I recently found out that my wife will have a 2-week business trip in Australia in mid-October and I'd like to meet here there at the conclusion of her work obligation. I need to get to Sydney between 10/15 and 10/18. I am open to flying from any US city, but am based in HSV.

My points balances are as follows...

AA: 470,000
United: 55,000
Etihad: 28,000
MR: 325,000
UR: 145,000

I would prefer not to do anything too crazy in terms of redemption and drain any one account, but I would also like to fly first or business (otherwise I'd just redeem AA miles flying Qantas Econ to Australia). Ideally, routing through Tokyo would be preferred so that I can visit a buddy who lives there. I have found availability in business on SQ, but want to see if I am missing something else, maybe on JAL or ANA. A stopover in Tokyo is not a necessity, but would be nice. Any help would be appreciated. ^

There are many threads on this topic. Getting a business or first award USA Australia is very hard. Trying for a limited date range makes that @&@&@

You chances with AA miles on QF are low.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...lidated-9.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

Airlines that fly USA/Canada to Australia (most from LAX) are
- United [Star Alliance] (LAX SFO – SYD MEL & GUM-CNS)
- Qantas [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner) (LAX JFK DFW HNL – SYD BNE MEL)
- Jetstar (HNL – SYD BNE)
- Delta [Skyteam Alliance] (VA & AS partner) (LAX – SYD)
- Virgin Australia (DL partner) (LAX – SYD BNE)
- Hawaiian, via Hawaii (AA & VA partner) (HNL – SYD)
- Air NZ, via AKL [Star Alliance]
- Fiji Airways, via Fiji (AA & AS partner)
- Air Tahiti Nui (last segments on codeshares) (AA & DL partner)
- Air Canada [Star Alliance]
And others via Asia & Middle East

Thanks, I know using AA miles directly from US to AUS will be tough, which is why I am looking at routing through Tokyo. It seems a combination or JAL and SQ may be my best bet due to current availability. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some obscure transfer that I wasn't aware of.

Don't forget ANA. On 10/13 and 10/14 there's availability ORD-NRT in ANA business class (HSV-ORD is available in single-cabin economy). If you can find round trip on *A carriers, you can book with UA or AC miles and include TYO as a stopover without extra mileage cost.

Routing through Asia gives you lots of options, but you have Amex MR. You can transfer to delta, it is 80k each way for virgin Australia business. So you almost have enough. There is good availability as well

ANA still requires awards to be booked as RT, correct? I'm not sure what my return plans are as I may be flying back with my wife and she is restricted to certain carriers through her employer. However, if it is a better deal for me to book the RT, we may just take our own respective flights back to the states.

I also did find availability on Asiana, but the ICN to SYD leg is economy. While not preferable, it is another option that could be tolerable.

EDI: I found the ANA flights to NRT on UA.com for 75k...does that mean I can book it as a one-way with no return leg needed?

Yes. But if you book round trip you can do HSV-NRT / NRT-SYD / SYD-ORD (pending availability) for 160K.

ANA requires tickets to be booked RT on them, as does virgin Atlantic for ANA flights. United doesn't, nor does aeroplan

IIRC AA just announced that it plans to begin service to Australia. I don't remember the date.

17 Dec 2015. Too late for bmrisko
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...e-sfo-syd.html

Thanks again for all the info. After a lot of searching on options mentioned above, SQ ended up being my best choice. I'll have to use AA or WN to position to LAX, but then I'm going LAX->NRT->SIN->MEL. This also includes a 3 day layover in Tokyo. I am at 85,000 and ~$425 all-in for J class. United was my 2nd best option, but I couldn't find what I was looking for that didn't include one of the long legs in Economy.

I only booked a one-way now as I am unsure of my return plans...probably back in Econ with my wife on whatever flight her employer makes her take.

Qantas is offering a sale price of Premium Economy for $1,899 round trip ex LAX. So much better than economy, and earning, not burning, miles.

Surprise Sale

Sale ends 30 June, unless sold out prior.

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...isitthesite:ht