Due to my wife's job, we've just moved to DTW, and will leave here in about 2 years bound for... who knows (could be east or west coast, which might make a difference for travel to Australia).
I've got about 15-40K miles on most domestic airlines (other than 250K+ on DL, which are earmarked for SQ travel). We'd like to hit Australia in 3 years, flying biz/first, so I'm interested in hearing what airlines seem to be best bets, so I can start concentrating on putting all my miles towards one airline.
My UA 2P status will be gone in less than a month (due to the wife making me change jobs!), so that's not a big decider. And while NW is the major carrier here in DTW, all of the major airlines have enough flights that I could handle flying them.
From my early research, it looks like UA (through UA or Air New Zealand) and AA (through Qantas) are probably the best bets? Is AA a better bet, as some are concerned about UA's future (although AA could be there soon enough...).
Thanks.


[This message has been edited by dave_261 (edited 03-03-2003).]

[This message has been edited by dave_261 (edited 03-03-2003).]

[This message has been edited by dave_261 (edited 03-04-2003).]

I redeemed Continental OnePass miles for travel from Atlanta to Australia and New Zealand in business class on Qantas and first class on Continental via Los Angeles and Houston. We went in the spring (autumn there).

The award redemption was worth every single mile.

Does anyone know if AA gets more Qantas seats because of their OneWorld status, or is it just as easy to redeem CO miles?

The QF awards are quite difficult to get if you are not using QF miles. IMHO, the best option to Australia in F or J would be the CX award from AA. Cathay has one of the best first class products out there, and will make the entire trip better, especially if you have never flown international F before.

The only possible downside is the mandatory stop in HKG. I view this as a plus, and would spend a few days there also.

I am looking to do the same thing (Australia in 1-2 years, probably from the Midwest). I chose UA over AA (with some concern due to C.11 of course, but AA'll probably join them soon :-) ), mostly because it's a slightly lower award level for F to Australia.

I have been second-guessing my choice a little bit, but I think that the ease of earning makes a big difference. If you end up concentrating your travel on an airline/partner combo, make sure they have a good enough frequency of service from DTW to make it worthwhile. For instance, UA is the 2nd dominant in MKE behind YX. And I get 500 miles for each 67 mile jump to ORD. Lots better than flying YX direct, or DL to CVG/ATL.

The other angle to consider, in addition to financial stability of the airline you're banking on, is that these partnerships change from time to time. So if you bank on one in the hopes they'll be partners with QF 3 years down the road, you stand to be potentially disappointed if the partnership dissolves (CO is notorious for changing its partners -- they dropped AF, F9, and HP in the last year alone).

You may want to simply bank on QF. Safer bet than AA, and they're profitable, and presumably they'll continue to fly between the U.S. and Oz.

Then again, after the stunt BA just pulled, your mileage earning ability may be greatly reduced overnight on a whim, so banking for any award 3 years out may not be a successful strategy...

Cathay also costs a few less miles, but the routing seems to add several hours to the trip... Looks like it's 100K AA miles for Cathay, 105K for Qantas, and 90K UA miles for Star Alliance (presumably UA or Air New Zealand).
Are there any other viable options? Wouldn't it be easier to redeem UA miles, since you'd possibly be flying on their metal

Which airline do you have the most miles on (after DL)? Are you elite on any airlines?

If I were you, I would bank my miles for Australia in the program that has the most options. With AA miles, you can get to Australia on Cathay or Qantas. You can also get to NZ with Air Tahiti Nui. Odds are good that at least one of those options will still be available in 3 years. Also, are you interested in visiting another country on the same trip? With CX you have to go through HKG, which works out well if you have never been there and would like to go. You would also get to use the Wing in HKG, which is one of the best lounges around. Air Tahiti Nui makes you stop in Tahiti and NZ. Qantas will get you there non-stop from LAX.

I do not know what UA partners fly down under, but I would not bank on them if your only option with UA miles is UA. This is not because of the bankruptcy, but because you would be relying on UA having availability for when you want to go.

Some options to get to Australia:
* Qantas (available CO, AA, ?)
* Air NZ - via NZ, they've just canned direct - (available UA)
* United
* Air Pacific (available AA and QF)
* Cathay (available AA and QF)
* Air Canada
* Continental via Saipan?

Air NZ is in poor financial shape, but getting better. It is about to get Qantas as a shareholder, so how long it remains in *A remains to be seen.

UA has just pulled out of NZ, perhaps some concerns about how long they'll keep coming to Australia. The advantage of accumulating your miles with UA is the Air NZ option.

If you search the AA forum, there's been a lot of discussion about the difficulty of getting F or J award travel on QF. But - if you're flexible, they are out there (somewhere...)

(Edited to tidy context)



[This message has been edited by willyroo (edited 03-03-2003).]

Three years ago, I had not trouble getting a business class ticket on Qantas through American and a business class ticket on Qantas throught British Airways. For the last two years I've struck out repeatedly for travel in January or February. Perhaps it's easier to get free seats at other times of the year.

As for AA vs. UAL, AA is in only marginally better financial shape.

Sounds like, all things being equal, AA would be the best choice to bank miles for someone who flies primarily domestically. UA might be a good choice, as they currently fly the run on their own metal (for 10-15K miles less per seat), but AA through QF offers 3 airlines with options, and is a bit more stable- for now.

Yes, but the free stopover in HKG makes this worthwhile. That's how I am getting to Australia next time (after 10 prior trips on UA).

Those extra hours will also let you experience more of CX J or F. Hopefully there will be some deal soon that will allow you to accrue some additional AA miles so you can fly CX F instead of J.

Cathay's website shows a 35-hour flight time for LAX-SYD, mostly due to a 12-hour layover in HKG (this compared to under 15-hours for the non-stops, and 18-hours for the 1-stoppers). Probably makes sense to use the free stopover on the outbound.

Return from SYD (through HKG) is timed well with the connection, so travel time shows as about 24 hours.

I suppose a 6-hour flight difference is OK when 1) you're on Cathay over Qantas or United, and 2) you can (apparently) actually get biz seats on CX.

Is it possible to extend the stopovre in Hong Kong for longer than 12 hours on the outbound, say a couple of days, using an award ticket?