United Business Class to Australia, Up to 9 Seats
If you're looking for a trip to Australia in the next several months, United has some business class award space for up to 9 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.
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Now, let's get into it!
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Straight To The Points
Routes: LAX/SFO-MEL, IAH/LAX/SFO-SYD, LAX/SFO-BNE
Operating airline: United
Class of service: Business class
Dates: December 2023 - March 2024
Seats available: Up to 9
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: 80,000 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: ~$20
- From SYD: ~$75
Aeroplan and LifeMiles have partner booking fees.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- 20% Chase transfer bonus
- 10% Chase transfer bonus with Aeroplan Card
- ANA : Amex, Marriott
- Asiana: Marriott
- LifeMiles: Amex, Bilt, 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
If you need more points, check out this month's best card offers!
Bookmark our Current Airline Transfer Bonuses page!
Let me know if you book!
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LAX-MEL
December: 28-30
January: N/A
February: 20, 27
March: 19
MEL-LAX
December: 21-27
January: 12, 16, 18, 26
February: 9, 12, 15, 16, 29
March: 9, 16, 19, 23, 26
SFO-MEL
December: 29, 31
January: 1, 2, 4, 5, 30
February: 25
March: 11, 18, 25
MEL-SFO
December: 21-28, 30
January: 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 25, 26
February: 1, 3, 7-10, 12-17, 20-23, 27, 29
March: 1, 7, 13, 15, 19
LAX-BNE
December: 22, 24, 27, 29, 31
January: 3, 5, 10, 17, 19, 24, 26
BNE-LAX
December: 22, 24, 26, 29
January: 16, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28
February: 4, 6, 11, 13,16
SFO-BNE
December: 24, 25, 28, 31
January: 3, 6
February: 29
March: 2, 9, 31
April: 7, 14, 28
BNE-SFO
December: 21-23, 25-27, 29
January: 12, 15, 16. 19-23, 26, 28, 30
February: 4, 6-8, 11, 13-15
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IAH-SYD
December: 24
January: N/A
February: 22, 25, 27
March: 2, 9
SYD-IAH
December: 23, 25-27, 29, 30
January: 16-18, 30
February: 6-8, 12-15, 21
March: 11
LAX-SYD
December: 30
SYD-LAX
December: 23, 24, 28
January: 12, 16, 18, 19, 24, 25
February: 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 20
SFO-SYD
December: 30
January: 1, 2, 5, 29, 30
February: 6, 13, 18, 20, 22, 25, 29
March: 18, 24, 25
SYD-SFO
December: 22-27, 29
January: 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 30
February: 4-9, 11-16, 22, 29
March: 7, 14
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Awayz: Special Offer For STTP Premium Members
With Awayz, you can search for hotel award availability across a variety of hotel programs with an easy to use monthly calendar feature. This can be particularly useful when trying to secure a room at holes that are tough to book with points.
STTP Premium members can get $50 off the first year. Promo ends 12/31/23.
Sign up here.
Use code:
STRAIGHTTOTHEPOINTSMEM
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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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Best Ways To Book
ANA: 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.
Aeroplan: Best One-Way With Chase Points Or From West Coast
Aeroplan is a great 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.
With Chase's 20% transfer bonus, you can get a truly amazing deal. Plus, you can also get a 10% bonus when transferring 50,000+ Chase points.
- LAX/SFO: 63,000 Chase points
- With Aeroplan Card: 59,000 Chase points
- IAH: 73,000 Chase points
- With Aeroplan Card: 69,000 Chase points
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.
Turkish: Great One-Way Option
With Bilt, Capital One, or Citi points, Turkish is a great option at 75,000 miles one-way. Turkish will hold space for you while you transfer points. However, I was able to see space with their online Star Alliance search which is a nice change of pace.
LifeMiles: Solid One-Way Option From Houston
If you have Amex or Bilt points, 80,000 LifeMiles is your best option from Houston since Aeroplan's rate is 87,500 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.
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Book Luxury Hotels With Perks
Book with perks such as room upgrades, daily breakfast, and a $100 property credit via our self-service booking portal. If you want to book a Four Seasons or Rosewood property, you can submit a request here.
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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 is high on the list for many of you. If you're up for a trip in the next several months, this is a great way to fly to Australia.
Happy Booking!
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