nomad420

Only my second international trip since beginning of the pandemic and heading to HBA. On vacation so will book Polaris. Anybody know the best routing and best equipment to get there as it is a long flight? Also, can I route a return back through HNL direct out of Australia. I will be departing out of SFO but may return through Hawaii with lay over there.

WineCountryUA

Available carriers and routings for Hobart, Tasmania

UA partners are NZ (AKL) and VA (SYD, MEL)
MEL & SYD are the closest connection as shown in the wikipedia map

samyoull

Standard advice here is to go through MEL, I-D connections in Sydney are awful. QF/VA on the hop down to HBA, it's short so not a huge deal.

jsloan

Are you talking about a cash ticket or an award ticket? The RT cash fare for SFO-HBA is about $10K per person for a P fare.

You may be able to stop in Hawaii on the way back, but you'd need to move up to a C fare at about $24K per person.

Or, you can fly Air New Zealand the entire way, where your $10K ticket would include a free stopover at HNL if you want one.

nomad420

Sounds like SFO to MEL and I assume the Polaris equipment is pretty much the same. I saw the VA flight from either SYD or MEL into HBA but from samyoull sounds like MEL is the way to go. Thanks

escapefromphl

The direct flight out of SFO to MEL is the best option. Returning via HNL will require a layover in SYD with different carriers, Jetstar, Hawaiian, etc, or 2 stops elsewhere.

samyoull

As @jsloan points out there is the option to go via NZ, there's an AKL-HBA direct but only operates Tues/Thurs/Sun, and the connection time means you'd have to fly NZ7 not UA917 on SFO-AKL (although with Polaris catering one could argue this is a Good Thing)

findark

I don't think SYD deserves the hate it gets, but all else equal MEL is a better transit. SFO-SYD/MEL-HBA is the "best" routing at any cost.

As jsloan noted, fares to Australia are in the stratosphere right now and UA does not publish a competitive fare on HNL-HBA (or HNL-SYD). More Pacific-focused carriers actually have much more reasonable tables published from HNL, so if cost is any concern at all I would strongly consider splitting the ticket in HNL and flying SFO-HNL (ticket break) HNL-AKL-(SYD/MEL-)HBA and return if you want to return to Hawaii anyway. HNL-HBA fares are as low as $5k r/t and even full-fare is only $10k, and SFO-HNL can be had for a song compared to long-haul prices.

Also note that the only way to go from Australia to Hawaii on *A without touching another continent is via AKL on NZ anyway, but that HNL-AKL is less than daily and has a 17:30 arrival that will prevent same-day connections to HBA, and that most NZ trans-Tasman service is one-class.

nomad420

Cash and saw the$10K fare through MEL with connect on VA into HBA. I obviously won't be doing the C fare through HNL on UA, that is crazy. The NZ tip is huge and I'll check that out ASAP! While have flown INTL in the past I have never been "down under" so this is kind of a bucket list thing for me. Thanks again to all.

escapefromphl

FWIW If you're flexible on routing I see business saver award space open up a day or two ahead sometimes on AC or NZ.

prestonh

Could op connect through BNE?

samyoull

Definitely an option, makes the domestic flight closer to 3hr though.

JClasstraveller

BNE I-D transfer is arguably worse than SYD.

prestonh

OFC compared to MEL just adding it as a possiblity, compared to stopovers in HNL, AKL this was adding a relatively benign option with a chance of lesser known fare differential in a newer UA market. Also, since this is a bucket-list type trip for OP good beaches are quite close to BNE if interested in a stopover.

What is the argument? flown through all of them multiple times. at peak morning arrival time, SYD is much much worse, BNE is a cakewalk.

PsiFighter37

I flew MEL-HBA on VA back at the end of 2018. My arrival routing was different (flew J on TG via BKK on the A359), but taking the trip to/from MEL to HBA was simple. Short hop. That said, my recollection is that the VA 737s we flew on were definitely on the older side. Don't expect anything remarkable at all whether it be hard or soft product. If you are flying UA, flying SFO-MEL-HBA would seem to be the logical choice.