Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - Newbie going LAX-SYD Jan 2013 NEED HELP/ADVISE

Hi, my mate and I are going to SYD Jan 22. He is staying 11 days and me 3 weeks. Dates are flexible.
Live in San Diego, but can take off from LAX to keep it simple.
Miles
Me UA 23135 my mate 0
Me USAIR 48000 my mate 6238
Me Delta 28026 mate 0
Me Alaska 16582 mate 0
Want to ideally buy coach and upgrade miles.
Any other recommendations, not sure how i can do this?
SDFLYBOY

Hi, my mate and I are going to SYD Jan 22. He is staying 11 days and me 3 weeks. Dates are flexible.
Live in San Diego, but can take off from LAX to keep it simple.
Miles
Me UA 23135 my mate 0
Me USAIR 48000 my mate 6238
Me Delta 28026 mate 0
Me Alaska 16582 mate 0
Want to ideally buy coach and upgrade miles.
Any other recommendations, not sure how i can do this?
SDFLYBOYDL and UA fly LAX-SYD but your a few miles short of an upgrade and they tend to sell out based on status. So best to presume no chance of an upgrade. Probably better upgrade chance on UA, while DL has a nicer plane/hard product. Both are inferior to QF but you need QFF miles to upgrade.

thanks Number 6. Was thinking of buying business and getting the miles for my next trip. So you recommend DL. thanks. SDFlyboy

thanks Number 6. Was thinking of buying business and getting the miles for my next trip. So you recommend DL. thanks. SDFlyboyDL is the cheapest as it is newest carrier on this route, also is using one of their best planes in the combined DL/NW fleet. Presently DL is selling J LAX-SYD-LAX for just under half of QF's price for J. While QF is superior in every measure, it isn't worth double, and DL is quite good amongst US carriers.

sdflyboy welcome to the forum

The last week of January is the end of vacations/holidays for many people in Australia. Schools will start the next week. Therefore will be a busy time for flights as people will be coming back to Australia after a (southern hemisphere) summer vacation/holiday in the USA

Other airlines are Virgin Australia, Hawaiian and Air New Zealand (via Auckland). I expect you will travel in coach unless you pay for business,

sdflyboy welcome to the forum

The last week of January is the end of vacations/holidays for many people in Australia. Schools will start the next week. Therefore will be a busy time for flights as people will be coming back to Australia after a (southern hemisphere) summer vacation/holiday in the USA

Other airlines are Virgin Australia, Hawaiian and Air New Zealand (via Auckland). I expect you will travel in coach unless you pay for business,

VA has the best hard product by far, a tie between DL and QF and UA is a distant fourth. I would leave out NZ and HI as they both require a further stop (you may as well get the 14 hours over and done with). You can get some really good deals on QF with their red-tail fares, DL and VA have consistently lower fares and UA has Economy Plus which may be helpful if you want to have extra leg room. DL has this as well but is often filled out by elites.

VA has the best hard product by far, a tie between DL and QF and UA is a distant fourth. I would leave out NZ and HI as they both require a further stop (you may as well get the 14 hours over and done with). You can get some really good deals on QF with their red-tail fares, DL and VA have consistently lower fares and UA has Economy Plus which may be helpful if you want to have extra leg room. DL has this as well but is often filled out by elites.

thank you for the advise. helpful

sdflyboy welcome to the forum

The last week of January is the end of vacations/holidays for many people in Australia. Schools will start the next week. Therefore will be a busy time for flights as people will be coming back to Australia after a (southern hemisphere) summer vacation/holiday in the USA

Other airlines are Virgin Australia, Hawaiian and Air New Zealand (via Auckland). I expect you will travel in coach unless you pay for business,

thank you for the advise. helpful