FirstClassFlyer

Business and First Class fares to Australia always fly high. Los Angele’s Sydney averages $6,500 round-trip in Business Class, New York-Sydney $7,000, and getting that fare requires a 50-day advance purchase and a minimum stay of 10 days. Fail to fulfill either condition and you’re looking at fares $11,000 to $13,000. The lowest First Class fare is about $12,000 (14-day advance purchase).

Translation: It pays to use miles to upgrade to Australia.

The only problem is that the five major airlines—American, Delta, Qantas, United, and Virgin Australia—that offer non-stops from the U.S. release very few free award seats right now.

Sweet Redeems Survey: United First Class Upgrade

[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1811 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

Sure, one alternative is to fly lesser known airlines such as China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Fiji Airways, and Philippine Airlines, which offer Business Class fares starting as low as $4,000, but you pay in time, as each requires a stop in its home country.

A Better Solution

Go for an upgrade on United.

On its U.S.-Australia routes, it releases many more Business and First Class upgrade awards than free awards. (This is not true for the other four airlines, which FCF currently shows as having very little free award or upgrade space.)

Mileage Upgrades Pay Off in More Ways Than One

For Elite Status Seekers, they actually offset the cost of the upgrade, as you’ll see to the right and earn elite credit that free award tickets otherwise don’t. For business travelers whose company or client is paying for the economy ticket, it’s a chance of parole. For those short on miles, upgrades fit the budget as they cost roughly half of a free award.

Sweet Redeem Survey: United Business Class Upgrade From Coach

[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1812 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

United Upgrades to Australia Under the Microscope

A United upgrade to Australia requires 60,000 miles round-trip in Business and First, plus a $1,100 to $1,200 surcharge.

The carrier allows upgrades on all economy and Business Class fares. If you lack United miles, you can buy them from United or transfer points from Chase.

Sample Business Class savings: Los Angele’s Sydney in Business is normally $6,528 round-trip (50-day advance purchase). The lowest upgradeable economy fare is often $1,282. The upgrade costs $1,100 and 60,000 miles, but the flight earns 6,410 miles, meaning the net mileage costs is 53,590 miles.

Sample First Class savings: New York-Sydney in First Class is normally $11,942 round-trip (50-day advance purchase), and the lowest upgradeable Business Class fare is $6,528 (Z). The upgrade costs $1,200 and 60,000 miles, but the flight earns 32,640 miles, meaning the net mileage cost is only 28,000 miles—a bargain.

See charts below for more sample savings in Business and First on United when using miles for an upgrade.

Sample Savings When Using 60,000 United Miles to Upgrade to Business Class From Coach

[table_opt style="blue-header" id="1813 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

[aside headline="New Sweet Redeems Just Arrived: First Class Upgrades Between the U.S. and Australia With American" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]FCF research reveals mileage upgrade seats for First Class are readily available for American’s new route Los Angeles-Sydney.[/aside]

United’s Route Network to Australia and Beyond

North America: Gateway cities are San Francisco and Los Angele’s. United offers connecting flights from numerous U.S. and Canadian cities to both, and there is no additional mileage cost for the extra segments.

Travel beyond Melbourne and Sydney: Traveling to Auckland? You can still take advantage of the abundant upgrades from economy to Business Class on LAX-Sydney. Los Angele’s Auckland (via Sydney) in Business Class is $6,475 round-trip (50-day advance purchase). The lowest upgradeable economy fare is $1,805 (W fare) and the upgrade costs $1,100 and 60,000 miles. The Auckland flight (three hours) is on Air New Zealand, a United code share partner. The one downside is that there is no upgrade on partner flights.

Sample Savings When Using 60,000 United Miles to Upgrade to First Class from Business

[table_opt id="1814" style="blue-header" alignment="center" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="all"]

Most United fares to the South Pacific allow a stop-over in Sydney for $100 plus taxes. In the Auckland example, that brings the fare to $1,990, only $185 more to stop in a city frequently ranked as one of the world’s best.

United’s Seats

‍

All United Business Class seats are flat-beds. First Class has United’s Global First seats.

How to Book the United Mileage Upgrade

Log in to your United account; then for the upgrade to Business, select “Economy” as the cabin and go for the lowest fare. Under “How would you like your flight results displayed”, click on “Mileage Plus upgrade award”. On the next screen, “Choose flights for upgrades”, click on the flights you want to upgrade. If one is not available, you’ll see a message saying so below the flight listing. Once you get to the purchase page, buy the ticket or if you want more time to think, select “Fare Lock,” an option to hold the itinerary, including the upgrade, for up to seven days for a small fee.

