Best Ways to Fly to Australia with Points and Miles

Australia is high on every traveler’s bucket list. And it’s hardly a wonder why—world-class beaches, tropical rainforests, the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback and more make Australia a dream come true for all travelers alike.

Yet, while Australia has much to offer, the one thing it doesn’t is proximity to other continents. A trip to Australia from the United States is a long journey whatever way you cut it, and cash prices for flights typically run high. That’s where leveraging your points and miles can score you low-priced award fares to take you to the Land Down Under and back, while minimizing your out-of-pocket costs.

Let’s take a look at the best ways to get to Australia using points.

Qantas Frequent Flyer

There’s nothing more fitting than flying to Australia on its very own flag carrier, Qantas Airways. Luckily, Qantas Frequent Flyer has some lucrative award rates on its own flights as well as on Oneworld partner airlines, such as American Airlines.

With Qantas, you can fly the following routes nonstop from the U.S. and Canada to Australia:

• Dallas (DFW) to Sydney (SYD)
• Dallas to Melbourne (MEL)
• Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney
• Los Angeles (LAX) to Brisbane (BNE)
• Los Angeles to Melbourne
• Los Angeles to Sydney
• San Francisco (SFO) to Sydney
• Vancouver (YVR) to Sydney

This gives you a wide range of choice when it comes to booking flights to Australia.

Qantas offers two types of award flights: Classic Flight Rewards and Classic Plus Flight Rewards.

Classic Flight Rewards are priced using a distance-based award chart and are available for both Qantas- and partner-operated award flights. Conversely, Classic Plus Flight Rewards use dynamic pricing and are available for Qantas-operated flights exclusively.

While Classic Plus Flight Rewards have greater availability, Class Flight Rewards give you the opportunity to squeeze more value out of your points.

For it’s Classic Flight Rewards on Qantas-operated flights, the following award rates apply:

That means you could fly from Honolulu to Sydney for just 31,500 points in economy class or 82,000 points in business each way. You could also snag yourself a flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane for 41,900 points in economy or 108,400 points in business per direction. Alternatively, you fly from Dallas-Fort Worth to Sydney in economy for just 51,200 points each way.

It’s also possible to fly with Qantas’ subsidiary airline Jetstar from Honolulu to Sydney. Jetstar award fares booked through Qantas utilize a separate award chart, whereby you can fly from Honolulu to Sydney for just 26,000 points in economy or 62,500 points in business one way. If you can get yourself to Honolulu with an affordable positioning flight, flying with Jetstar offers immense value for your points.

While it can be more cost-effective to book Qantas award flights through partner airlines, booking directly with Qantas gives you the best chance of securing award space. Qantas releases more award availability to its members than its partners, so you’ll have the best chance of securing award fares—particularly business- and first-class fares—when booking directly with Qantas.

Likewise, you can book American Airlines flights to Australia through Qantas, enabling you to avoid American Airlines’ dynamic pricing, thanks to their joint membership in the Oneworld alliance. American Airlines flies nonstop to Sydney from Los Angeles, making it an option for those based on the West Coast.

You’ll typically get the best value by booking business- and first-class fares with American Airlines through Qantas as these are the fares that are affected most by dynamic pricing.

While American Airlines doesn’t have an award chart, it provides Saver award levels to give you a rough estimate of the minimum number of miles you can expect to pay for a flight. 

For an award flight from the U.S. to Australia, you can expect award tickets to start at:

• 35,000 miles for economy
• 60,000 miles for premium economy
• 95,000 miles for business or first

That said, as American Airlines uses dynamic pricing, you can find award fares that are both higher and lower than these rates.

For instance, below you can see an example fare from Los Angeles to Sydney at 40,000 miles in main cabin, 50,000 miles in premium economy and only 65,000 miles in business—significantly lower than what American Airlines’ award chart would suggest.

However, depending on the dates you select and award availability, you may also find that award rates are higher than the suggested rates. Below you can see an example of an award rate with American Airlines from Los Angeles to Sydney when booked directly with American Airlines.

In this case, for an economy fare, you’re better off booking directly with American Airlines, as it’ll cost you 35,000 miles each way compared to 50,300 points with Qantas. However, using Qantas’ Classic Flight Rewards chart, you could save 27,200 points by booking a premium economy award fare with American Airlines through Qantas instead.

The savings get even better for business and first class. In this instance, you’d save 114,100 points on a business award fare and 69,700 points on a first-class award fare by booking your American Airlines flight through Qantas.

So if you’re on the West Coast, compare the price of Qantas and American Airlines flights to find the best award rates possible.

How to Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points

Qantas Frequent Flyer points are easy to earn with a wide range of transfer partners.

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One Miles and Citi ThankYou Points to Qantas points at a 1:1 ratio. You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000 point bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

While you can’t fly with Alaska Airlines to Australia, you can book incredibly lucrative Oneworld alliance partner flights through its Mileage Plan rewards program.

