Originally Posted by
captain_starwood
UA would’ve be my default but tickets one way are 7-8k each.
The cheapest I can see for a single-stop UA flight in early August is A$9,757, so I'm presuming you're talking US$ there?
If you add on a IAD-SYD return leg a few months later, the total price drops to A$6,662 (US$4,935).
It looks like those fares have no maximum stay (beyond the usual 12 months), so you could potentially book it far out, and then pay a change fee to move it to the dates you actually want it if you do decide to use the return in Economy.