Award Alert: Qantas First Class To Australia From 70K Miles One-Way

by Spencer Howard May 29, 2019September 8, 2020

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On Straight To The Points, I share great business and first class award flight opportunities to help you use your miles and points via my private Award Alerts newsletter. Today, I wanted to share a recent alert with readers of God Save The Points since Qantas first class space is so tough to find.

To receive alerts about premium cabin award flights for 4+ people that you can book with miles, make sure you sign up for Award Alerts.

Now, let’s get into it!

Qantas First Class For Two! Book Now, Think Later

Hello from Hong Kong!

I was talking with my friend Bryce at 10xTravel a few minutes ago and he mentioned that he saw some Qantas first class award space this fall. Naturally, I decided to search the entire calendar to see if there were dates with space for two just for you.

Lucky for us, I found a number of dates extending into 2020. Let’s get right into it before the space vanishes!

Straight to the points:

Routes: LAX-MEL/SYD
Operating airline: Qantas
Class of service: First Class
Dates: September 2019 – February 2020
Seats available: 2
Cabin layout: 1-1-1
Book with (per person, one-way):

Alaska Mileage Plan: 70,000 miles
American AAdvantage: 110,000 miles
Asia Miles: 115,000 miles to SYD, 130,000 miles to MEL (both non-stop)

Taxes/fees (per person):

One-way: ~$21-29
Round-trip: ~$78-84
Alaska adds a $12.50 partner award booking fee.

Bank transfer partners:

Amex – Asia Miles
Citi – Asia Miles

If you book Qantas first for yourself, let me know. If you book for two, brag like crazy to all your friends and make sure you tell me!

Dates You Can Book

You’ll find some Qantas first class award space this fall but February 2020 is where things really open up from LAX to MEL and SYD. As I mentioned the last time I sent a Qantas first alert for 2 people, it’s rare we get these opportunities so book now.

I flew Qantas first solo in mid-April last year and had an absolute blast. The first class flight attendant was truly one of the best I’d ever seen and every single crew member I met were fantastically friendly.

While the seat itself isn’t what I’ll call new hotness, it’s a far cry from old and busted — if you somehow haven’t seen Men in Black, just know that this is hilarious — and the bedding is one of my favorites in the sky if not my favorite.

There’s a reason Qantas first makes my list of best ways to use Alaska miles and American miles.

Here are the dates with space for two people:

LAX-SYD
September: 8, 13, 19
November: 20, 28, 29
December: 6, 7
January: 2, 3
February: 5, 13, 14, 20

LAX-MEL
September: 4, 30
October: 21
November: 19
December: 2, 4, 9, 10
February: 15, 17, 22, 23, 25

DFW-SYD
September: 7, 9
December: 30

If you want to book a return flight, flying out of MEL is the way to go — you can connect from other cities in Australia if you can find space.

MEL-LAX
September: 4, 12, 19, 21, 26, 28
October: 2, 5, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26
November: 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 21, 26, 27, 30
January: 15, 16, 18, 28, 29
February: 5, 6, 11, 19

If you only need one seat, you’ll find even more dates available.

Best Ways To Book Qantas First Class

While Asia Miles might be the easiest to earn for many of you as it’s a partner with both Amex and Citi, I’d really only consider it as an option if you have Asia Miles in your account already and you book a non-stop award.

Amex and Citi transfers aren’t instant and the award space might be gone by the time the transfer completes within a couple of days. Don’t come crying to me if this happens!

Additionally, if you connect on Qantas within Australia (or to New Zealand) or American Airlines within the U.S., your award will be governed by Asia Miles’ Oneworld Multi-Carrier Chart and it’s not pretty. You’d be looking at 150,000 miles for a one-way award. Bleh!

With that in mind, use American or Alaska miles. Whichever you have ready to go, use that program. If you want to transfer Marriott points, I’d consider going with American since you can hold an award online for up to 5 days.

The ability to hold award with American and the fact that it’s easier to earn AA miles than Alaska miles makes it your best option if you need to transfer points. However, if you have Alaska miles ready to burn, you can include a stopover on a one-way award ticket.

Make sure you know all the rules to booking award tickets with Alaska miles and American miles.

Booking Process

Both Alaska and American will allow you to quickly book online.

Search with your chosen program
Enter desired dates
Select your desired flight
- Hold the itinerary if booking with AA and you need to transfer or confirm you can get the vacation days
Pay the taxes/fees
Start bragging on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

It’s that easy.

If you choose to book with Asia Miles:

Search with Asia Miles
Enter the desired route
Select Qantas as the carrier
Selected the desired date
Select your desired flight
Transfer Amex or Citi points, if necessary
Panic about whether the space will be there once the transfer processes
Complete the booking

Final Thoughts

Just book. It’s that simple. I don’t think there’s a better way to fly to Australia directly from the U.S. than Qantas first class. It’s an experience you won’t want to miss. Heck, I’m tempted to book it again!

Let me know in the comments if you book Qantas first or if there are any destinations you’d like me to include in a future Award Alerts newsletter!