United Business Class, Up to 8 Seats
If you're looking for a trip to Australia or New Zealand in the next few months, United has some business class award space for up to 8 people.
As is often the case with United, connecting space can be tough within the US so you might have to book a separate positioning flight.
Shout out to Thrifty Traveler for flagging the SFO routes.
Now, let's get into it!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: IAH/LAX/SFO-AKL/SYD
Operating airline: United
Class of service: Business class
Dates: November - December 2023
Seats available: 2 (Up to 8)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan:
- LAX/SFO: 75,000 points
- IAH: 87,500 points
- *ANA Mileage Club: 120,000 miles (round-trip only)
- *Asiana Club: 82,500 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles:
- LAX: 80,000 miles
- IAH: 85,500 miles
- *EVA Air Infinity MileageLands: 97,500 miles
- *Lufthansa Miles & More: 71,000 miles
- *Singapore KrisFlyer: 130,000 miles
- *Turkish Miles&Smiles: 75,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 100,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- From US: ~$44
- From AKL: ~$46
- From SYD: $76
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- ANA : Amex, Marriott
- Asiana: Marriott
- Avianca: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Air: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore: Amex, Chase, Citi, Cap One, Marriott
- Turkish: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- United : Bilt, Chase, Marriott
- Virgin: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Current airline transfer bonuses
Let me know if you book!
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Flight Experience
On these routes, the business class cabin will be arranged in a 1-2-1 layout so each seat will have direct aisle access and is lie-flat. Personally, I prefer United's food and beverage offering in their Polaris Lounges to the inflight options so I'd make time for a meal.
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Available Dates
SFO-AKL
October: 31
November: 7, 14, 28, 30
December: 5, 7
AKL-SFO
November: 6, 13, 20, 23
December: 2, 4, 7, 25
SFO-SYD
October: 30
November: 6, 7, 13, 14, 20-23, 25, 28
December: 5, 30
SYD-SFO
October: 4, 17, 31
November: 1, 18, 14, 15
December: 25, 26
January: 23, 24
LAX-SYD
November: 22
SYD-LAX
November: 7, 14
LAX-AKL
October: 30
December: 4, 5, 7, 11
November: 13
AKL-LAX
November: 1, 8
February: 7
SYD-IAH
October: 31
November: 7, 14
December: 12, 26
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Best Ways To Book
ANA Mileage Club: Best Round-trip Rate, Slow Amex Transfer
While you can only transfer Amex points to ANA, 120,000 miles is an excellent round-trip rate. Please keep in mind that transfers can take a few days to process. Award space may be gone by then.
Avianca LifeMiles: Great Capital One Option with 15% Transfer Bonus
With Capital One's 15% transfer bonus, you'll only need to transfer 70,000 miles to get the necessary 80,000 LifeMiles for a flight to/from the west coast. To IAH, you'd need to transfer 75,000 Capital One Miles.
You can also transfer Amex and Citi points.
Please note that connections in economy can reduce the award rate by just a bit (see image below).
Reminder: You need to run your search on the LifeMiles site NOT Avianca's.
Turkish Miles&Smiles: Great One-way Option with a Connection
With Bilt, Capital One, or Citi points, Turkish is a great option at 75,000 miles one-way. While Virgin's nonstop rate is better, you can include United connections when booking with Turkish.
The downside is Turkish's online search often doesn't show partner space so probably have to call to book. On the plus side, they will hold space for you while you transfer points.
Aeroplan: Great Option with a Connection
Aeroplan is a solid option if you have Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Chase points - especially if you're including a connection to LAX or SFO but not exceeding 7,500 total flight miles. Yes, I know, that's a bit granular.
Please note: Amex has been having issues with transfers to Aeroplan.
If you exceed 7,500 flight miles, the rate will jump from 75,000 points to 87,500 points for a one-way award ticket.
Keep in mind that connections could increase the Aeroplan rate. You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart. You can also include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles on a one-way award.
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How To Book
If you're not sure what dates you want, you can use United to search:
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Select nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Run the search
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
If you want to book with Turkish miles, call 800-874-8875 to put the ticket on hold before transferring points. They'll hold the award space for up to two days, though transfers shouldn't take that long.
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Final Thoughts
I know Australia and New Zealand are high on the list for many of you. If you're up for a trip in the next couple of months, this is a great way to get a non-stop from the US to New Zealand.
If you can't find connecting space to Australia, check LATAM's fifth freedom between Auckland & Sydney. You can often find a solid cash fare on the route.
Happy Booking!
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