When flying to Australia, your best options are booking Qantas and American Airlines award fares through Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

Alaska uses a zone- and distance-based partner award chart with flights from the U.S. to Australia falling into the “Asia Pacific” award chart. 

Here’s an overview of the rates you’ll pay:

These are some great rates, enabling you to fly for as cheap as 37,500 miles per direction in economy and 110,000 miles per direction in first class.

These rates also come in handy for those based in the Midwest or on the East Coast. For instance, a flight from Chicago or New York to Sydney comes to just 42,500 miles in economy class and 85,000 miles in business class per way.

That way, you can take advantage of American Airlines’ extensive route network for domestic connections while paying lower award rates through Alaska.

What’s even better is that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan enables you to add a free stopover on international award itineraries. To do this, the stopover needs to be at a hub airport of the airline you’re flying with.

By adding a free stopover to your itinerary, you could add a multi-day stop in a different country on your way to Australia. For example, you could fly with Fiji Airways from Los Angeles to Sydney with a stopover in Nadi, Fiji, for 37,500 miles in economy or for 75,000 miles in business class.

By leveraging Alaska’s free stopover policy, you could also fly with Cathay Pacific from Los Angeles to Sydney with a stopover in Hong Kong instead.

While Alaska restricts you to booking a maximum of one stopover on international itineraries, you can get around that by booking two one-way tickets, enabling you to add a stopover on the outbound and return journey. That way, you can see even more of the world on your trip Down Under.

How to Earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are somewhat trickier to earn, with Bilt being the only credit card issuer from which you can transfer your points. 

However, you can transfer Hawaiian Airlines miles to Alaska miles at a 1:1 ratio. Given that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to HawaiianMiles, this means that by extension you can transfer your Amex points to Alaska (via Hawaiian as an intermediary).

You also can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

If you want to earn more miles with Alaska, you could benefit from opening the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card or the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada Aeroplan is another solid option when flying to Australia.

While Air Canada does operate its own nonstop flights from Vancouver to Sydney and Brisbane, you’re better off leveraging its zone- and distance-based partner award charts to book business flights with United Airlines.

Here’s an overview of its partner award rates.

By booking United flights through Air Canada, you could redeem 60,000 Aeroplan points one way in economy, 87,500 points one way in business class or 130,000 points one way in first class. You’ll generally get the greatest value by booking United business-class fares through Air Canada.

You may save miles by booking United economy fares through Air Canada during high periods of demand. In the images below you can see that on one set of travel dates, you’ll pay 79,600 miles for an economy fare booked directly with United from Los Angeles to Sydney. 

However, if you can score a Saver Award, you could pay just 52,400 miles, saving you 7,600 miles compared to booking through Air Canada.

The real value comes from booking United business-class award fares through Air Canada. A business-class fare from Los Angeles to Sydney could cost you upward of 300,000 miles per way when booked through United, compared to just 87,500 Aeroplan points when booked through Air Canada. This equates to significant savings if you can find award availability.

Aeroplan also enables you to add a stopover to your itinerary for just 5,000 miles, allowing you to explore another city and/or country on your way to Australia.

How to Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Miles

Air Canada Aeroplan points are easy to earn. You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Capital One Miles and Bilt Points to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.

You also can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

If you’re open to a connection in Hong Kong, flying with Cathay Pacific to Australia can be extremely lucrative.

Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines that still use a distance-based award chart to price its own award flights. For flights from the U.S. to Australia with a connection in Hong Kong, you’ll pay the following rates:

Cathay Pacific is particularly useful if you’re based on the East Coast as most nonstop flights to Australia operate from the West Coast and Hawaii. You could fly one way from New York (JFK) to Sydney via Hong Kong (HKG) for just 38,000 miles in economy, 110,000 miles in business or 160,000 miles in first class.

Cathay Pacific can also be valuable when booking Oneworld alliance partner flights, such as Qantas, particularly for economy fares. You can score economy award flights with Qantas from the West Coast for just 40,000 miles each way.

These are some valuable award rates you can take advantage of when flying to Australia.

How to Earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific is a transfer partner of multiple credit card issuers, including American Express, Bilt, Capital One and Citi. You can transfer your points from these programs to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a 1:1 ratio.

It’s also an option to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points converted. 

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club

If you’re happy to have a connecting flight in Tokyo, booking an award fare with All Nippon Airways (ANA) can be significantly valuable.

ANA doesn’t allow you to book one-way award fares, but if you don’t mind booking a round-trip itinerary, you can score some competitively priced award fares.

ANA has an award chart for its own flights as well as a separate partner award chart. ANA’s own award chart prices fares based on zones and seasonality. The rate of the award fare will differ depending on whether you fly in low, regular or high season.

