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Update: DEAD!
- Bookable on Priceline. Tickets purchased from Priceline today are refundable until 11:29pm EST tomorrow. Please see this post for directions on how to cancel these tickets.
- Also bookable on Orbitz or Expedia. Tickets purchased from Orbitz or Expedia today are refundable until 11:59pm PST tomorrow.
- Use a card like Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Sapphire Reserve to earn 2 or 3 Chase points per dollar spent and get free travel/medical insurance, trip/luggage delay protection, and more!
You can fly from Chicago to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney, and possibly other cities with this deal.
This fare is available in business class on most Sundays in either direction from now through November. Availability and connections will vary between Priceline and Orbitz, so make sure to search both sites.
Connections from Chicago are available in Auckland on Air New Zealand or in LA or San Francisco on United.
A business class ticket to Australia normally sells for around $7,500.
The Air New Zealand via Auckland flight books into Z class. That would earn 23,820 Aeroplan, ANA, Singapore, or United miles. Or it would earn 38,112 Avianca Lifemiles, Lufthansa Miles & More, or Virgin Atlantic miles.
These fares are not on sale with airline miles, but you can pay for the ticket with “hybrid points” if you have AMEX or Chase points and a Business Platinum or Sapphire Reserve card.
Using AMEX points:
If you have an AMEX Business Platinum Card you can get a 35% rebate of points used.
You can login to your account and redeem AMEX points for travel here.
This flight is bookable as an insider fare for 133,833 points. Plus you’ll get back a rebate of 46,842 points, dropping the total points needed to 86,991. That includes all taxes and you can still earn miles for flying!
If you also have a AMEX Consumer Platinum Card you can use that card and get back an additional 4 points per dollar, or 5,352 points for this ticket, dropping the effective cost to 81,639 points.
Plus you can earn 38,112 Avianca, Lufthansa, or Virgin Atlantic flight miles, dropping the effective cost to as low as 43,527 points.
Using Chase points:
If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® card you can redeem points for 1.5 cents each towards travel.
You can login to your account and redeem Chase points for travel here. The cost will be 99,888 points round-trip! That rate include all taxes and you will still earn flight miles as well!
Plus you can earn 38,112 Avianca, Lufthansa, or Virgin Atlantic flight miles, dropping the effective cost to 61,776 points.
Sydney opera house:
Sydney Harbour Bridge:
Kangaroo at Angelsea Golf Club on the Great Ocean Road:
Great Ocean Road, outside Melbourne:
Wineglass Bay, Tasmania:
Whitsunday Islands:
Back in 2010-2011 Mimi and I flew around the world on the now defunct American OneWorld first class round-the-world award for 230K miles. In Australia we used the award to stop off in Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, and the Whitsunday Islands. Truly an awesome country!
- 3-5 days in Sydney would give you enough time to experience the phenomenal Park Hyatt, climb the Harbour bridge, check out the Opera House, pet some Koalas and Kangaroos, and have a day in the Blue Mountains.
- 4-6 days in Melbourne would allow for a road trip of the sublime Great Ocean Road and the breathtaking Grampians before going to to Melborune for Shabbos at the excellent Park Hyatt which is around the corner from a great Chabad House. A flight from Sydney to Melbourne is just 4.5K BA Avios with no fuel surcharges.
- 2-4 days in Hamilton Island or Cairns would give you time to snorkel or dive the Great Barrier Reef. If you’re going to Hamilton Island you’ll also be able to check out famous Whitehaven Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. A flight from Sydney to Hamilton Island is 7.5K BA Avios with no fuel surcharges. Sydney to Cairns is 10K Avios.
- We spent 4 nights covering the entire beautiful island of Tasmania without realizing just how much driving that would entail. Doing over a week would have been ideal. A flight from Sydney to Tasmania is 4.5K BA Avios with no fuel surcharges.
- We didn’t make it to more remote places like Uluru, Kangaroo Island, Perth, or the Australian Outback, but perhaps on a future trip? Then again 10K BA Avios can also get you from Sydney to New Zealand. That’s been on my bucket list for a very long time…
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HT: CRONY, via DDF and Lucky
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60 Comments On "HOT! Fly Business Class From Chicago To Australia For Just $1,500 Or 81K “Hybrid Points” Round-Trip, Plus Earn 38K Flight Miles!"