[["Route","U.S. to<\/strong><\/span> Australia","#colspan#","Australia to<\/strong><\/span> U.S.","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","Handful<\/strong>","Hooray<\/strong>","Handful<\/strong>","Hooray<\/strong>"],["Los Angeles - Sydney","June","Aug. to May<\/span>","June","Aug. to May<\/span>"],["San Francisco - Sydney","June","Aug. to May<\/span>","June","Aug. to May<\/span>"]]

Handful: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 4 to 8 days during the months indicated in the chart. Worth pursuing if you’re flexible. Hopeful: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 9 to 12 days during the months indicated. Hooray: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 13 days or more during the months indicated. Months in black at least one seat available; in green at least four seats.

[["Route","U.S. to<\/strong><\/span> Australia","#colspan#","#colspan#","Australia to<\/strong><\/span> U.S.","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","Handful","Hopeful","Hooray","Handful","Hopeful","Hooray"],["Los Angeles - Melbourne","Nov.,\nFeb.","Sept.,\nMarch\nto May","Aug.","Nov.,\nDec.","Sept.,\nOct.,\nJan. to\nMay","Aug."],["Los Angeles - Sydney","Sept,\nNov.\nDec.,\nJune\nFeb.<\/span>","","Aug.,\nFeb.\nMarch\nto May<\/span>","Sept. to\nDec.,\nFeb.,\nJune","March<\/span>","Aug.,\nJan., April, May<\/span>"],["San Francisco - Sydney","Dec.,\nFeb.","Aug.","March\nto May<\/span>","March,\nApril","April<\/span>","May<\/span>"]]

Handful: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 4 to 8 days during the months indicated in the chart. Worth pursuing if you’re flexible. Hopeful: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 9 to 12 days during the months indicated. Hooray: Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 13 days or more during the months indicated. Months in black at least one seat available; in blue at least two seats; in green at least four seats.

[["Route","Coach Fares*","Total with Co-pay ($1,100+)","Lowest Advance Purchase Business Class Fare","Savings<\/strong>"],["Atlanta - Melbourne","$1,850 ","$2,950 ","$7,893 ","$4,943 \/ 63%<\/strong>"],["Chicago - Melbourne","$1,696 ","$2,796 ","$8,447 ","$5,651 \/ 67%<\/strong>"],["Dallas - Sydney","$1,702 ","$2,802 ","$8,042 ","$5,240 \/ 65%<\/strong>"],["Los Angeles - Melbourne","$1,485 ","$2,585 ","$7,516 ","$4,931 \/ 66%<\/strong>"],["Los Angeles - Sydney","$1,282 ","$2,382 ","$6,528 ","$4,246 \/ 64%<\/strong>"],["New York - Sydney","$1,792 ","$2,892 ","$7,528 ","$4,636 \/ 62%<\/strong>"],["San Francisco - Sydney","$1,691 ","$2,791 ","$7,527 ","$4,736 \/ 63%<\/strong>"]]

[["Route","Business\nClass\nFare","Total with\nCo-pay\n($1,200)","Lowest Advance\nPurchase First\nClass Fare","Savings<\/strong>"],["Atlanta -\nSydney","$7,527 ","$8,727 ","$12,320 ","$3,593 \/\n29%<\/strong>"],["Chicago -\nSydney","$6,297 ","$7,497 ","$12,922 ","$5,425 \/\n42%"],["Dallas - Sydney","$8,042 ","$9,242 ","$12,834 ","$3,592 \/\n39%<\/strong>"],["Los Angeles -\nSydney","$6,528 ","$7,728 ","$11,428 ","$3,700 \/\n32%<\/strong>"],["New York -\nSydney","$7,528 ","$8,728 ","$12,943 ","$4,215 \/\n33%<\/strong>"],["San Francisco -\nSydney","$7,527 ","$8,727 ","$12,427 ","$3,700 \/\n30%<\/strong>"],["Washington,\nDC - Sydney","$7,041 ","$8,241 ","$11,941 ","$3,700 \/\n31%<\/strong>"]]

How to Save Up to 67% on United Business and First Class Flights to Australia, South Pacific