It’s important to know that for connecting flights, seasonality can differ for each leg of the journey, although the award fare will be based on the higher season of both legs. For instance, if your flight from New York to Tokyo was in regular season and your onward flight from Tokyo to Sydney was in low season, your award fare would be priced as if both flights were in regular season.

Here’s an overview of the roundtrip award rates on ANA-operated flights between North America (Zone 6) and Oceania (Zone 10):

You could fly round trip from the U.S. to Australia for 60,000 to 75,000 miles in economy and 210,000 to 260,000 miles in first class. It’s hard to beat these rates, especially considering the quality of ANA’s first-class product.

Flying with ANA also gives you the opportunity to fly from a wider variety of U.S. airports—as long as ANA flies from your airport to Tokyo, you can then fly onward to Australia. 

However, if you want to fly nonstop, you could book Air Canada and United flights through ANA Mileage Club at competitive rates.

ANA’s partner award chart doesn’t use seasonality, making it easier to navigate. Here’s an overview of what you’ll pay for Air Canada and United flights to Australia booked through ANA:

You could fly with United from Houston (IAH) to Sydney or from San Francisco or Los Angeles to Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne for just 145,000 miles round trip in first class. Alternatively, you could fly to Brisbane or Sydney from Vancouver with Air Canada for 75,000 miles round trip in economy.

There’s lots of potential for getting outsized value when booking award fares through ANA to Australia.

How to Earn ANA Mileage Club Miles

If you have an American Express Membership Rewards-earning card, you can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to ANA Mileage Club miles.

Likewise, you can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

American Airlines AAdvantage

The American Airlines AAdvantage program offers lucrative award rates on its own and partner-operated flights from the U.S. to Australia.

While American Airlines prices its award fares dynamically, it publishes Saver award levels on its website. One-way award prices for American Airlines flights from the U.S. to Australia start at the following rates:

• 35,000 miles in economy
• 60,000 miles in premium economy
• 90,000 miles in business/first

However, in reality, you’ll typically pay a lot more for premium award tickets booked directly with American Airlines. 

For instance, the award rates below show that you can score fairly good value by flying economy for 37,500 miles, but you’ll be exposed to incredibly high business-class rates of 332,000 miles and first-class rates of 342,000 miles.

Therefore, you should book only economy award fares directly through American Airlines and stick to booking premium award fares with American Airlines through Alaska Mileage Plan to benefit from lower award rates.

However, you can get great value for your points by booking Qantas and Cathay Pacific flights through American Airlines.

American Airlines AAdvantage uses the following zone-based award chart to price its partner fares:

You could fly with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong for just 40,000 miles one way in economy or 110,000 miles in first class. Likewise, you could fly each way nonstop from Dallas or Los Angeles to Sydney with Qantas for 40,000 miles in economy or 110,000 miles in first class.

You can also fly from Honolulu to Australia with Qantas or Hawaiian Airlines—booked through American Airlines—at the following one way award rates:

• 37,500 miles in economy
• 50,000 miles premium economy
• 65,000 miles in business/first
• 90,000 miles first

That said, finding award availability for both airlines can be challenging, especially for multiple travelers, so make sure to book well in advance.

Overall, if you have AAdvantage miles to spare, booking your flight through American Airlines could net you significant value.

How to Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

While American Airlines doesn’t have any credit card transfer partners, it has a wide range of co-branded cards issued by Citi and Barclaycard, making it easy to earn AAdvantage miles on everyday spending.

Marriott Bonvoy points also transfer at a 3:1 ratio to American Airlines AAdvantage miles, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

While Virgin Atlantic doesn’t fly to Australia, its SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines does.

You can catch a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney and avoid Delta’s dynamic pricing by booking through Virgin.

Virgin charges the following rates for Delta award flights greater than 6,101 miles in distance:

• 65,500 miles in main cabin
• 165,000 miles in Delta One

While these aren’t the lowest rates you’ll find, they’re still competitive and give you a wider range of options when searching for award space.

How to Earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points

Virgin miles are easy to earn as you can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points, Bilt points, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Citi ThankYou Points to Virgin—all at a 1:1 ratio.

You also can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio to Virgin Flying Club, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Keep in mind that Capital One Miles and Bilt points transfer to Virgin Red, meaning you’ll need to first link your Virgin Red account with your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account to access them.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’ve got a hankering for pristine beaches or a Vegemite sandwich, there are plenty of ways to get to Australia and back from the U.S.

While Qantas is Australia’s flag carrier, it’s not your only option when it comes to booking your flight. You can fly with Cathay Pacific, ANA, American Airlines, Delta, Jetstar, Air Canada and United. And by leveraging the partner award charts of alliance airlines, you can score competitively priced award rates, leaving more cash in your pocket for once-in-a-lifetime experiences while you’re in Australia.

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