 3:1 transfer partner with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred. Transfers from Marriott Bonvoy take around 2 business days to complete. Bilt Rewards is a 1:1 transfer partner, and transfers from Bilt take around 1 business day.
Bottom Line: Using AAdvantage miles is an excellent way to book nonstop flights to Australia. Whether it’s for flights with American Airlines, Qantas, or Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll definitely find a great way to use AA miles.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Delta One Suites on the Airbus A350. Image Credit: Stephen Au
Virgin Atlantic has partnerships with 2 important airlines:
- Delta Air Lines
- Hawaiian Airlines
Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program, known as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, has been ruthlessly devalued in the context of long-haul Delta flights.
There are still tons of ways to redeem Virgin Points for maximum value, but this redemption falls to the bottom of our list.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club prices out awards with different award charts for each partner. Therefore, the same flights on different carriers will inevitably cost different amounts of Virgin Points.
For Delta Air Lines redemptions, you can follow this award chart for one-way flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD):
| Cabin Class |
Virgin Points Cost |
Taxes and Fees |
| Economy |
45,000 |
$5.60 |
| Business |
165,000 |
$5.60 |
Fortunately, Delta Air Lines’ sole Australia route (Los Angeles to Sydney) features Delta One Suites, the airline’s best business class product. In fact, Delta One Suites is at the top of our list of best international business class products, so you know you’re in for a treat. It boasts sliding doors, excellent food, comfortable bedding, and fully lie-flat seats.
Best of all, taxes and fees are minimal, which will reduce your out-of-pocket cost.
Of the 2 partners listed above, Delta has better award availability, in addition to offering a fantastic business class product. You’ll definitely need to be flexible, but that flexibility can really pay off.
Award availability is best in advance, but seats often open up after the holiday season or if there’s a lot less demand than expected.
Finally, Virgin Atlantic is partners with Hawaiian Airlines, which can be useful for those based in the Hawaiian Islands. Here’s the award chart for one-way Hawaiian Airlines flights:
| Cabin Class |
Virgin Points Cost |
Taxes and Fees |
| Economy |
40,000 |
~$65 |
| First/Business |
65,000 |
~$65 |
This pricing is decent, especially if you’re already planning on flying out of Hawaii. All the seats are lie-flat, though not all of them have direct aisle access. Nevertheless, for a ~10-hour flight, 65,000 miles in business is a decent deal.
Let’s put all of this together and show you some great example redemptions you can make:
- Honolulu (HNL) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Hawaiian Airlines business/first class for 65,000 Virgin Points + ~$65 in taxes and fees
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Sydney (SYD)
- One-way in Delta One Suites for 165,000 Virgin Points + $5.60 in taxes and fees
Once you’ve decided on which flight you want to take, follow these steps to book your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award flight online:
- Visit Virgin Atlantic’s homepage.
- Change the region by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Click the globe icon at the bottom of the page that says United States – English. Change it to United Kingdom – English.
- Once redirected to the new page, type in your flight details into the top banner of the homepage. Enter in your departure and destination cities, flight type, number of passengers, and travel dates.
- Click the button that says Advanced Search towards the bottom-right of the banner. Click Miles and select Upper Class to search for business class award space.
- Click the arrow to perform the search. If there’s no award availability, scroll down and select Show flights for Within 5 weeks. Redo the search.
- You may need to play around with dates to find availability. Once located, click Next Step.
- Although transferring points to Virgin Atlantic is normally instant, you can also request 5-day award holds by calling Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500.
- Log into your Flying Club account.
- Complete your booking by paying the miles and paying for taxes and fees.
Booking Delta awards is completely doable online. However, you may need to call to book Hawaiian Airlines flights if there’s no online award availability showing up.
Hot Tip: Want to monitor flight award availability without checking every day? Read our ExpertFlyer guide to learn how to set up automatic flight alerts for your desired cabin and flight!
Earning Virgin Points
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is transfer partners with American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. As you can probably imagine, there are tons of ways to earn Virgin Points.
American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer instantaneously at a 1:1 ratio.
Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio, usually within 1 business day. Also, when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll earn a 5,000-mile bonus to Virgin Atlantic, resulting in a total of 25,000 miles.
Best of all, American Express and Citi are both known for offering generous transfer bonuses ranging from 15% to 35%. This means you could get a huge bonus by timing your transfers properly. A 35% transfer bonus means you could get 165,000 Virgin Points by transferring just 123,000 points!
Final Thoughts
There are so many different ways to fly to Australia using points and miles, but we’ve focused primarily on the best ways to book nonstop flights. With a number of nonstop routes offering great inflight products, there’s no reason to book a connecting flight! When you book nonstop flights, you can arrive well-rested and ready to hit the ground running exploring Australia. Happy travels!
The information regarding the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, click here.