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This will be cancelled as it was last time I got in on an Air New Zealand error.
Just a warning to AYLOR about leaving Australia on Sunday before shkia. Could be an issue
Wow!https://www.star-k.org/articles/kashrus-kurrents/493/a-travelers-guide-to-the-international-dateline/
Who has better business ? United or air nz
Is Air New Zealand or United Business class better??
I’d go with Air New Zealand.
Ty Dan!
Can it be booked directly with United?
Air NZ much better than United imo
Booked for 2 with Amex MR
Insider fare of $1338 per person
Initial cost of 133.4k per person
Subtract 6.7k (5x via personal plat)
Subtract 46.7k (rebate via biz plat)
Net cost: 80k MR
Subtract 38K AV/LH/VS miles earned.
Net cost: 42K.
Amazing!
Cancel Fee is only $250 if plans dont work out!
Currently looking at dates – what season in your opinion is the best time to visit?
November is fantastic. Beginning of summer
Thank you! I’m looking into doing November to coincide with Thanksgiving break!
Does it require a saturday night stay
How do you use consumer and biz card for same purchase?
Don’t need to use biz plat, just need to have it for the 35% rebate.
if i use the Gold Card from amex to get 3x as i dont have the plat will i still get the 35% rebate? i do have the business platinum…
Just booked 9/13-22/19. Hopefully weather not too bad. Used Sapphire Reserve points for two, 119k. Don’t forget to look at AMEX Travel
Flying out on 7/5 also works.
Air new zealand on international flights are awesome we traveled with a baby and had a great experience!
Booked it as a week stopover in Auckland!
Nice!
dead – I was trying to book a second trip :/
1 trip ain’t bad!
dead
Dead
Seems to still be bookable on Priceline.
Right in the middle of booking, hit book, and it died…. Don’t hesitate with these things… a lesson I never seem to learn
Tried priceline?
I only have points – was it working on Chase before?
It was. Seems dead now there.
It lets you get all the way to the pay screen and then shoots you down…
Even says “get excited you booked a great trip” – cold hearted lol
If I have amex business Platnium and sapphire preferred but not enough points is it still better to book it through amex business Platnium’s travel site or better to book on Priceline.com with sapphire preferred card.
Priceline/Sapphire Preferred gives a lot of free travel insurances and protections.
Dead on Chase
Dead on Air New Zealand
I got one but I don’t like it when I book with incompetent travel agencies vayama has not send me a single email. My credit card says that they processed the transaction but it’s been like 10 minutes and no emails from them
Ticketed for $1492.79 now its its exactly $6,000 more!!! 10NOV-17NOV
still pricing in my GDS
It isn’t working for me via amex travel…
whats ideal time to spend there if traveling w 3 kids under the age of 5? I feel like sunday to sunday is too short bc you spend a day or 2 in flights only
Dead.
prices are showing up on amex portal but when trying to check out they jump to 11K per person
When will we know if the tickets are cancelled by the airline? this clearly looks to be a sale though – not a mistake fare… Also, did I make a mistake by booking on Air New Zealand instead of United re: the chances they honor it? I googled and Air New Zealand usually doesn’t honor these claiming they are mistakes – couldn’t find much on UA though.
If booked via Chase UR, I don’t see an option to add Travelers Insurance. I’ve had the option on Amex Travel (using MR) previously). Recommendations?
Get a full year of travel insurance for between $150 and 500 if you travel a lot.
Link?
Sapphire cards come with free travel insurances. But you can always purchase travel insurance separately from a ticket if you want more coverage.
So you’re saying that- if I booked using UR (CSR) it counts and receives all the travel benefits as equivalent to booking with cash from my CSR?
Exactly.
what about booking airfare on amex and paying for an additional baggage on chase or vice versa do they cover you in the event that you lose it ?
Yes, but only $2,500 of medical coverge, which is not enough for anything semi-serious. Get $100,000 of covg from a online broker.
https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com – click on multiple plan trips
whats with your trip you stop in middle of a story could pls Finish it
How do we know if they will be honored? It says my ticket has been confirmed but how do we know they wont change that?
I forget to cancel lol now what haha
Any update on whether this will be honored?