Hi,

My apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I didn't know if it should go in one of the FF forums or not. But since this is more general and is regarding using United Miles via the Star Alliance, I'm putting it here.

I'm looking to plan a trip to Australia within the upcoming year using United miles in economy class (80k r/t), and I'm trying to figure out the route & airline to take. Home airport of PDX with destination of AKL or SYD. I know I could go PDX to either SFO or LAX, then travel onwards to SYD or AKL (plan on visiting both but am open to visiting either one first off). In the past I looked at some other threads and it seems like Air New Zealand is at the top of some peoples list when it comes to economy class in long haul. I’m trying to find the most comfortable experience for myself in economy. I've also considered taking a train or bus up to YVR a day or two beforehand and flying YVR-AKL, allowing me to avoid clearing TSA style security here in the US either once or twice which is a big deal to me, a chance to spend a day in Vancouver, and not have to connect anywhere on the outgoing departure... that would be nice to not have to deal with but there cons to that such as a long ride up via train/bus before the long flight. I also see a PDX-YVR-SYD flight via Air Canada, but am not sure how much extra hassle that means going from U.S. to Canada, to SYD, nor do I know much about Air Canada and what their economy experience is like.

This would be my first international trip, so I’m looking for some thoughts from more experienced flyers than myself. Any suggestions on routing and such would be helpful. Also, I'm looking to take advantage of the stopover as well on this award in either SYD or AKL, depending which I visit first. Thanks in advance!