Air Canada Business Class to Australia for 4+ People
As soon as Australia announced plans to open up to travel this spring, I started looking for award space. Unsurprisingly, I didn't see any big chunks of dates.
However, that changed today while poking around for award space to Australia. What, that's not how you relax on Sunday afternoons?
While I was hoping to find some space that connected in Asia, I was stoked to find award space on a flight from North America. More specifically, a non-stop from Vancouver (or direct from Toronto).
I may have just booked this.
So, let's get into it so you can book and get back to your Super Bowl parties!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: YVR-SYD (nonstop); YYZ-SYD (direct)
Operating airline: Air Canada
Class of service: Business class
Dates: May - December 2022
Seats available: 4+ (plenty with 8)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan: From 80,200 miles
- *ANA Mileage Club: 120,000 miles (round-trip only)
- *Asiana Club: 82,500 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 80,000 miles
- *EVA Infinity MileageLands: 97,500 miles
- *Miles & More: 71,000 miles
- *Singapore KrisFlyer: 130,000 miles
- *Turkish Miles&Smiles: 75,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 99,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: ~$81
- Round-trip: ~$164
Aeroplan and LifeMiles have a partner booking fee.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, Brex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Amex, Brex, Chase, Citi, Cap One, Marriott
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- United MileagePlus: Chase, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation/redeposit and change fees required before booking with a particular program.
Travel Restrictions and Requirements
Travel restrictions change by the day. Please take a look at the US embassy site for your destination. Here's a link to the US Embassy site for Australia.
Flight Experience
Air Canada operates a Boeing 777-200LR on this route. The business class cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout. That means each seat will be lie-flat and have direct aisle access.
While I wouldn't expect a Qsuites-like experience, you can feel confident that the crew will be friendly and the catering will be solid.
If you want to check out Air Canada's Signature Suite, I'll show you how below.
You might have noticed I mentioned a nonstop from YVR and a direct flight from YYZ. The flight from YYZ picks up passengers at YVR on the way to SYD. One of those rare circumstances in which a flight is direct but not nonstop.
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Available Dates
You can find at least 4 seats on the non-stop from YVR or direct flight from YYZ. I was seeing many dates with space for 8 as well.
YVR-SYD
May: 13, 20, 25, 29-31
June: 1, 2, 4-15, 17-30
July: 1-4, 6-14, 18-21, 23-32
August: 1, 2, 4-11, 13-16, 18-25, 27, 31
September: 3-8, 11-14, 17-22, 24-27, 29
October: 1-5, 8-13, 15, 16, 18-20, 22-27, 29-31
November: 1-3, 5-10, 12-17, 19-30
December: 1, 3-8, 10-15
YVR-SYD
May: 6, 8, 11, 13-15, 20, 22, 26, 31
June: 1-3, 5-17, 19-21, 23-30
July: 1, 3-31
August: 1-10, 12, 14-31
September: 1, 2, 4-16, 18-30
October: 1-31
November: 1-18, 20-25, 28-30
December: 1-16
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Best Ways To Book
ANA Mileage Club is the best option at 120,000 miles round-trip if you're looking to use as few points and miles as possible. However, transfers from Amex can take 2-3 days to process so please keep in mind that award space could disappear while you wait.
Aeroplan and LifeMiles are roughly the same at 80,200 points and 80,000 miles, respectively. They both partner with Amex, and Capital One while Aeroplan also partners with Bilt and Chase and LifeMiles also partners with Brex and Citi. LifeMiles is also running a 145% bonus when you buy 51,000+ miles (~1.35 cents per point).
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.
If you have any Priority Reward vouchers from Air Canada status, you could use one to get 50% off your award. If booking multiple people, you'd need additional vouchers.
While I know most of you don't earn a ton of Citi points, 75,000 Turkish miles is another great one-way option and you can call to put an award on hold while you transfer points.
Don't forget, if there's award space on United, you can include a connection from your home airport.
Bonus
While all Air Canada business class award tickets will have lounge access, if you book a flexible reward with Aeroplan points (~12k more points), you will get access to their Signature Suite lounge at YVR or YYZ.
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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
- Show flights from "Star Alliance airlines"
- 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, I'd suggest calling (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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Bottom Line
If Australia opens up this year as planned, this presents a great opportunity to book a business class trip. Considering the fact that Australia is one of the most-requested destinations for Premium members, I have a feeling a few of you will be excited to book this one.
Happy Booking!
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